This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Jishith Mp
Hey, I've been working on this for a while now and finally feel okay sharing some code examples.
Zen is a statically typed language that compiles to native binaries through LLVM. Still a work in progress but the core stuff works.
One thing I'm kind of proud of is reactive variables. It's a first class feature where a variable automatically recomputes when something it depends on changes:
int cartItems = 3
int pricePerItem = 50
reactive int total = cartItems * pricePerItem
screen(`Total: $${total}`) # 150
cartItems = 5
screen(`Total: $${total}`) # 250, updates automatically
pricePerItem = 60
screen(`Total: $${total}`) # 300
no event listeners or anything, it just stays in sync. got the idea from how spreadsheet cells work honestly
also has a standard library with time, fs, sys etc. here's a small example using both:
fn greet() {
string t = time.time()
List<string> parts = split(t, ":")
int hour = Int(parts[0])
string greeting = ""
if (hour < 12) {
greeting = "Good Morning"
} else if (hour < 17) {
greeting = "Good Afternoon"
} else {
greeting = "Good Evening"
}
screen(greeting + ", Welcome to Zen!")
}
greet()
and file I/O:
string path = "notes.txt"
string content = "Zen is minimal, fast, and fun to write."
fs.writeFile(path, content)
string data = fs.readFile(path)
screen(`File content: ${data}`)
fs.appendFile(path, " — written in Zen.")
string updated = fs.readFile(path)
screen(`Updated: ${updated}`)
anyway the full pipeline works, lexer parser AST LLVM IR native binary and a CLI. still lots to do but it's at a point where I can actually write real programs in it.
docs if anyone wants to look: https://jishith-dev.github.io/zen-doc/site/
open to feedback, especially on the syntax.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Jishith Mp
Jishith Mp | Sciencx (2026-06-13T16:37:51+00:00) I made a programming language called Zen, wanted to share some examples. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2026/06/13/i-made-a-programming-language-called-zen-wanted-to-share-some-examples/
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