Typhon-Language 0.1.1

Typhon programming language

Typhon

Typhon is a modernized syntax sugar for Python, designed to improve developer experience with features like static typing, brace-based scoping, and expressive functional programming capabilities.

GitHub repository: Typhon PyPI package: Typhon-Language

Design Concepts

Typhon is built on three core pillars:

1. Safety: As expected from modern programming languages, Typhon enforces safety through static typing, lexical scopes, immutable-by-default variables (let), and null safety features (?., ??).
2. Expressiveness: Expression-oriented design with functional programming features. Control comprehension forms for if, match, try, and so on enable concise, value-returning expressions. Function literals, placeholders and pipe operators facilitate clean and readable code.
3. Python Interoperability: Typhon compiles directly to Python, allowing you to use the vast ecosystem of Python libraries seamlessly while enjoying a modern syntax.

Documentation

For a complete guide to the language, please visit the Typhon Reference Manual.

Quick Links

• Lexical Structure (Comments, Keywords, Delimiters)
• Types
• Variables
• Expressions
• Statements
• Definitions (Functions, Classes, Modules)
• Removed Features

Syntax Changes from Python

Typhon retains most of Python's semantics but introduces significant syntax changes.

Main Changes

• Brace Scoping: Typhon uses { ... } for blocks, replacing indentation-based scoping. Both ; and line breaks can also act as delimiters. See Lexical Structure.
• Static Typing: Type checking is enforced at compile time.
• Declarations: Variables must be declared with let (immutable) or var (mutable). See Variables.

Syntax Extensions

• Null Safety: ?., ??, ?(), ?[] operators. See Null Safety.
• Function literals: Unrestricted function literals with (x) => { return x + 1 } syntax, with totally the same capability as normal functions. SeeFunction literals.
• Pipe Operator: x |> f for function chaining. See Pipe Operator.
• Placeholders: _ for concise anonymous functions (e.g., _ + 1). See Placeholders.
• Control Comprehensions: Control statements as expressions (e.g., (if (c) x else y)). All if/while/for/let/try/with/match are supported as comprehension. See Comprehensions.
• Pattern Matching: Enhanced match, if-let, and let-else statements. See Control Flow.
• self Keyword: self is a keyword and is not explicitly declared in method signatures. See Classes.
• Data Records: Anonymous immutable structs {|x=1|}. See Types.
• Block Comments: #( ... )# allows nested comments.

Detailed Design Changes

• Logical Operators: &&, ||, ! replace and, or, not (though Python keywords are still reserved).
• Const Parameters: Function parameters are immutable by default.
• Line Breaks: Stricter rules for line continuations. See Lexical Structure.

Syntax Restrictions

Some Python features are removed to enforce safety and clarity. See Removed Features.

• No del, global, nonlocal.
• No wildcard imports.
• No chained assignments (a = b = c).
• No control statements inside class bodies.

Usage

Typhon can be run directly or translated to Python.

Run

Run a Typhon source file or directory.

typhon run <source> [args...]

Translate

Translate Typhon code to Python.

typhon translate <source> [-o output_dir]

Type Check

Run type checking on Typhon code.

typhon type_check <source>

Future Plans

See Future Plans for planned features like compile-time controls (static if) and known limitations.

Influenced By

Typhon draws inspiration from several modern programming languages:

• Python
• TypeScript
• Swift
• Rust
• Scala
• F#