Ovum Programming Language

Ovum is a strongly statically typed, single-threaded language focused on safety, clarity, and performance. It uses Kotlin-like syntax, immutability by default, a GC + JIT VM, interface-based polymorphism, and support for pure functions and functional objects.

• Contribute: see CONTRIBUTING.md.
• Project docs: Online.
• Full language reference: Online.

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Overview

• Memory safety via GC; no manual memory management.
• Immutable by default; explicit mutation with var.
• Pure functions (pure) are side-effect free and may be cached on VM level.
• Interface-based polymorphism; no class inheritance.
• Explicit unsafe { ... } for low-level operations.
• Minimal, predictable syntax; no user-defined operators.
• No generics/templates, only ad-hoc and subclass polymorphism.

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Syntax at a Glance

• Files: .ovum. Names: PascalCase for types/methods.
• Functions: fun Name(a: T): U { ... }; pure: pure fun ....
• Classes: class Name implements IFace { ... }; interfaces: interface IFace { ... }.
• Fields: val (immutable) or var (mutable); access modifiers are mandatory.
• Namespaces: :: (e.g., sys::Print). Basic preprocessor: #import, #define, #ifdef…

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Types and Nullability

• Fundamental types: int, float, byte, char, bool, pointer (value types, not nullable, not Objects)
• Primitive reference types: Int, Float, Byte, Char, Bool, Pointer (reference wrappers, nullable, Objects)
• Implicit conversion: Literals convert to primitives (val count: Int = 0)
• Nullable types: Append ? to reference types only (e.g., Int?, String?)
• Safe call ?., Elvis ?: for null handling
• Type test is, cast as (downcast yields nullable type)
• Copy assignment := for deep copying reference types

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Control Flow

• if/else, while, for (x in xs).
• return, break, continue; no goto.

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Expressions and Operators

• Arithmetic: + - * / %
• Comparison: == != < <= > >=
• Boolean: && || ! ^ (short‑circuit &&/||).
• Assignment: = (reference assignment), := (copy assignment)
• Member/calls: . () and safe ?.
• Null handling: ?. ?:
• Type ops: as, is
• Namespace: ::

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Object Model

• Classes implement interfaces; no class inheritance.
• Methods declare access; support override and pure.
• Optional destructor; called by GC (manual calls are unsafe).

Functional Objects (call)

• Classes or interfaces can define a special call member to be callable.
• Function literals can coerce to an interface exposing a compatible call.

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Runtime and Tooling

• Pipeline: .ovum → bytecode → Ovum VM.
• GC for memory safety; JIT compiles hot paths.
• Single‑threaded execution model.
• Architectures: amd64, arm64. Numeric widths: int 8 bytes, float 8 bytes.
• Entry point: Main(args: StringArray): Int.

Build & Run (conceptual): write .ovum, compile (parse, type‑check, enforce const/pure), run on VM (JIT + GC).

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System Library and Interop

• sys::Print(msg: String): Void
• sys::Time(): Int
• sys::Sleep(ms: Int): Void
• sys::Exit(code: Int): Never
• FFI: sys::Interope(dllName, functionName, input: ByteArray, output: ByteArray): Int (unsafe)

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Unsafe (recap)

Only inside unsafe { ... }:

• Global var and static var writes.
• Const/mutable casts; pointer, address‑of, dereference.
• Manual destructor calls.
• sys::Interope; casting any value to (const or mutable) ByteArray.

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Bytecode

Bytecode is the intermediate representation of the Ovum program. It is generated by the compiler and executed by the Ovum VM.

Ovum Bytecode:

// Simple program that prints numbers 1 to 5
function _Global_Main_StringArray {
    PushInt 1
    SetLocal 1
    
    while {
        LoadLocal 1
        PushInt 5
        IntLessEqual
    } then {
        LoadLocal 1
        CallConstructor Int
        Call _Int_ToString_<C>
        PrintLine
        LoadLocal 1
        PushInt 1
        IntAdd
        SetLocal 1
    }
    
    PushInt 0
    Return
}

Ovum Source Code:

fun Main(args: StringArray): Int {
    var i: int = 1
    
    while (i <= 5) {
        sys::PrintLine(Int(i).ToString())
        i = i + 1
    }
    
    return 0
}

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Code Examples

Entry point (StringArray)

// .ovum file
fun Main(args: StringArray): Int {
    val count: Int = args.Length()  // Built-in returns Int
    sys::Print("Args count: " + count.ToString())
    return 0  // Implicit conversion from literal
}

Pure functions with caching

pure fun Fib(n: int): int {
    if (n <= 1) return n
    val fib1: int = Fib(n - 1)
    val fib2: int = Fib(n - 2)
    return fib1 + fib2
}

is, as and ByteArray casts

fun DemoCasts(obj: Object): Void {
    if (obj is Point) {
        val p: Point? = obj as Point
        if (p != null) {
            val nonNullP: Point = p ?: Point(0, 0)  // Use Elvis operator
            sys::Print(nonNullP.ToString())
        }
    }

    // Bool cast
    val b1: Bool = 0 as bool  // false
    val b2: Bool = 42 as bool  // true
    val b3: Bool = obj as bool  // always true
    val b4: Bool = (obj as Point) as bool  // true if obj is a Point

    // Unsafe: raw byte views
    unsafe {
        val bytesConst: ByteArray = (obj as ByteArray)
        val bytesMut  : ByteArray = (obj as var ByteArray)
    }
}

Functional objects (call) & literals

interface CustomFunctional {
    call(a: Int?, b: Int?): Int
}

class DefinedFunctional {
    public var Multiplier: Int

    public fun DefinedFunctional(multiplier: Int): DefinedFunctional {
        this.Multiplier = multiplier
        return this
    }

    public call(secondMultiplier: Int): Int = fun(secondMultiplier: Int): Int {
        return Multiplier * secondMultiplier
    }
}

val AddNullable: CustomFunctional = pure fun(a: Int?, b: Int?): Int {
    val aVal: int = a ?: 0  // Implicit conversion from Int? to int
    val bVal: int = b ?: 0
    return Int(aVal + bVal)  // Implicit conversion from int to Int
}

fun Main(args: StringArray): Int {
    // Constructor call then functional call via `call`
    return AddNullable(2, DefinedFunctional(-1)(2))  // Implicit conversion from literals
}

Complete program example

// Complete Ovum program demonstrating key features
interface ICalculator {
    fun Calculate(a: Int, b: Int): Int
}

class Adder implements ICalculator {
    public override fun Calculate(a: Int, b: Int): Int {
        return a + b
    }
}

class Multiplier implements ICalculator {
    public override fun Calculate(a: Int, b: Int): Int {
        return a * b
    }
}

pure fun ProcessNumbers(calc: ICalculator, numbers: IntArray): int {
    var result: int = 0
    for (num in numbers) {
        val calcResult: Int = calc.Calculate(num, 2)  // Implicit conversion from literal
        result = result + calcResult  // Implicit conversion
    }
    return result
}

fun Main(args: StringArray): int {
    val numbers: IntArray = IntArray(3)
    numbers[0] := 5  // Implicit conversion from literal
    numbers[1] := 10
    numbers[2] := 15
    
    val adder: ICalculator = Adder()
    val multiplier: ICalculator = Multiplier()
    
    val sumResult: int = ProcessNumbers(adder, numbers)
    val productResult: int = ProcessNumbers(multiplier, numbers)
    
    sys::Print("Sum result: " + Int(sumResult).ToString())
    sys::Print("Product result: " + Int(productResult).ToString())
    
    return 0  // Implicit conversion from literal
}