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176 points sirbread | 4 comments | | HN request time: 0.739s | 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. bsenftner ◴[] No.45557934[source]
You've got the basis of an entire alternative programming culture - locate a strong and understanding marketing partner, and you've got something potentially as big as Pokemon.
replies(1): >>45559007 #
2. CaptainOfCoit ◴[] No.45559007[source]
> and you've got something potentially as big as Pokemon.

Huh? Granted, anything is "potentially as big as Pokemon" but care to share why this project in particular makes you feel that way? It's a fun project, I'll give you that, but "programming as magic incantations" feels like a niche within a niche within a niche, which would make me believe it cannot ever be "as big as Pokemon". It doesn't need to be either, nothing wrong with fun projects made for fun.

replies(2): >>45559159 #>>45559929 #
3. sirbread ◴[] No.45559159[source]
i've gotta agree with you on this one </3
4. bsenftner ◴[] No.45559929[source]
Before Cyberpunk became the darling that is has become, there was another sci-fi future with a few authors that imagined a virtual world with magic and sorcery being software, and software developers writing programs that read like incantations. That alternative view of a future chose to construct VR worlds in a medieval style simply because it all fit a theme of fantasy with magic (software.) That version, or school of sci-fi was active in the 70's; which is when I read some of it. It's rich, it's engaging; with good marketing that could all be reimagined.