Delta Programming Language

Delta is a modern, expressive programming language designed with natural language syntax that makes code more readable and intuitive. With its Python-like indentation system and English-like keywords, Delta aims to bridge the gap between human language and programming logic.

Features

• Natural Language Syntax: Use phrases like "is greater than" instead of symbols
• Indentation-based Structure: Clean, readable code blocks without curly braces
• Expressive Keywords: Intuitive keywords like let, be, when, then, otherwise
• Built-in Comparisons: Natural comparison operators that read like English
• String and Number Literals: Full support for strings with escape sequences and floating-point numbers

Example Code

let age be 25
let name be "Pranav"

when age is greater than or equal 18
    show "You are an adult"
otherwise
    show "You are a minor"

define greet with person_name
    show "Hello, " + person_name
end

Prerequisites

LLVM

Linux:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential gcc g++ make
sudo apt-get install -y zlib1g-dev libzstd-dev libffi-dev libncurses-dev libxml2-dev
sudo apt-get install -y llvm-17-dev libclang-17-dev clang-17 libpolly-17-dev

# Set environment variables (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
export LLVM_SYS_170_PREFIX=/usr/lib/llvm-17
export LIBCLANG_PATH=/usr/lib/llvm-17/lib
export PATH=/usr/lib/llvm-17/bin:$PATH

macOS:

brew install llvm@17

# Add LLVM to your PATH (add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bash_profile)
export LLVM_SYS_170_PREFIX=$(brew --prefix llvm@17)
export PATH="$(brew --prefix llvm@17)/bin:$PATH"
export CC=$(brew --prefix llvm@17)/bin/clang
export CXX=$(brew --prefix llvm@17)/bin/clang++

Windows:

For Windows users, we recommend using our pre-compiled LLVM builds:

• Download LLVM 17.0.6 from: https://github.com/Delta-Engine/llvm-builds-windows/releases
• Extract the archive to C:\llvm\17.0.6 (or your preferred location)
• Add the following to your system environment variables:
  • LLVM_SYS_170_PREFIX = C:\llvm\17.0.6
  • LIBCLANG_PATH = C:\llvm\17.0.6\bin
  • Add C:\llvm\17.0.6\bin to your system PATH

Rust Toolchain

• Rust compiler (rustc) - Install from rust-lang.org
• Cargo package manager

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/PranavVerma-droid/Delta.git
cd Delta

2. Build the project:

cargo clean
cargo build --release

3. Run a Delta program:

cargo run example.de

Building with Make

# Build release version
make build-release

# Build development version
make build-dev

# Test interpreter mode (requires dev build)
make test-interpret

# Test compilation to LLVM IR (requires dev build)
make test-compile

Usage

Create a file with the .de extension and write your Delta code. Then run it using:

./target/release/delta your_file.de

Language Grammar

The Delta language uses indentation to define code blocks, similar to Python. Each statement should be on its own line, and nested blocks are indicated by increased indentation.

Basic Structure

statement
    indented_block
        nested_block
    back to previous level

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Contact

For questions, suggestions, or contributions, please open an issue on GitHub.

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Delta - Making programming more human 🚀