cell/docs/_index.md

title, description, type

title	description	type
Documentation	ƿit language documentation	docs

ƿit is an actor-based scripting language for building concurrent applications. It combines a familiar C-like syntax with the actor model of computation, optimized for low memory usage and simplicity.

Key Features

• Actor Model — isolated memory, message passing, no shared state
• Immutability — stone() makes values permanently frozen
• Prototype Inheritance — objects without classes
• C Integration — seamlessly extend with native code
• Cross-Platform — deploy to desktop, web, and embedded

Quick Start

// hello.ce - A simple actor
print("Hello, ƿit!")
$stop()

pit hello

Language

• ƿit Language — syntax, types, and operators
• Actors and Modules — the execution model
• Requestors — asynchronous composition
• Packages — code organization and sharing
• Shop Architecture — module resolution, compilation, and caching

Reference

• Built-in Functions — intrinsics reference
• text — text conversion and manipulation
• number — numeric conversion and operations
• array — array creation and manipulation
• object — object creation, prototypes, and serialization

Standard Library

Modules loaded with use():

• blob — binary data
• time — time and dates
• math — trigonometry and math
• json — JSON encoding/decoding
• random — random numbers

Tools

• Command Line — the pit tool
• Semantic Index — index and query symbols, references, and call sites
• Testing — writing and running tests
• Compiler Inspection — dump AST, mcode, and optimizer reports
• Writing C Modules — native extensions

Architecture

ƿit programs are organized into packages. Each package contains:

• Modules (.cm) — return a value, cached and frozen
• Actors (.ce) — run independently, communicate via messages
• C files (.c) — compiled to native libraries

Actors never share memory. They communicate by sending messages, which are automatically serialized. This makes concurrent programming safe and predictable.

Installation

# Clone and bootstrap
git clone https://gitea.pockle.world/john/cell
cd cell
make bootstrap

The ƿit shop is stored at ~/.cell/.

Development

After making changes, recompile with:

make

Run cell --help to see all available CLI flags.