Nucleo Programming Language Specification

Introduction

Nucleo is a statically-typed programming language designed for systems programming and software development. It features a simple syntax, powerful abstractions, and a rich set of libraries and tools.

Detailed Requirements

Experimental programming language name: Nucleo
Extension: .nc
Compiler name: NucleoC

Language Features

Variables

Variables in Nucleo are declared using the var keywords followed by the variable name and an optional initial value:

var x = 5;
var y;

Constants

Constants in Nucleo are declared using the const keyword followed by the constant name and an initial value:

const PI = 3.14;
const MY_NAME = "John";

Arithmetic operators

Nucleo supports the following arithmetic operators: +, -, *, /, %.

x + y
x - y
x * y
x / y
x % y

Increment and decrement

Nucleo supports the following increment and decrement operators: ++, --.

x++
x--
++x
--x

Relational operators

Nucleo supports the following relational operators: <, <=, >, >=, ==, !=.

x < y
x <= y
x > y
x >= y
x == y
x != y

Logical operators

Nucleo supports the following logical operators: &&, ||, !.

x && y
x || y
!x

Read and Write statements

Nucleo supports write and write statements using the keywords print and input:

print("Example text")
input()

Conditional statements

Nucleo supports if-then-else statements using the if keyword:

if (x < y) {
  // do something
} else {
  // do something else
}

Loops

Nucleo supports while and for loops (including "break" and "continue" loop control statements):

while (x < y) {
  // do something
  break;
}

for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {
  // do something
  continue;
}

Functions

Functions in Nucleo are declared using the fn keyword followed by the function name, a list of parameters enclosed in parentheses, and an optional return type:

fn add(x, y) -> int {
  return x + y;
}

Arrays

Arrays in Nucleo are declared using square brackets []:

var arr: int[10];

Import and export modules

Modules can be imported and exported using the import and export keywords:

import { add } from "./math.nc";
export const PI = 3.14;

Comments

Comments in Nucleo can be either single-line comments starting with // or multi-line comments starting with /* and ending with */:

// This is a single line comment
/* This is
a
multi-line
comment */

Tokens

Here is a table showing the token for each symbol in the language:

Symbol	Token Name
var	VAR
+	PLUS
-	MINUS
*	MULT
/	DIV
%	MOD
=	ASSIGN
+=	PLUS_ASSIGN
-=	MINUS_ASSIGN
*=	MULT_ASSIGN
/=	DIV_ASSIGN
%=	MOD_ASSIGN
++	INCREMENT
--	DECREMENT
==	EQ
!=	NEQ
<	LT
>	GT
<=	LTE
>=	GTE
&&	AND
||	OR
!	NOT
(	LPAREN
)	RPAREN
{	LBRACE
}	RBRACE
[	LBRACK
]	RBRACK
:	COLON
print	PRINT
input	INPUT
while	WHILE
for	FOR
break	BREAK
continue	CONT
if	IF
else	ELSE
import	IMPORT
export	EXPORT
fn	FUNC
return	RETURN

References

https://www.cs.ucr.edu/~dtan004/proj1/phase1_lexer.html