NURU🔥PROGRAMMING🔥LANGUAGE

A Swahili Programming Language of its kind built from the ground up.

Installation

To get started download the executables from the release page or follow the instructions for your device below:

Linux

• Download the binary:

curl -O -L https://github.com/NuruProgramming/Nuru/releases/download/v0.5.18/nuru_Linux_amd64.tar.gz

• Extract the file to make global available:

sudo tar -C /usr/local/bin -xzvf nuru_Linux_amd64.tar.gz

• Confirm installation with:

nuru -v

MacOs ( Apple silicon Mac )

• Download the binary:

  • For apple silicon mac use:

    curl -O -L https://github.com/NuruProgramming/Nuru/releases/download/v0.5.18/nuru_Darwin_arm64.tar.gz
    

  • For apple intel mac use:

    curl -O -L https://github.com/NuruProgramming/Nuru/releases/download/v0.5.18/nuru_Darwin_amd64.tar.gz
    

• Extract the file to make global available:

  • For apple silicon mac use:

    sudo tar -C /usr/local/bin -xzvf nuru_Darwin_arm64.tar.gz
    

  • For apple intel mac use:

    sudo tar -C /usr/local/bin -xzvf nuru_Darwin_amd64.tar.gz
    

• Confirm installation with:

nuru -v

Android (Termux)

To install Nuru on your Android device using Termux, follow these steps:

1. Ensure Termux is installed:

   • You can download and install Termux.

2. Create the target directory:

   mkdir -p /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/share/nuru

3. Download the Nuru package:

   curl -O -L https://github.com/NuruProgramming/Nuru/releases/download/v0.5.18/nuru_Android_arm64.tar.gz

4. Extract the files to the target directory:

   tar -xzvf nuru_Android_arm64.tar.gz -C /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/share/nuru

5. Set up an alias for easy access:

   echo "alias nuru='/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/share/nuru/nuru'" >> ~/.bashrc

6. Reload the .bashrc file to apply the alias:

   source ~/.bashrc

7. Verify the installation:

   nuru -v

For a more streamlined installation, you can use the following one-liner:

curl -O -L https://github.com/NuruProgramming/Nuru/releases/download/v0.5.18/nuru_Android_arm64.tar.gz && mkdir -p /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/share/nuru && tar -xzvf nuru_Android_arm64.tar.gz -C /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/share/nuru && echo "alias nuru='/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/share/nuru/nuru'" >> ~/.bashrc && source ~/.bashrc && echo "Installation complete.."

Windows

• Executable:

  • Download the Nuru zip file Here
  • Unzip to get the executable
  • Double click the executable

• Nuru Installer

  Coming Soon

Building From Source

• Make sure you have golang installed (atleast 1.19.0 and above)
• Run the following command:

go build -o nuru .

• Copy nuru binary to path destination ~/go/bin

cp nuru ~/go/bin

• Confirm installtion with:

nuru -v

Syntax At A Glance

NOTE

There is a more detailed documentation of the language here.

Nuru, although still in its early stage, intends to be a fully functional programming language, and thus it has been baked with many features.

Defining A Variable

You can define variables like this:

x = 2;
y = 3;

andika(x*y) // output is 6

You can also use the fanya keyword to define a variabe:

fanya x = 3

Note that fanya keyword is OPTIONAL

Comments

Nuru supports both single line and multiple line comments as shown below:

// Single line comment

/*
Multiple
Line
Comment
*/

Arithmetic Operations

For now Nuru supports +, -, /, * and %. Nuru also provides precedence of operations using the BODMAS rule:

2 + 2 * 3 // output = 8

2 * (2 + 3) // output = 10

Types

Nuru has the following types:

Type	Syntax	Comments
BOOL	kweli sikweli	kweli == true, sikweli == false
INT	1, 100, 342, -4	These are signed 64 bit integers
FLOAT	2.3, 4.5. 100.8094	Signed 64 bit floats
STRING	"" "mambo" "habari yako"	They can be in double " or single ' quotes
ARRAY	[] [1, 2, 3] [1, "moja", kweli]	Arrays can hold any types
DICT	{} {"a": 3, 1: "moja", kweli: 2}	Keys can be int, string or bool. Values can be anything
NULL	tupu	These are nil objects

Functions

This is how you define a function in Nuru:

jumlisha = unda(x, y) {
        rudisha x + y
    }

andika(jumlisha(3,4))

Nuru also supports recursion:

fibo = unda(x) {
	kama (x == 0) {
		rudisha 0;
	} au kama (x == 1) {
			rudisha 1;
	} sivyo {
			rudisha fibo(x - 1) + fibo(x - 2);
	}
}

If Statements

Nuru supports if, elif and else statements with keywords kama, au kama and sivyo respectively:

kama (2<1) {
    andika("Mbili ni ndogo kuliko moja")
} au kama (3 < 1) {
    andika ("Tatu ni ndogo kuliko moja")
} sivyo {
    andika("Moja ni ndogo")
}

While Loops

Nuru's while loop syntax is as follows:

i = 10

wakati (i > 0) {
	andika(i)
	i--
}

Arrays

This is how you initiliaze and perform other array operations in Nuru:

arr = []

// To add elements

sukuma(arr, 2)
andika(arr) // output = [2]
// Add two Arrays

arr2 = [1,2,3,4]

arr3 = arr1 + arr2

andika(arr3) // output = [2,1,2,3,4]

// reassign value

arr3[0] = 0

andika[arr3] // output = [0,1,2,3,4]

// get specific item

andika(arr[3]) // output = 3

Dictionaries

Nuru also supports dictionaries and you can do a lot with them as follows:

mtu = {"jina": "Mojo", "kabila": "Mnyakusa"}

// get value from key
andika(mtu["jina"]) // output = Mojo

andika(mtu["kabila"]); // output = Mnyakusa

// You can reassign values

mtu["jina"] = "Avicenna"

andika(mtu["jina"]) // output = Avicenna

// You can also add new values like this:

mtu["anapoishi"] = "Dar Es Salaam"

andika(mtu) // output = {"jina": "Avicenna", "kabila": "Mnyakusa", "anapoishi": "Dar Es Salaam"}

// You can also add two Dictionaries

kazi = {"kazi": "jambazi"}

mtu = mtu + kazi

andika(mtu) // output = {"jina": "Avicenna", "kabila": "Mnyakusa", "anapoishi": "Dar Es Salaam", "kazi": "jambazi"}

For Loops

These can iterate over strings, arrays and dictionaries (and iterators from .kitanzi()). You can also use a C-style for loop: kwa var = start ; condition ; update { ... }.

kwa i ktk "habari" {
    andika(i)
}
/* //output
h
a
b
a
r
i
*/

kwa i = 0; i < 3; i = i + 1 { andika(i) }  // 0, 1, 2

Getting Input From User

In Nuru you can get input from users using the jaza() keyword as follows:

jina = jaza("Unaitwa nani? ") // will prompt for input

andika("Habari yako " + jina)

How To Run

Using The Intepreter:

You can enter the intepreter by simply running the nuru command:

nuru
>>> andika("karibu")
karibu
>>> 2 + 2
4

Kindly Note that everything should be placed in a single line. Here's an example:

>>> kama (x > y) {andika("X ni kubwa")} sivyo {andika("Y ni kubwa")}

Running From File

To run a Nuru script, write the nuru command followed by the name of the file with a .nr or .sw extension:

nuru myFile.nr

Script-Relative Paths: __FILE__ and __DIR__

Nuru now supports script-relative path variables for improved portability and developer experience:

• __FILE__: The absolute path to the currently executing script file.
• __DIR__: The absolute directory containing the currently executing script file.

These variables are injected automatically when running a script file (not in the REPL). They are useful for loading resources, configuration, or data files relative to the script location.

Example:

andika("Script absolute path: " + __FILE__)
andika("Script directory: " + __DIR__)

ita njia kutoka "njia"
sibling = njia.unganisha(__DIR__, "sibling.txt")
andika("Sibling file path: " + sibling)

See examples/script_relative_path_example.nr for a full example.

Issues

Kindly open an Issue to make suggestions and anything else.

Contributions

We welcome contributions. See CONTRIBUTING.md for how to contribute (code, docs, bugs, features) and docs/POLICY.md for where new features go (builtins, modules, methods). Code of conduct: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.

Community

Nuru has a passionate community, join us on Telegram

License

MIT

Authors

Nuru Programming Language has been authored and being actively maintained by Avicenna