Rye language 🌾

For comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and examples, visit ryelang.org

What is Rye?

Rye is a high-level, dynamic programming language inspired by Rebol, Factor, Linux shells, and Go. It features a Go-based interpreter and interactive console, making it an excellent scripting companion for Go programs. Rye can also be embedded into Go applications as a scripting or configuration language.

Key characteristics:

• Homoiconic: Code is data, data is code
• Function-oriented: No keywords, everything is a function call
• Expression-based: Everything returns a value
• First-class functions: Functions and code blocks are values
• Multiple dialects: Specialized interpreters for different tasks
• Safety-focused: Explicit state changes, pure/impure function separation, validation dialect

Status: Alpha - Core language design is stable, focus is on improving runtime, documentation, and usability.

Quick Examples

print "Hello World"

"Hello World" .replace "World" "Mars" |print
; prints: Hello Mars

"12 8 12 16 8 6" .load .unique .sum
; returns: 42

{ "Anne" "Joan" "Adam" } |filter { .first = "A" } |for { .print } 
; prints:
; Anne
; Adam

fac: fn { x } { either x = 1 { 1 } { x * fac x - 1 } }
; function that calculates factorial
range 1 10 |map { .fac } |print\csv
; prints: 1,2,6,24,120,720,5040,40320,362880,3628800

kind: "admin"
Open sqlite://data.db |Query { select * from user where kind = ?kind }
; returns: Table of admins

Read %name.txt |fix { "Anonymous" } |Post* https://example.com/postname 'text
; makes HTTP post of the name read from a file, or "Anonymous" if file failed to be read

For more examples and interactive demos, visit ryelang.org/meet_rye/

Building Rye from Source

Prerequisites

1. Install Go 1.21.5 or later:

   # Example for Linux
   wget https://go.dev/dl/go1.21.5.linux-amd64.tar.gz
   rm -rf /usr/local/go && tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.21.5.linux-amd64.tar.gz
   export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin
   go version

Clone and Build

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/refaktor/rye.git
   cd rye

2. Build options:

   • Minimal build (fewer modules, smaller binary):

     go build -tags "b_tiny" -o bin/rye

   • Standard build (most modules included):

     go build -o bin/rye
     # or simply
     ./build

   • Custom build (select specific modules):

     go build -tags "b_tiny,b_sqlite,b_http,b_json" -o bin/rye

3. Run Rye:

   # Run the REPL
   bin/rye
   
   # Run a script
   bin/rye script.rye

Building WASM Version

Rye can run in browsers and other WASM environments:

GOOS=js GOARCH=wasm go build -tags "b_tiny" -o wasm/rye.wasm main_wasm.go
# or use the helper script
./buildwasm
# Then visit http://localhost:8085/ryeshell/

Running Tests

cd info
../bin/rye . test

# Generate function reference
../bin/rye . doc

Getting Rye (Pre-built)

If you prefer not to build from source, you have several options:

Binaries

Pre-compiled binaries for Linux, macOS, Windows, and WASM are available under Releases.

Package Managers

• Homebrew (macOS/Linux):

  brew install ryelang

• ArchLinux User Repository (Arch Linux):

  yay -S ryelang

Docker Images

• Binary image (includes Rye and Emacs-nox):

  docker run -ti ghcr.io/refaktor/rye

• Development image (build from repository):

  docker build -t refaktor/rye -f .docker/Dockerfile .
  docker run -ti refaktor/rye

Resources

• ryelang.org - Official documentation, tutorials, and examples
• Blog - Latest updates and development news
• Examples folder - Code examples and demos
• Asciinema demos - Interactive terminal demos

Extensions and Related Projects

• Rye-fyne - GUI toolkit binding
• Rye-gio - Gioui toolkit binding (WIP)
• Rye-ebitengine - 2D game engine binding (WIP)
• ryegen - Binding generation toolkit (WIP)

Editor Support

• VS Code: Search for "ryelang" in the Extension marketplace repository
• Emacs: syntax highlighting
• NeoVIM: syntax highlighting

Community and Contact

• GitHub Discussions
• Reddit
• Issues
• Email: janko.itm+rye[at]gmail.com