nxlc 0.1.0

Universal Language Counter - Fast line counting for 119+ programming languages

Universal Language Counter (ULC)

A fast, comprehensive programming language line counter supporting 119+ languages with intelligent conflict resolution and git integration.

Features

• 119+ Programming Languages: From modern languages (Python, JavaScript, Rust) to legacy (COBOL, FORTRAN) and domain-specific (VHDL, MATLAB)
• Smart Language Detection: Content analysis for ambiguous extensions (.h, .m, .r, .pl)
• Git Integration: Auto-detects git repositories and respects .gitignore patterns
• Custom Ignore Files: Support for .ulcignore to exclude files/directories from counting
• Cross-Platform: Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Colored Output: Professional terminal output with color coding
• Debug Mode: Unknown file analysis and extension reporting
• Security-First: Input validation and safe file handling

Quick Start

# Count current directory
python3 ulc.py

# Count specific project with git integration
python3 ulc.py /path/to/project

# Debug mode to see unknown files
python3 ulc.py . --debug

# Sort by file count, no colors
python3 ulc.py . --sort files --no-color

Installation

ULC is a single-file standalone tool - no installation required!

# Download and run immediately  
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/your-org/ulc/main/ulc.py
python3 ulc.py /path/to/analyze

Optional Enhancements

# Better encoding detection (recommended)
pip install chardet

# 400+ language support (requires Ruby)
gem install github-linguist
python3 ulc.py --comprehensive

See INSTALL.md for detailed installation options.

Usage

usage: ulc.py [-h] [--git] [--no-git] [--depth N] [--sort {lines,files,name}]
              [--verbose] [--comprehensive] [--linguist-path PATH]
              [--no-color] [--debug] [--version]
              [directory]

Universal Language Counter - Count lines of code across 119+ programming languages

positional arguments:
  directory             Directory to analyze (default: current directory)

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --git                 Force respect .gitignore patterns (auto-detected in git repos)
  --no-git              Disable git integration (ignore .gitignore even in git repos)
  --depth N             Maximum directory depth to traverse
  --sort {lines,files,name}
                        Sort results by lines (default), files, or name
  --verbose, -v         Verbose output showing each file processed
  --comprehensive       Use comprehensive mode with GitHub Linguist (400+ languages)
  --linguist-path PATH  Path to github-linguist executable
  --no-color            Disable colored output
  --debug               Enable debug mode (show unknown files and extension analysis)
  --version             show program's version number and exit

Examples

Basic Usage

# Count lines in current directory
python3 ulc.py

# Count specific directory
python3 ulc.py /path/to/project

# Limit directory traversal depth
python3 ulc.py . --depth 3

Git Integration

# Auto-detects git repos and respects .gitignore
python3 ulc.py /path/to/git/repo

# Force git mode even outside repos
python3 ulc.py . --git

# Disable git integration completely
python3 ulc.py . --no-git

Ignore Files with .ulcignore

ULC supports a .ulcignore file to exclude specific files and directories from counting. This works independently of git and is useful for:

• Non-git repositories
• Additional exclusions beyond .gitignore
• Temporary exclusions during development

Create a .ulcignore file in your project root:

# Example .ulcignore
node_modules/
dist/
*.min.js
test_data/
*.generated.*

See .ulcignore.example for a comprehensive template.

Output Customization

# Sort by file count instead of lines
python3 ulc.py . --sort files

# Sort alphabetically by language
python3 ulc.py . --sort name

# Disable colored output for scripts
python3 ulc.py . --no-color

# Verbose mode shows each file processed
python3 ulc.py . --verbose

Advanced Features

# Debug mode shows unknown file extensions
python3 ulc.py . --debug

# Comprehensive mode with GitHub Linguist
python3 ulc.py . --comprehensive

# Custom linguist path
python3 ulc.py . --comprehensive --linguist-path /custom/path/linguist

Platform Compatibility

Platform	Environment	119+ Native Languages	GitHub Linguist (400+)	Status
Linux	WSL2 (Ubuntu 24.04)	✅ Validated	🔄 Not tested	✅ Validated
Linux	Native Ubuntu 22.04+	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Pending
Linux	RHEL/CentOS 8+	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Pending
Linux	Debian 11+	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Pending
macOS	macOS 12+ (Intel)	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Pending
macOS	macOS 14+ (Apple Silicon)	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Pending
Windows	Windows 10/11 (native)	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Pending
Windows	Git Bash	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Pending
Windows	PowerShell 7	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Pending
Docker	Alpine Linux	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Pending
Docker	Ubuntu based	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Pending
Cloud	GitHub Codespaces	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Pending
Cloud	GitLab CI/CD	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Pending
BSD	FreeBSD 13+	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Not tested	🔄 Pending

Notes:

• Native language support: 119+ languages without external dependencies
• GitHub Linguist integration: Optional, adds 400+ languages (requires Ruby)
• Python requirement: 3.8+ (tested with 3.12)

Supported Languages

Modern Languages (Web, Mobile, Systems)

Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Vue, Svelte, Java, C, C++, C#, Go, Rust, Ruby, PHP, Swift, Kotlin, Scala, Dart, R, Julia

Shell & Scripting

Shell (bash, zsh, fish), PowerShell, Perl, Lua

Data & Config

SQL, HTML, CSS, Markdown, YAML, JSON, XML, TOML, INI, Properties

Legacy Systems

COBOL, FORTRAN, Pascal, Ada, Assembly, BASIC, Visual Basic

Domain-Specific

VHDL, Verilog, MATLAB, Mathematica, SAS, SPSS, AutoLISP, OpenSCAD

And 80+ more languages...

Sample Output

Universal Language Counter Results:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Language             Files    Total      Code       Comments   %     
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                156      45,234     38,891     4,829      100.0%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Python               89       28,456     25,123     2,891      62.9 %
JavaScript           23       8,234      7,456      623        18.2 %
Markdown             18       4,891      4,201      0          10.8 %
JSON                 12       2,134      2,134      0          4.7  %
Shell                8        891        634        89         2.0  %
YAML                 6        628        567        226        1.4  %
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Directory: /path/to/project (git repository - respecting .gitignore)

Language Detection Features

Smart Conflict Resolution

• .h files: Distinguishes C, C++, and Objective-C by content analysis
• .m files: Separates MATLAB from Objective-C based on syntax patterns
• .r files: Identifies R vs Rebol using language-specific keywords
• .pl files: Differentiates Perl from Prolog through code analysis

Special File Handling

• Makefiles: Recognizes various Makefile variants
• Dockerfiles: Detects Dockerfile patterns
• READMEs: Identifies documentation files
• Git config: Classifies .gitignore, .gitattributes as configuration
• Shebang detection: Analyzes #!/usr/bin/env headers for extensionless scripts

Architecture

Thread-Safe Design

• Instance-based color management
• Thread-safe linguist integration
• Concurrent-safe file processing

Security Features

• Input validation for external tool paths
• Command injection prevention
• Safe file encoding detection
• Path traversal protection

Performance Optimizations

• Symlink cycle detection
• Binary file filtering
• Efficient directory traversal
• Configurable depth limits

Requirements

• Python 3.6+ (required)
• chardet (optional, recommended for encoding detection)
• github-linguist (optional, for 400+ language support)

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Version History

• v1.0.0 - Initial release with 119+ language support
  • Smart conflict resolution
  • Git integration
  • Cross-platform support
  • Thread-safe architecture
  • Security hardening

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Universal Language Counter - Professional code analysis made simple.