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https://github.com/jfecher/ante

A safe, easy systems language
https://github.com/jfecher/ante

ante compiler language llvm refinement-types systems-language

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A safe, easy systems language

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# Ante



[![Build Status](https://img.shields.io/endpoint.svg?url=https%3A%2F%2Factions-badge.atrox.dev%2Fjfecher%2Fante%2Fbadge&style=flat)](https://actions-badge.atrox.dev/jfecher/ante/goto)



---



Ante is a low-level functional language for exploring refinement types, lifetime inference, and

other fun features. Here's a quick taste:



```scala

// No lifetime variables

foo (x: &shared mut Bar) (y: &a) : a can Fail given Clone a =

    // Algebraic effects

    if not valid x then fail ()



    // Safe, aliasable mutable references

    baz x x



    // Traits

    clone y

```



In general, ante is low-level (no GC, values aren't boxed by default) while also trying to

be as readable as possible by encouraging high-level approaches that can be optimized with

low-level details later on.



See the [website](https://antelang.org), [language tour](https://antelang.org/docs/language/),

and [roadmap](https://antelang.org/docs/roadmap) for more information.



---



### Contributing



The compiler is still in a rather early state so any contributors are greatly welcome.

Feel free to contribute to either any known issues/improvements or any standard library

additions you think may be useful.



Each file in the codebase is prefixed with a module comment explaining the purpose of

the file and any algorithms used. `src/main.rs` is a good place to start reading.



Make sure any PRs pass the tests in the `examples` directory. These tests have commands

in them which the [goldentests](https://github.com/jfecher/golden-tests) library uses

to run the ante compiler and check its output for each file against the expected output

contained within comments of that file.



[**Good first issues**](https://github.com/jfecher/ante/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22)

to contribute to



---



### Community



The best place to follow ante's development is in the official discord: https://discord.gg/BN97fKnEH2.

There is also the mostly inactive subreddit at [/r/ante](https://reddit.com/r/ante) which is mainly used for questions about the language rather

than development updates. You can also feel free to file issues or ask questions on this repository.



---



### Building



Ante currently optionally requires llvm 16.0 while building. If you already have this installed with

sources, you may be fine building with `cargo install --path .` alone. If cargo complains

about not finding any suitable llvm version, you can either choose to build ante without

the llvm backend via `cargo install --path . --no-default-features` or you can build llvm from

source via [CMake](#CMake) as covered in the next sections.



#### Linux and Mac



The easiest method to install llvm 16.0 would be through your package manager, making sure to install any `-dev` packages

if they are available for your distro. Once installed, if `cargo b` still cannot find the right version of llvm, you may

need to make sure to set the `LLVM_SYS_160_PREFIX` to the path llvm was installed to:



```bash

$ LLVM_SYS_160_PREFIX=$(llvm-config --obj-root)

```



If your distro ships a version other than llvm 16.0 you can try changing the inkwell dependency Ante's Cargo.toml.

This dependency controls the llvm version expected and by default it is:



```toml

inkwell = { git = "https://github.com/TheDan64/inkwell", branch = "master", features = ["llvm16-0"], optional = true }

```



Change the quoted llvm portion to `"llvm-15-0"` for example to build with llvm 15.0. Also don't forget that after changing

this version the environment variable's name will be different, using llvm 15.0 for example it would be `LLVM_SYS_150_PREFIX`.

It is likely that versions older than this will not work since there have been API changes in LLVM itself and inkwell. 15.0 itself

is also unverified.



If this method does not work you will have to try building llvm from source via cmake. See the [CMake](#CMake) section below.

Alternatively, you can build with only cranelift as a backend via `cargo install --path . --no-default-features`.



##### Nix



Ante is available in the unstable branch of the [nixpkgs repository](https://search.nixos.org/packages?channel=unstable&show=ante&type=packages&query=ante).



The project itself provides build instructions for the [Nix package manager](https://nixos.org/).

Those can be used for the most recent version of the compiler, or for working on it.



To enter the development environment, run either `nix-shell` or `nix develop` depending on whether you are using nix

with [flakes](https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Flakes) and [nix command](https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Nix_command) enabled or not.

Then you can build and run the project with `cargo` as described at the top of this section.



Beyond that, the project will also build with `nix-build` / `nix build`, meaning you can install it on your system using

the provided overlay or play around with the compiler via `nix shell github:jfecher/ante`.



#### Windows



Note: LLVM is notoriously difficult to build on windows. If you're a windows user who has tried

the following and still cannot build llvm, I highly recommend trying out ante without the llvm

backend via `cargo install --path . --no-default-features`. Since the llvm binaries do not ship

with the appropriate library files on windows, you will have to build from source via [CMake](#CMake)



##### CMake



If the above steps don't work for you, you can try [building llvm from source

with cmake](https://www.llvm.org/docs/CMake.html). If you're on windows, this

requires you to have Visual Studio 2017 or later installed already.



```

$ git clone https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project --branch=release/16.x

$ mkdir llvm-build

$ cd llvm-build

$ cmake ../llvm-project/llvm

```



At this point, cmake may show an error that it failed to find z3 or the windows SDK, in

which case you may need to install them. For the windows SDK, you can install it

via the Visual Studio Installer (under **Modify -> Individual Components**). I used

version 10.0.17763.0, though it is likely newer versions will work as well. Rerun

the last cmake command to test that everything is installed right. Once this is

done, move on to compiling llvm and ante:



```

$ cmake --build .

$ cmake --build . --target install

$ cd ..

$ set LLVM_SYS_160_PREFIX=/absolute/path/to/llvm-build

$ cargo build

```