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The TorbScript language: compiler, runtime, standard library and toolchain https://torb.dev

compiler functional interpreter language multi-paradigm torbscript

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.claude/skills/torbscript	docs(std/binary): the design record, the package page, and what the migration measured	2026-09-27 13:08:32 +02:00
.github	ci(release): build, push and sign the root server's images on GHCR from every release	2026-09-27 11:01:25 +02:00
.vscode	feat(checker)!: a field is written only with `=`, never by a command	2026-09-26 01:38:40 +02:00
benchmarks	test(benchmarks): binary formats, to measure the standard library against itself	2026-09-27 13:08:32 +02:00
compiler	feat(packages): publish to a registry on the network, with a token or trusted publishing	2026-09-27 11:01:25 +02:00
docs	docs(std/binary): the design record, the package page, and what the migration measured	2026-09-27 13:08:32 +02:00
examples	refactor(format): format the repository with torb format	2026-09-27 04:02:15 +02:00
runtime	chore(runtime): regenerate the VM's natives table, and format dns-over-tls after the landing	2026-09-27 04:42:06 +02:00
std	refactor(std): write Self in the From conversions, and label the compressed option of names	2026-09-27 13:08:32 +02:00
tests	chore(runtime): regenerate the VM's natives table, and format dns-over-tls after the landing	2026-09-27 04:42:06 +02:00
tools	build(deploy): compose.yml of GHCR images behind the owner's Traefik, with backups	2026-09-27 11:01:25 +02:00
.gitattributes	build: check every file out as the repository holds it, without line ending conversion	2026-09-26 03:59:35 +02:00
.gitignore	docs: make destructors, cancellation and the closure rule precise	2026-09-22 20:18:28 +02:00
CLAUDE.md	build(tools): gate on format --check instead of canon --check	2026-09-27 04:02:15 +02:00
CONCEPT.md	docs(tooling): torb format and torb lint are built, torb canon is deprecated	2026-09-27 04:02:15 +02:00
LICENSE	chore: keep mbedTLS's own license outside the runtime's MIT-0	2026-09-24 23:36:24 +02:00
project.trb	feat(checker)!: a field is written only with `=`, never by a command	2026-09-26 01:38:40 +02:00
README.md	docs(release): the slogan One language, every layer, and the category a single-language ecosystem	2026-09-26 23:09:21 +02:00

README.md

TorbScript

One language, every layer. A single-language ecosystem.

A functional-first, multi-paradigm scripting language with value semantics. It runs interpreted and compiles to native executables, and it is its own configuration format.

CONCEPT.md - the language
docs/ARCHITECTURE.md - how it is implemented, and the state of it
examples/tour - the language in thirteen files

Directory	Contains
`compiler/`	The toolchain, written in TorbScript
`std/`	The standard library, one package per directory (`std/core`, `std/fs`, ...; `std/prelude` re-exports)
`runtime/`	The C runtime every compiled binary links against (runtime/README.md)
`examples/`	Tour and example projects
`tests/`	The conformance suite and the language smoke programs (tests/conformance/README.md)

Building

The compiler is written in TorbScript and compiles itself, so a checkout needs two things: a C compiler ($TORB_CC, or clang, gcc, cc in that order) and a seed - a torb that already exists. The seed is not in git, because it is a build artifact of an earlier commit rather than a fact about this one.

seed/torb[.exe]     a binary for this platform: a release download, or one built by a `torb` you already have
seed/program.c      the portable seed: the compiler as one C file, which builds anywhere a C compiler does

Put one of the two in place and build:

sh tools/bootstrap.sh          # seed -> build/bootstrap/torb -> build/release/torb

Two steps and not one: the seed compiles the current sources, that binary compiles them again, and the two program.c are compared byte for byte. build/release/torb is the compiler that comes out.

A release publishes both artifacts, so a checkout downloads the binary for its platform, or program.c for a platform that has none. Between releases the seed is whatever torb was built last:

torb build ./compiler --output ./seed/torb           # a binary seed for this platform
torb build ./compiler --emit-c --output ./seed/torb  # seed/program.c, the portable one

Once build/release/torb is there:

sh tools/gates.sh a            # the gates of every round (compiler/CONTRIBUTING.md)
sh runtime/build.sh            # the C runtime and its own tests