Getting Started

This page gives you a quick, progressive tour of plat-lang. Each step adds one idea, so you can start with a tiny script and gradually build up to the core features used by real programs. If you have not built the interpreter yet, start with Installation. Once build/platlang exists, you can run any script like this:

build/platlang examples/en/hello.plat

Diacritics and ASCII spellings

Canonical Limburgish uses many diacritics, which are rare in programming languages and can be tedious to type on some keyboards. For that reason, every keyword or built-in name that carries a diacritic also has a non-diacritic spelling in plat-lang. For example, both trök and trok are accepted for returning from a function.

1. Say hello

A plat-lang program can be as small as a call to the built-in print function:

aafdrokke("Hallo, plat-lang")

aafdrokke(value) prints a value followed by a newline. The dialect spelling aafdrökke(value) works too.

2. Store values with loat

Use loat to declare variables. Strings are teks, numbers are nómmer, and + can concatenate text.

loat naam = "Jan"
loat taal = "plat-lang"
loat versie = 1

aafdrokke("Hallo, " + naam)
aafdrokke("Welkom bie " + taal + " " + versie)

A declaration without a value starts as niks, the language's absence value.

loat later
aafdrokke(later)

3. Make choices with es

Conditionals use es, optional angesj:, and end with enj.

loat naam = ""
loat fallback = "onbekend"

es naam:
    aafdrokke(naam)
angesj:
    aafdrokke(fallback)
enj

Truthiness keeps early programs compact: niks, kwatsj, 0, empty text, and empty tables are falsy; other values are truthy.

4. Repeat work with loops

Use zolang when you want to loop while a condition stays truthy:

loat i = 0

zolang i < 3:
    aafdrokke(i)
    i = i + 1
enj

Use veur for a half-open numeric range. This prints 0, 1, and 2:

veur i = 0, 3:
    aafdrokke(i)
enj

Inside loops, euversjlaon continues to the next iteration and aafbraeke exits the loop.

veur i = 0, 10:
    es i == 3:
        euversjlaon
    enj

    es i == 8:
        aafbraeke
    enj

    aafdrokke(i)
enj

5. Name reusable work with functions

Functions are declared with funksie and return with trok.

funksie dubbel(getal):
    trok getal * 2
enj

aafdrokke(dubbel(21))

Top-level functions are registered before execution starts, so a function can call another function declared later in the same file. Recursion works too:

funksie fib(n):
    es n < 2:
        trok n
    angesj:
        trok fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2)
    enj
enj

aafdrokke(fib(10))

6. Group data with tabel tables

tabel tables are mutable containers. You can use them like records:

loat user = {
    name = "Alice",
    age = 30,
}

aafdrokke(user.name)
aafdrokke(user["age"])

You can also use them like arrays. Numeric keys start at 0.

loat nums = { 10, 20, 30 }

aafdrokke(nums[0])
nums[1] = 99
aafdrokke(nums[1])

Computed keys let a program choose what to read or write:

loat field = "name"
aafdrokke(user[field])

7. Read input

The minimal standard library also includes inveure(), which reads one line of input as teks.

aafdrokke("What is your name?")
loat naam = inveure()
aafdrokke("hoi " + naam)

Run that kind of script with piped input:

printf 'Mia\n' | build/platlang examples/en/input.plat

Where to go next

Continue with the Language Tour for the full current language boundary, including supported operators, protected names, diagnostics, and the features that are intentionally not part of the language yet.