TECHSCRIPT_LANGUAGE_SPEC.md

TECHSCRIPT CANONICAL LANGUAGE SPECIFICATION

Edition: TechScript 3.0 Canonical LTS
Status: Authoritative Single Source of Truth
Target Runtimes: Multi-Platform (Native VM, Tree-Walking Interpreter, LLVM Native, Android NDK)
Primary File Extension: .txs
Master Document: TechScript_Final_Syntax_and_Language_Master_Spec.md

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1. Vision & Core Principles

TechScript is an independent, general-purpose programming language designed to be ultra-short, intuitive, and readable by anyone who understands basic English, while retaining the mathematical rigor, static guarantees, and execution power required for serious software engineering.

1.1 Non-Negotiable Tenets

1. Plain-English Simplicity: Eliminates artificial boilerplate (let, var, fn, function, do, end, semicolons, and curly braces for ordinary blocks).
2. Indentation and Colons: Code blocks are introduced with a colon (:) and delineated by 4-space indentation.
3. Natural Assignment:
   • name is "TechScript" creates a variable.
   • count becomes count + 1 mutates an existing variable.
   • constant max is 5 creates an immutable constant.
4. Natural Functions: Declared with to name(params): and closed by indentation return.
5. Direct Output: Uses say for clean terminal output.
6. Automatic String Interpolation: Double-quoted strings automatically evaluate {expression} without prefixes like $ or f.
7. Clean Loops: repeat 3 times:, for item in list:, while condition:.
8. General-Purpose Architecture: UI frameworks (AppForge, Webforge) and graphics are external libraries, never hardcoded compiler keywords.

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2. Canonical Lexical Grammar & Tokens

2.1 Comments

# Standard line comment (canonical)

2.2 Reserved Words

is, becomes, constant, to, return, if, else, repeat, times, for, in, while, stop, skip, and, or, not, true, false, nothing, use, as, try, catch, finally, raise, async, await, type, test, expect, say, ask.

2.3 Normative Grammar Skeleton (EBNF)

program          = { statement, newline } ;
statement        = variable_decl | constant_decl | assignment
                 | function_decl | type_decl
                 | if_stmt | repeat_stmt | for_stmt | while_stmt
                 | return_stmt | use_stmt | try_stmt | raise_stmt
                 | say_stmt | ask_expr | expression_stmt | test_decl ;

variable_decl    = name, "is", expression ;
constant_decl    = "constant", name, [ ":", type_expr ], "is", expression ;
assignment       = assignable, "becomes", expression ;
assignable       = name, { ".", name | "[", expression, "]" } ;

function_decl    = "to", name, "(", [ parameters ], ")", [ "->", type_expr ], block ;
parameters       = parameter, { ",", parameter } ;
parameter        = name, [ ":", type_expr ], [ "=", expression ] ;
call             = expression, "(", [ arguments ], ")" ;
arguments        = argument, { ",", argument } ;
argument         = [ name, ":" ], expression ;
block_call       = call, block ;
block            = ":", newline, indent, { statement, newline }, dedent ;

if_stmt          = "if", expression, block,
                   { "else if", expression, block },
                   [ "else", block ] ;
repeat_stmt      = "repeat", expression, "times", block
                 | "repeat", name, "from", expression, "to", expression, block ;
for_stmt         = "for", name, "in", expression, block ;
while_stmt       = "while", expression, block ;
say_stmt         = "say", expression ;
return_stmt      = "return", [ expression ] ;

list_literal     = "[", [ expression, { ",", expression } ], "]" ;
object_literal   = "{", [ pair, { ",", pair } ], "}" ;
pair             = ( name | string ), ":", expression ;
interpolation    = "{", expression, [ ":", format_spec ], "}" ;
expression       = literal | name | list_literal | object_literal
                 | call | property_access | index_access
                 | unary_expr | binary_expr | lambda_expr | grouped_expr ;

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3. Variables & Assignment

3.1 Creating Variables

name is "TechScript"
count is 0
active is true
nothing_here is nothing

3.2 Mutating Variables

count becomes count + 1
name becomes "AppForge"
active becomes false

3.3 Constants

constant app_name is "TechScript"
constant max_attempts is 5

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4. Functions & Returns

4.1 Canonical Function Declaration

to greet(person):
    return "Hello, {person}!"

to add(first, second):
    return first + second

say greet("Tanmoy")
say add(2, 3)

4.2 Optional Type Annotations

to add(first: number, second: number) -> number:
    return first + second

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5. Control Flow

5.1 Conditionals

if score >= 90:
    say "Excellent"
else if score >= 70:
    say "Good"
else:
    say "Keep practising"

5.2 Counted Loops

repeat 3 times:
    say "Hello again!"

5.3 Range Loops

repeat index from 1 to 5:
    say "Item {index}"

5.4 Collections Iteration

colors is ["cyan", "indigo", "violet"]
for color in colors:
    say color

5.5 While Loops

while count < 5:
    say count
    count becomes count + 1

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6. Collections & Structured Data

6.1 Lists

items is ["first", "second", "third"]
say items[0]
items.add("fourth")

6.2 Objects / Maps

person is {
    name: "Tanmoy",
    age: 20,
    skills: ["TechScript", "Rust"]
}

say person.name
person.age becomes 21

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7. Canonical Example Program

# Path: examples/hello_world/modern_syntax.txs

name is "TechScript"
count is 0

to greet(person):
    say "Hello, {person}!"

if count < 10:
    count becomes count + 1

greet(name)
say "Count: {count}"

repeat 3 times:
    say "Hello again from TechScript!"