Red Programming Language

Red is a new programming language strongly inspired by Rebol, but with a broader field of usage thanks to its native-code compiler, from system programming to high-level scripting, while providing modern support for concurrency and multi-core CPUs.

Red has its own complete cross-platform toolchain, featuring two compilers, an interpreter and a linker, not depending on any third-party library, except for a Rebol2 interpreter, required during the bootstrap phase. Once complete, Red will be self-hosted.

The Red software stack also contains another language, Red/System, which is a low-level dialect of Red. It is a limited C-level language with a Red look'n feel, required to build Red's runtime library and be the target language of Red's compiler. More information at red-lang.org.

Making a Red "Hello World"

The Red toolchain comes as a single one-megabyte executable file that you can download from here for the big-3 platforms.

1. Put the downloaded red binary in the working folder.

2. In a code or text editor, write the following Hello World program:

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

3. Save it under the name: hello.red

4. From a terminal (works from DOS too), run it with:

   $ red hello.red
   

5. You should see the Hello World! output.

6. Want to generate a compiled executable from that program?

   $ red -c hello.red
   $ ./hello
   

7. Want to generate a compiled executable from that program with no dependencies?

   $ red -r hello.red
   $ ./hello
   

8. Want to cross-compile to another supported platform?

   $ red -t Windows hello.red
   $ red -t Darwin hello.red
   $ red -t Linux-ARM hello.red
   

The command-line syntax is:

red [command] [options] [file]

[file]

Note: On Non-Windows platforms, the REPL runs by default in CLI mode. But on Windows, the default is to run in GUI mode. To run it in the command line mode, invoke the red binary with the option

--cli

[options]

-c, --compile                  : Generate an executable in the working
                                 folder, using libRedRT. (development mode)

-d, --debug, --debug-stabs     : Compile source file in debug mode. STABS
                                 is supported for Linux targets.
-dlib, --dynamic-lib           : Generate a shared library from the source
                                 file.
-e, --encap                    : Compile in encap mode, so code is interpreted
                                 at runtime. Avoids compiler issues. Required
                                 for some dynamic code.
-h, --help                     : Output this help text.
-o , --output      : Specify a non-default [path/][name] for
                                 the generated binary file.
-r, --release                  : Compile in release mode, linking everything
                                 together (default: development mode).
-s, --show-expanded            : Output result of Red source code expansion by
                                 the preprocessor.
-t , --target          : Cross-compile to a different platform
                                 target than the current one (see targets
                                 table below).
-u, --update-libRedRT          : Rebuild libRedRT and compile the input script
                                  (only for Red scripts with R/S code).
-v , --verbose   : Set compilation verbosity level, 1-3 for
                                 Red, 4-11 for Red/System.
-V, --version                  : Output Red's executable version in x.y.z
                                 format.
--config [...]                 : Provides compilation settings as a block
                                 of name: value pairs.
--no-compress                  : Omit Redbin format compression.
--catch                        : Stay in the REPL after the script finishes.
--cli                          : Run the command-line REPL instead of the
                                 graphical console.
--no-console                   : Do not launch the REPL after console compilation. 
--no-view                      : Do not include VIEW module in the CLI console
                                 and the libRedRT.
--no-runtime                   : Do not include runtime during Red/System
                                 source compilation.
--red-only                     : Stop just after Red-level compilation.
                                 Use higher verbose level to see compiler
                                 output. (internal debugging purpose)
--show-func-map                : Output an address/name map of Red/System
                                 functions, for debugging purposes.

[command]

build libRed [stdcall]         : Builds libRed library and unpacks the
                                 libRed/ folder locally.

clear []                 : Delete all temporary files from current
                                 or target  folder.

Cross-compilation targets:

MSDOS        : Windows, x86, console (+ GUI) applications
Windows      : Windows, x86, GUI applications
WindowsXP    : Windows, x86, GUI applications, no touch API
Linux        : GNU/Linux, x86, console (+ GUI) applications
Linux-GTK    : GNU/Linux, x86, GUI only applications
Linux-musl   : GNU/Linux, x86, musl libc
Linux-ARM    : GNU/Linux, ARMv5, armel (soft-float)
RPi          : GNU/Linux, ARMv7, armhf (hard-float)
RPi-GTK      : GNU/Linux, ARMv7, armhf (hard-float), GUI only applications
Darwin       : macOS Intel, console-only applications
macOS        : macOS Intel, applications bundles
Syllable     : Syllable OS, x86
FreeBSD      : FreeBSD, x86
NetBSD       : NetBSD, x86
Android      : Android, ARMv5
Android-x86  : Android, x86

Note: Running the Red toolchain binary from a $PATH currently requires a wrapping shell script (see relevant tickets: #543 and #1547).

Running the Red REPL

1. Just run the

   red

   binary with no option to access the REPL.

   ---== Red 0.6.3 ==--
   Type HELP for starting information.
   
   >>
   

2. You can use it to test rapidly some Red code:

   >> 1 + 2
   == 3
   
   >> inc: func [n][n + 1]
   == func [n][n + 1]
   >> inc 123
   == 124
   

Notes:

• On Windows, the REPL runs by default in GUI mode. To run it in the command line, invoke the red binary as

  red --cli

  .
• Wine has some issues with the GUI-Console. Install the

  Consolas

  font to fix the problem.

Running Red from the sources (for contributors)

The compiler and linker are currently written in Rebol. Please follow the instructions for installing the compiler toolchain in order to run it from sources:

1. Clone this git repository or download an archive (

   ZIP

   button above or from tagged packages).

2. Download a Rebol interpreter suitable for your OS: Windows, Linux (or Linux), Mac OS X, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris.

3. Extract the

   rebol

   binary, put it in root folder, that's all!

4. Let's test it: run

   ./rebol

   , you'll see a

   >>

   prompt appear. Windows users need to double-click on the

   rebol.exe

   file to run it.

5. From the REBOL console type:

   >> do/args %red.r "%tests/hello.red"
   

The compilation process should finish with a

...output file size

hello.exe

To see the intermediary Red/System code generated by the compiler, use:

    >> do/args %red.r "-v 2 %tests/hello.red"

You can also compile the Red console from source:

    >> do/args %red.r "-r %environment/console/CLI/console.red"

To compile the Windows GUI console from source:

    >> do/args %red.r "-r -t Windows %environment/console/GUI/gui-console.red"

Note: the

-c

-r

Note: The red git repository does not include a

.gitignore

.gitignore-sample

Contributing

If you want to contribute code to the Red project be sure to read the guidelines first.

It is usually a good idea to inform the Red team about what changes you are going to make in order to ensure that someone is not already working on the same thing. You can reach us through our chat room.

Satisfied with the results of your change and want to issue a pull request on Github?

Make sure the changes pass all the existing tests, add relevant tests to the test-suite and please test on as many platforms as you can. You can run all the tests using (from Rebol console, at repository root):

    >> do %run-all.r

Git integration with console built from sources

If you want git version included in your Red console built from sources, use this command:

Red
call/show ""                                              ;-- patch call bug on Windows
save %build/git.r do %build/git-version.r                 ;-- lookup git version if available
do/args %red.r "-r %environment/console/CLI/console.red"  ;-- build Console
write %build/git.r "none^/"                               ;-- restore git repo status

Anti-virus false positive

Some anti-virus programs are a bit too sensitive and can wrongly report an alert on some binaries generated by Red (see here for the details). If that happens to you, please report it to your anti-virus vendor as a false positive.

License

Both Red and Red/System are published under BSD license, runtime is under BSL license. BSL is a bit more permissive license than BSD, more suitable for the runtime parts.