←back to thread

176 points sirbread | 3 comments | | HN request time: 0.4s | source

i made an esoteric programming language which i call spellscript. every program is a "spell" written in a "grimoire," and you have to use keywords like summon, enchant, inscribe, and conjure.

it's literally read like a spellbook because the syntax consists of all natural language, and newlines are optional. your code can now be an essay, like everybody wants!

for example, if you want to print something, you'd write: `begin the grimoire. inscribe whispers of "hello, world!". close the grimoire.`

it has variables, dynamic typing, arrays, functions, conditionals, loops, string manipulation, array manipulation, type conversion, and user input, among other (listed in the docs!)

but why? i wanted to see how far you could push natural language syntax while still being parseable. most esolangs are intentionally obtuse (BF, Malbolge), but i wanted something that's weird but readable, like you're reading instructions from a spellbook, which makes it incredibly easy to read and understand. like an anti-esolang? hmm...

github: https://github.com/sirbread/spellscript

docs: https://github.com/sirbread/spellscript/blob/main/resources/...

1. thaumasiotes ◴[] No.45557555[source]
> summon the result with essence of through ritual amplify with power

This is not natural language.

replies(2): >>45557800 #>>45559125 #
2. throwingrocks ◴[] No.45557800[source]
Literal eye roll. It’s close enough.
replies(1): >>45558632 #
3. sirbread ◴[] No.45559125[source]
there may be some parts that read like really, really broken English like the one you just said, but for the most part I feel like it's okayishly readable. and again, this was just an end-of-the-week side project that I made because a random person in school gave me the idea to do so, so it won't be too polished :P