Sylt is a statically checked and dynamically typed programming language made for game jams. Working in Sylt should be a pain- and fearless experience. If it isn’t, please file an issue .

This introduction talks about how to install Sylt and write your first program and game. You may also want to check out the Guide and Quick Reference .

Installing the compiler

The simplest way of getting the binary is to download a tagged release from https://github.com/FredTheDino/sylt-lang/releases/ .

If you can’t download a pre-built binary (due to a different architecture or operating system) or don’t want to, you will need a Rust installation and the source code. We don’t test older versions of Rust so try to get the latest stable version.

If you don’t have Rust installed, consider using https://rustup.rs/ and selecting the latest stable version.

With Rust installed, run 

$ cargo install sylt --git https://github.com/FredTheDino/sylt-lang.git

to install the latest and greatest from the main branch. If you want a tagged version you can add --tag <tag-name> to the command, as in 

$ cargo install sylt --git https://github.com/FredTheDino/sylt-lang.git --tag v0.1.0

You can also download the source code and build it locally with 

$ cargo install --path sylt

Writing a simple program

Put the following hello world-program into a file called hello.sy . 

start :: fn do
    print("Hello world!")
end

Run the program by typing sylt hello.sy in a terminal! 

$ sylt hello.sy
Hello world!

Let’s walk through what happens in this program. 

start :: fn do           (1)
    print' "Hello world" (2)
end
1 Define the program entry point.
2 Greet the world.

Like main from languages like C and Java, a Sylt program requires an entry point ( start ) to start in.

Writing a simple game

With the world greeting out of the way, we can get a simple game going.

Documentation and moving forward

If you want a complete walkthrough of the language, check out the Guide . If you just want the abridged version there is also the Quick Reference .