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Red (programming language)

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Red
Red Logo (stylized Tower of Hanoi)
ParadigmMulti-paradigm:imperative,functional,symbolic
Designed byNenad Rakočević[1]
DeveloperNenad Rakočević
First appeared2011
Stable release
0.6.5[2](Beta) / February 19, 2024
OSLinux,Windows,OS X
Licensemodified BSDandBoost
Filename extensions.red,.reds
Websitewww.red-lang.orgEdit this at Wikidata
Influenced by
Rebol,Lisp,Scala,Lua

Redis aprogramming languagedesigned to overcome the limitations of the programming languageRebol.[3]Red was introduced in 2011 by Nenad Rakočević,[4]and is both animperativeandfunctional programminglanguage. Its syntax and general usage overlaps that of the interpreted Rebol language.[5]

The implementation choices of Red intend to create afull stackprogramming language:[4][6]Red can be used for extremely high-level programming (DSLsandGUIs) as well as low-level programming (operating systemsanddevice drivers). Key to the approach is that the language has two parts:Red/SystemandRed.[7]

  • Red/Systemis similar to C, but packaged into a Rebol lexical structure – for example, one would writeifx>y[print"Hello"]instead ofif(x>y){printf("Hello\n");}.
  • Redis ahomoiconic language,which is capable of meta-programming with Rebol-like semantics.[3][8]Red's runtime library is written in Red/System, and uses a hybrid approach: itcompileswhat it can deduce statically and uses an embeddedinterpreterotherwise. The project roadmap includes ajust-in-time compilerfor cases in between, but this has not yet been implemented.

Red seeks to remain independent of any othertoolchain;it does its own code generation.[3]It is therefore possible tocross-compile[6]Red programs from any platform it supports to any other, via a command-line switch. Both Red and Red/System are distributed asopen-source softwareunder themodified BSD license.The runtime library is distributed under the more permissiveBoost Software License.

As of version 0.6.4 Red includes agarbage collector"the Simple GC".[9]

Red Language architecture schema

Introduction[edit]

Red was introduced in theNetherlandsin February 2011 at theRebol & Boron conference[10]by its author Nenad Rakočević. In September 2011, the Red programming language was presented to a larger audience during theSoftware Freedom Day2011.[11][12]Rakočević is a long-time Rebol developer known as the creator of the CheyenneHTTP server.[13]

Features[edit]

Red's syntax and semantics are very close to those ofRebol.[4][14]Like Rebol, it strongly supportsmetaprogrammingand domain-specific languages (DSLs) and is therefore a highly efficient tool for dialecting (creating embedded DSLs). Red includes a dialect called Red/System, a C-level language which provides system programming facilities.[7]Red is easy to integrate with other tools and languages as a DLL (libRed) and very lightweight (around 1 MB). It is also able to cross-compile to various platforms (see Cross Compilation section below) and create packages for platforms that require them (e.g.,.APK on Android).[7]Red also includes a fully reactive cross-platform GUI system based on an underlying reactive dataflow engine, a 2D drawing dialect comparable to SVG, compile-time and runtime macro support, and more than 40 standard datatypes.

Goals[edit]

The following is the list of Red's Goals as presented on theSoftware Freedom Day2011:[11][12]

  • Simplicity ( "An IDE should not be necessary to write code." )
  • Compactness ( "Being highly expressive maximizes productivity." )
  • Speed ( "If too slow, it cannot be general-purpose enough." )
  • Be "Green", Have a Small Footprint ( "Because resources are not limitless." )
  • Ubiquity ( "Spread everywhere." )
  • Portability, Write once run everywhere ( "That's the least expected from a programming language." )
  • Flexibility ( "Not best but good fit for any task!" )

Commercial applications[edit]

The following commercial applications are currently developed on Red:

  • DiaGrammar[15]— Live coded diagramming
  • SmartXML[16]— XML parsing tool.

Development[edit]

Red's development is planned to be done in two phases:

  1. Initial phase: Red and Red/System compilers written inRebol2
  2. Bootstrapphase: Red and Red/System compilers complemented by a Red JIT-compiler, all written in Red

Cross compilation[edit]

Red currently supports the following cross-compilation targets:[4]

(Note: Presently, Red applications are 32-bit, but it is planned to switch to 64-bit in the future.[4])

Hello World![edit]

The"Hello, World!" programin Red: 

Red[Title:"Simple hello world script"]
print"Hello, World!"

Factorial example[edit]

IMPORTANT: These are intended as syntax examples. Until Red has64-bitsupport, the integer example will overflow a32-bitinteger very quickly. Changing that to `float!` will go farther, but these are merely to show the syntax of the language.

The following is a factorial example in Red: 

Red[Title:"A factorial script"];Note: The title is optional.

factorial:func[
x[integer!];Giving the type of an argument in Red is optional
][
eitherx=0[1][x*factorialx-1]
]

The following is the same factorial example in Red/System (in this very simple case, the source code is very similar to Red's version): 

Red/System[Title:"A factorial script"]

factorial:func[
x[integer!];This is compulsory in Red/System
return:[integer!];This is compulsory in Red/System
][
eitherx=0[1][x*factorialx-1]
]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Creator of Red".GitHub.
  2. ^"Red's changelog".red-lang.RetrievedFebruary 21,2024.
  3. ^abc"Getting Started with GUI Programming using Red Language".Studytonight.RetrievedSeptember 17,2021.
  4. ^abcdeBalbaert 2018.
  5. ^"Interview with Nenad Rakocevic about Red, a Rebol inspired programming language".Not a Monad Tutorial.28 August 2015.RetrievedAugust 28,2015.
  6. ^ab"6 Unusual & Groundbreaking Programming Languages to Learn in 2023".makeuseof.com.18 October 2023.
  7. ^abcLucas, Mathis (21 July 2023)."Red: an imperative and functional programming language that is also a" full battery "language".Developpez.com.Retrieved16 January2023.
  8. ^Sasu, Alexandru (22 November 2018)."Review of Red".Softpedia.RetrievedFebruary 21,2024.
  9. ^lucindamichele."0.6.4 Simple GC and Pure Red GUI Console".Retrieved2018-12-16.The main feature for 0.6.4 is what we call the Simple GC (Garbage Collector). A more advanced GC is planned for the future
  10. ^« New Red Programming Language Gets Syllable Backend »,osnews.com,May 2011.
  11. ^ab« Red Programming Language: Red at Software Freedom Day 2011 »,red-lang.org,September 14, 2011.
  12. ^ab"Software Freedom Day 2011: Red programming language, a new REBOL dialect".YouTube.Retrieved17 January2023.
  13. ^« What is Cheyenne? »Last referenced Nov 2017.
  14. ^"The Dynamic Mapping Architecture".OhioLINK.December 2021.
  15. ^«DiaGrammar»,red-lang.org,March 2020.
  16. ^«SmartXML»,redata.dev.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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