Qux is an experimental language developed from the ground up with the aim of supporting extended static checks at compile time.

This project provides a binary for working with the Qux language. It features:

• Compiling.
• Type checking.
• Dependency printing.
• Pretty printing.

For quick help on how to call qux, see qux --help.

Installing qux is easiest done using either stack (recommended) or Cabal.

NB: LLVM (v3.5) is required on the system for compiling Qux files.

Using stack:

stack install qux
export PATH=$PATH:~/.local/bin

Using Cabal:

cabal-install qux
export PATH=$PATH:~/.cabal/bin

The qux binary is designed to be modular and solely for manipulating Qux files. It compiles a qux file down to LLVM which may then be either interpreted or further compiled down to machine code (using either lli or llc).

There are 5 commands available:

build — the core command.
check — shortcut for build --type-check.
compile — shortcut for build --compile --type-check.
dependencies — prints out module dependencies.
print — pretty prints Qux files.

build:

Usage: qux build [-c|--compile] [-d|--destination DIR] [-f|--format FORMAT] [-l|--libpath PATH] [--type-check] -- FILES...

Builds all of the given Qux files. By default this command does nothing except check that the files are parsable (this includes name and type resolution).

The --libpath option takes a path separated list of directories (e.g., lib/:...) to search for libraries referenced by imports. This is used in name resolution to fully qualify all types and functions.

Adding the --type-check option will add the type checking analysis step to ensure types are used correctly. If an error is found, then it is reported to standard error and the build process stops.

The --compile option adds compiling the Qux files into LLVM assembly or bitcode (specified by the --format option). The organisation and naming of the input files does not matter, however the output files will be written out to the destination directory in appropriate module folders. E.g., qux build -d bin/ src/qux/lang/io.qux will write to bin/qux/lang/io.bc.

dependencies:

Usage: qux dependencies FILES...

Prints out all the module dependencies (imported modules) of FILES. This isn't hugely useful on it's own, but once library packages are supported it will help in determining whether one is required or unused.

print:

Usage: qux print [-l|--line-length LENGTH] [-m|--mode MODE] [-r|--ribbons-per-line RIBBONS] FILE

Pretty prints the file to standard output. The pretty printing uses the Haskell pretty library based off The Design of a Pretty Printing Library by John Hughes. If you're interested in how it works have a read of the paper.