A Tour of YSH

This doc describes the YSH language from clean slate perspective. We don't assume you know Unix shell, or the compatible OSH. But shell users will see the similarity, with simplifications and upgrades.

Remember, YSH is for Python and JavaScript users who avoid shell! See the project FAQ for more color on that.

This document is long because it demonstrates nearly every feature of the language. You may want to read it in multiple sittings, or read The Simplest Explanation of Oil first. (Until 2023, YSH was called the "Oil language".)

Here's a summary of what follows:

  1. YSH has interleaved word, command, and expression languages.
  2. YSH has both builtin commands like cd /tmp, and builtin functions like join().
  3. Languages for data, like JSON, are complementary to YSH code.
  4. OSH and YSH share both an interpreter data model and a process model (provided by the Unix kernel). Understanding these common models will make you both a better shell user and YSH user.

Keep these points in mind as you read the details below.

Table of Contents
Preliminaries
Examples
Hello World Script
A Taste of YSH
Word Language: Expressions for Strings (and Arrays)
Unquoted Words
Three Kinds of String Literals
Three Kinds of Substitution
Arrays of Strings: Globs, Brace Expansion, Splicing, and Splitting
Command Language: I/O, Control Flow, Abstraction
Simple Commands
Redirects
ARGV and ENV
Pipelines
Multi-line Commands
var, setvar, const to Declare and Mutate
for Loop
while Loop
if elif Conditional
case Conditional
Error Handling
Ruby-like Block Arguments
Shell-like proc
Expression Language: Python-like Types
Python-like func
Data Types: Int, Str, List, Dict, Obj, ...
Methods
Place type / "out params"
Operators
Egg Expressions (YSH Regexes)
Interlude
Three Interleaved Languages
How Do They Work Together?
Advanced YSH Features
Closures
Objects
Modules
Reflecting on the Interpreter
Data Notation / Interchange Formats
UTF-8
Lines of Text (traditional), and JSON/J8 Strings
Structured: JSON8, TSV8
The Runtime Shared by OSH and YSH
Interpreter Data Model
Process Model (the kernel)
Summary
Related Docs
Appendix: Features Not Shown
Advanced
Deprecated Shell Constructs
Not Yet Implemented
Appendix: Example of an YSH Module

Preliminaries

Start YSH just like you start bash or Python:

bash$ ysh                # assuming it's installed

ysh$ echo 'hello world'  # command typed into YSH
hello world

In the sections below, we'll save space by showing output in comments, with =>:

echo 'hello world'       # => hello world

Multi-line output is shown like this:

echo one
echo two
# =>
# one
# two

Examples

Hello World Script

You can also type commands into a file like hello.ysh. This is a complete YSH program, which is identical to a shell program:

echo 'hello world'     # => hello world

A Taste of YSH

Unlike shell, YSH has var and const keywords:

const name = 'world'   # const is rarer, used the top-level
echo "hello $name"     # => hello world

They take rich Python-like expressions on the right:

var x = 42             # an integer, not a string
setvar x = x * 2 + 1   # mutate with the 'setvar' keyword

setvar x += 5          # Increment by 5
echo $x                # => 6

var mylist = [x, 7]    # two integers [6, 7]

Expressions are often surrounded by ():

if (x > 0) {
  echo 'positive'
}  # => positive

for i, item in (mylist) {  # 'mylist' is a variable, not a string
  echo "[$i] item $item"
}
# =>
# [0] item 6
# [1] item 7

YSH has Ruby-like blocks:

cd /tmp {
  echo hi > greeting.txt  # file created inside /tmp
  echo $PWD               # => /tmp
}
echo $PWD                 # prints the original directory

And utilities to read and write JSON:

var person = {name: 'bob', age: 42}
json write (person)
# =>
# {
#   "name": "bob",
#   "age": 42,
# }

echo '["str", 42]' | json read  # sets '_reply' variable by default

The = keyword evaluates and prints an expression:

= _reply
# => (List)   ["str", 42]

(Think of it like var x = _reply, without the var.)

Word Language: Expressions for Strings (and Arrays)

Let's describe the word language first, and then talk about commands and expressions. Words are a rich language because strings are a central concept in shell.

Unquoted Words

Words denote strings, but you often don't need to quote them:

echo hi  # => hi

Quotes are useful when a string has spaces, or punctuation characters like ( ) ;.

Three Kinds of String Literals

You can choose the style that's most convenient to write a given string.

Double-Quoted, Single-Quoted, and J8 strings (like JSON)

Double-quoted strings allow interpolation, with $:

var person = 'alice'
echo "hi $person, $(echo bye)"  # => hi alice, bye

Write operators by escaping them with \:

echo "\$ \" \\ "                # => $ " \

In single-quoted strings, all characters are literal (except ', which can't be expressed):

echo 'c:\Program Files\'        # => c:\Program Files\

If you want C-style backslash character escapes, use a J8 string, which is like JSON, but with single quotes:

echo u' A is \u{41} \n line two, with backslash \\'
# =>
#  A is A
#  line two, with backslash \

The u'' strings are guaranteed to be valid Unicode (unlike JSON). You can also use b'' strings:

echo b'byte \yff'  # Byte that's not valid unicode, like \xff in C.
                   # Don't confuse it with \u{ff}.

Multi-line Strings

Multi-line strings are surrounded with triple quotes. They come in the same three varieties, and leading whitespace is stripped in a convenient way.

sort <<< """
var sub: $x
command sub: $(echo hi)
expression sub: $[x + 3]
"""
# =>
# command sub: hi
# expression sub: 9
# var sub: 6

sort <<< '''
$2.00  # literal $, no interpolation
$1.99
'''
# =>
# $1.99
# $2.00

sort <<< u'''
C\tD
A\tB
'''  # b''' strings also supported
# =>
# A        B
# C        D

(Use multiline strings instead of shell's here docs.)

Three Kinds of Substitution

YSH has syntax for 3 types of substitution, all of which start with $. That is, you can convert any of these things to a string:

  1. Variables
  2. The output of commands
  3. The value of expressions

Variable Sub

The syntax $a or ${a} converts a variable to a string:

var a = 'ale'
echo $a                          # => ale
echo _${a}_                      # => _ale_
echo "_ $a _"                    # => _ ale _

The shell operator :- is occasionally useful in YSH:

echo ${not_defined:-'default'}   # => default

Command Sub

The $(echo hi) syntax runs a command and captures its stdout:

echo $(hostname)                 # => example.com
echo "_ $(hostname) _"           # => _ example.com _

Expression Sub

The $[myexpr] syntax evaluates an expression and converts it to a string:

echo $[a]                        # => ale
echo $[1 + 2 * 3]                # => 7
echo "_ $[1 + 2 * 3] _"          # => _ 7 _

Arrays of Strings: Globs, Brace Expansion, Splicing, and Splitting

There are four constructs that evaluate to a list of strings, rather than a single string.

Globs

Globs like *.py evaluate to a list of files.

touch foo.py bar.py  # create the files
write *.py
# =>
# foo.py
# bar.py

If no files match, it evaluates to an empty list ([]).

Brace Expansion

The brace expansion mini-language lets you write strings without duplication:

write {alice,bob}@example.com
# =>
# alice@example.com
# bob@example.com

Splicing

The @ operator splices an array into a command:

var myarray = :| ale bean |
write S @myarray E
# =>
# S
# ale
# bean
# E

You also have @[] to splice an expression that evaluates to a list:

write -- @[split('ale bean')]
# => 
# ale
# bean

Each item will be converted to a string.

Split Command Sub / Split Builtin Sub

There's also a variant of command sub that decodes J8 lines into a sequence of strings:

write @(seq 3)  # write is passed 3 args
# =>
# 1
# 2
# 3

Command Language: I/O, Control Flow, Abstraction

Simple Commands

A simple command is a space-separated list of words. YSH looks up the first word to determine if it's a builtin command, or a user-defined proc.

echo 'hello world'   # The shell builtin 'echo'

proc greet (name) {  # A proc is like a procedure or process
  echo "hello $name"
}

# The first word now resolves to the proc you defined
greet alice          # => hello alice

If it's neither, then it's assumed to be an external command:

ls -l /tmp           # The external 'ls' command

Commands accept traditional string arguments, as well as typed arguments in parentheses:

# 'write' is a string arg; 'x' is a typed expression arg
json write (x)

Redirects

You can redirect stdin and stdout of simple commands:

echo hi > tmp.txt  # write to a file
sort < tmp.txt

Here are the most common idioms for using stderr (identical to shell):

ls /tmp 2>errors.txt
echo 'fatal error' >&2

ARGV and ENV

The ARGV list holds the arguments pased to the shell:

var num_args = len(ARGV)
ls /tmp @ARGV            # pass shell's arguments through

You can add to the environment of a new process with a prefix binding:

PYTHONPATH=vendor ./demo.py

The ENV object reflects the current environment:

echo $[ENV.PYTHONPATH]   # => vendor

Pipelines

Pipelines are a powerful method manipulating data streams:

ls | wc -l                       # count files in this directory
find /bin -type f | xargs wc -l  # count files in a subtree

The stream may contain (lines of) text, binary data, JSON, TSV, and more. Details below.

Multi-line Commands

The ... prefix lets you write long commands, pipelines, and && chains without \ line continuations.

... find /bin               # traverse this directory and
    -type f -a -executable  # print executable files
  | sort -r                 # reverse sort
  | head -n 30              # limit to 30 files
  ;

When this mode is active:

var, setvar, const to Declare and Mutate

Constants can't be modified:

const myconst = 'mystr'
# setvar myconst = 'foo' would be an error

Modify variables with the setvar keyword:

var num_beans = 12
setvar num_beans = 13

A more complex example:

var d = {name: 'bob', age: 42}  # dict literal
setvar d.name = 'alice'         # d.name is a synonym for d['name']
echo $[d.name]                  # => alice

That's most of what you need to know about assignments. Advanced users may want to use setglobal or call myplace->setValue(42) in certain situations.

More info: Variable Declaration and Mutation.

for Loop

Words

Shell-style for loops iterate over words:

for word in 'oils' $num_beans {pea,coco}nut {
  echo $word
}
# =>
# oils
# 13
# peanut
# coconut

You can also request the loop index:

for i, word in README.md *.py {
  echo "$i - $word"
}
# =>
# 0 - README.md
# 1 - __init__.py

Typed Data

To iterate over a typed data, use parentheses around an expression. The expression should evaluate to an integer Range, List, Dict, or Stdin.

Range:

for i in (3 ..< 5) {  # range operator ..<
  echo "i = $i"
}
# =>
# i = 3
# i = 4

List:

var foods = ['ale', 'bean']
for item in (foods) {
  echo $item
}
# =>
# ale
# bean

Again, you can request the index with for i, item in ....


Here's the most general form of the loop over Dict:

var mydict = {pea: 42, nut: 10}
for i, k, v in (mydict) {
  echo "$i - $k - $v"
}
# =>
# 0 - pea - 42
# 1 - nut - 10

There are two simpler forms:

(One way to think of it: for loops in YSH have the functionality Python's enumerate(), items(), keys(), and values().)


The io.stdin object iterates over lines:

for line in (io.stdin) {
  echo $line
}
# lines are buffered, so it's much faster than `while read --rawline`

while Loop

While loops can use a command as the termination condition:

while test --file lock {
  sleep 1
}

Or an expression, which is surrounded in ():

var i = 3
while (i < 6) {
  echo "i = $i"
  setvar i += 1
}
# =>
# i = 3
# i = 4
# i = 5

if elif Conditional

If statements test the exit code of a command, and have optional elif and else clauses:

if test --file foo {
  echo 'foo is a file'
  rm --verbose foo     # delete it
} elif test --dir foo {
  echo 'foo is a directory'
} else {
  echo 'neither'
}

Invert the exit code with !:

if ! grep alice /etc/passwd { 
  echo 'alice is not a user'
}

As with while loops, the condition can also be an expression wrapped in ():

if (num_beans > 0) {
  echo 'so many beans'
}

var done = false
if (not done) {        # negate with 'not' operator (contrast with !)
  echo "we aren't done"
}

case Conditional

The case statement is a series of conditionals and executable blocks. The condition can be either an unquoted glob pattern like *.py, an eggex pattern like /d+/, or a typed expression like (42):

var s = 'README.md'
case (s) {
  *.py           { echo 'Python' }
  *.cc | *.h     { echo 'C++' }
  *              { echo 'Other' }
}
# => Other

case (s) {
  / dot* '.md' / { echo 'Markdown' }
  (30 + 12)      { echo 'the integer 42' }
  (else)         { echo 'neither' }
}
# => Markdown

Error Handling

If statements are also used for error handling. Builtins and external commands use this style:

if ! test -d /bin {
  echo 'not a directory'
}

if ! cp foo /tmp {
  echo 'error copying'  # any non-zero status
}

Procs use this style (because of shell's disabled errexit quirk):

try {
  myproc
}
if failed {
  echo 'failed'
}

For a complete list of examples, see YSH Error Handling. For design goals and a reference, see YSH Fixes Shell's Error Handling.

exit, break, continue, return

The exit keyword exits a process. (It's not a shell builtin.)

The other 3 control flow keywords behave like they do in Python and JavaScript.

Ruby-like Block Arguments

Here's a builtin command that takes a literal block argument:

shopt --unset errexit {  # ignore errors
  cp ale /tmp
  cp bean /bin
}

A block is a value of type Command.

Shell-like proc

You can define units of code with the proc keyword.

proc mycopy (src, dest) {
  ### Copy verbosely

  mkdir -p $dest
  cp --verbose $src $dest
}

The ### line is a "doc comment". Simple procs like this are invoked like a shell command:

touch log.txt
mycopy log.txt /tmp   # first word 'mycopy' is a proc

Procs have many features, including four kinds of arguments:

  1. Word args (which are always strings)
  2. Typed, positional args (aka positional args)
  3. Typed, named args (aka named args)
  4. A final block argument, which may be written with { }.

At the call site, they can look like any of these forms:

ls /tmp                      # word arg

json write (d)               # word arg, then positional arg

try {
  error 'failed' (status=9)  # word arg, then named arg
}

cd /tmp { echo $PWD }        # word arg, then block arg

pp value ([1, 2])            # positional, typed arg 

At the definition site, the kinds of parameters are separated with ;, similar to the Julia language:

proc p2 (word1, word2; pos1, pos2, ...rest_pos) {
  echo "$word1 $word2 $[pos1 + pos2]"
  json write (rest_pos)
}

proc p3 (w ; ; named1, named2, ...rest_named; block) {
  echo "$w $[named1 + named2]"
  eval (block)
  json write (rest_named)
}

proc p4 (; ; ; block) {
  eval (block)
}

YSH also has Python-like functions defined with func. These are part of the expression language, which we'll see later.

For more info, see the Guide to Procs and Funcs.

Builtin Commands

Shell builtins like cd and read are the "standard library" of the command language. Each one takes various flags:

cd -L .                      # follow symlinks

echo foo | read --all        # read all of stdin

Here are some categories of builtin:

Expression Language: Python-like Types

YSH expressions look and behave more like Python or JavaScript than shell. For example, we write if (x < y) instead of if [ $x -lt $y ]. Expressions are usually surrounded by ( ).

At runtime, variables like x and y are bounded to typed data, like integers, floats, strings, lists, and dicts.

Python-like func

At the end of the Command Language, we saw that procs are shell-like units of code. YSH also has Python-like functions, which are different than procs:

The simplest function is:

func identity(x) {
  return (x)  # parens required for typed return
}

A more complex pure function:

func myRepeat(s, n; special=false) {  # positional; named params
  var parts = []
  for i in (0 ..< n) {
    append $s (parts)
  }
  var result = join(parts)

  if (special) {
    return ("$result !!")
  } else {
    return (result)
  }
}

echo $[myRepeat('z', 3)]  # => zzz

echo $[myRepeat('z', 3, special=true)]  # => zzz !!

A function that mutates its argument:

func popTwice(mylist) {
  call mylist->pop()
  call mylist->pop()
}

var mylist = [3, 4]

# The call keyword is an "adapter" between commands and expressions,
# like the = keyword.
call popTwice(mylist)

Funcs are named using camelCase, while procs use kebab-case. See the Style Guide for more conventions.

Builtin Functions

In addition, to builtin commands, YSH has Python-like builtin functions. These are like the "standard library" for the expression language. Examples:

Data Types: Int, Str, List, Dict, Obj, ...

YSH has data types, each with an expression syntax and associated methods.

Methods

YSH adds mutable data structures to shell, so we have a special syntax for mutating methods. They are looked up with a thin arrow ->:

var foods = ['ale', 'bean']
var last = foods->pop()  # bean
write @foods  # => ale

You can ignore the return value with the call keyword:

call foods->pop()

Regular methods are looked up with the . operator:

var line = ' ale bean '
var caps = last.trim().upper()  # 'ALE BEAN'

You can also chain functions with a fat arrow =>:

var trimmed = line.trim() => upper()  # 'ALE BEAN'

The => operator allows functions to appear in a natural left-to-right order, like methods.

# list() is a free function taking one arg
# join() is a free function taking two args
var x = {k1: 42, k2: 43} => list() => join('/')  # 'K1/K2'

Now let's go through the data types in YSH. We'll show the syntax for literals, and what methods they have.

Null and Bool

YSH uses JavaScript-like spellings these three "atoms":

var x = null

var b1, b2 = true, false

if (b1) {
  echo 'yes'
}  # => yes

Int

There are many ways to write integers:

var small, big = 42, 65_536
echo "$small $big"                  # => 42 65536

var hex, octal, binary = 0x0001_0000, 0o755, 0b0001_0101
echo "$hex $octal $binary"           # => 65536 493 21

Float

Floats are written with a decimal point:

var big = 3.14

You can use scientific notation, as in Python:

var small = 1.5e-10

Str

See the section above on Three Kinds of String Literals. It described 'single quoted', "double ${quoted}", and u'J8-style\n' strings; as well as their multiline variants.

Strings are UTF-8 encoded in memory, like strings in the Go language. There isn't a separate string and unicode type, as in Python.

Strings are immutable, as in Python and JavaScript. This means they only have transforming methods:

var x = s.trim()

Other methods:

List (and Arrays)

All lists can be expressed with Python-like literals:

var foods = ['ale', 'bean', 'corn']
var recursive = [1, [2, 3]]

As a special case, list of strings are called arrays. It's often more convenient to write them with shell-like literals:

# No quotes or commas
var foods = :| ale bean corn |

# You can use the word language here
var other = :| foo $s *.py {alice,bob}@example.com |

Lists are mutable, as in Python and JavaScript. So they mainly have mutating methods:

call foods->reverse()
write -- @foods
# =>
# corn
# bean
# ale

Dict

Dicts use syntax that's like JavaScript. Here's a dict literal:

var d = {
  name: 'bob',  # unquoted keys are allowed
  age: 42,
  'key with spaces': 'val'
}

You can use either [] or . to retrieve a value, given a key:

var v1 = d['name']
var v2 = d.name                # shorthand for the above
var v3 = d['key with spaces']  # no shorthand for this

(If the key doesn't exist, an error is raised.)

You can change Dict values with the same 2 syntaxes:

set d['name'] = 'other'
set d.name = 'fun'

If you want to compute a key name, use an expression inside []:

var key = 'alice'
var d2 = {[key ++ '_z']: 'ZZZ'}  # Computed key name
echo $[d2.alice_z]   # => ZZZ

If you omit the value, its taken from a variable of the same name:

var d3 = {key}             # like {key: key}
echo "name is $[d3.key]"   # => name is alice

More examples:

var empty = {}
echo $[len(empty)]  # => 0

The keys() and values() methods return new List objects:

var keys = keys(d2)      # => alice_z
var vals = values(d3)    # => alice

Place type / "out params"

The read builtin can either set an implicit variable _reply:

whoami | read --all  # sets _reply

Or you can pass a value.Place, created with &

var x                      # implicitly initialized to null
whoami | read --all (&x)   # mutate this "place"
echo who=$x  # => who=andy

Operators

YSH operators are generally the same as in Python:

if (10 <= num_beans and num_beans < 20) {
  echo 'enough'
}  # => enough

YSH has a few operators that aren't in Python. Equality can be approximate or exact:

var n = ' 42 '
if (n ~== 42) {
  echo 'equal after stripping whitespace and type conversion'
}  # => equal after stripping whitespace type conversion

if (n === 42) {
  echo "not reached because strings and ints aren't equal"
}

Pattern matching can be done with globs (~~ and !~~)

const filename = 'foo.py'
if (filename ~~ '*.py') {
  echo 'Python'
}  # => Python

if (filename !~~ '*.sh') {
  echo 'not shell'
}  # => not shell

or regular expressions (~ and !~). See the Eggex section below for an example of the latter.

Concatenation is ++ rather than + because it avoids confusion in the presence of type conversion:

var n = 42 + 1    # string plus int does implicit conversion
echo $n           # => 43

var y = 'ale ' ++ "bean $n"  # concatenation
echo $y  # => ale bean 43

Egg Expressions (YSH Regexes)

An Eggex is a YSH expression that denotes a regular expression. Eggexes translate to POSIX ERE syntax, for use with tools like egrep, awk, and sed --regexp-extended (GNU only).

They're designed to be readable and composable. Example:

var D = / digit{1,3} /
var ip_pattern = / D '.' D '.' D '.' D'.' /

var z = '192.168.0.1'
if (z ~ ip_pattern) {           # Use the ~ operator to match
  echo "$z looks like an IP address"
}  # => 192.168.0.1 looks like an IP address

if (z !~ / '.255' %end /) {
  echo "doesn't end with .255"
}  # => doesn't end with .255"

See the Egg Expressions doc for details.

Interlude

Let's review what we've seen before moving onto other YSH features.

Three Interleaved Languages

Here are the languages we saw in the last 3 sections:

  1. Words evaluate to a string, or list of strings. This includes:
  2. Commands are used for
  3. Expressions on typed data are borrowed from Python, with influence from JavaScript:

How Do They Work Together?

Here are two examples:

(1) In this this command, there are four words. The fourth word is an expression sub $[].

write hello $name $[d['age'] + 1]
# =>
# hello
# world
# 43

(2) In this assignment, the expression on the right hand side of = concatenates two strings. The first string is a literal, and the second is a command sub.

var food = 'ale ' ++ $(echo bean | tr a-z A-Z)
write $food  # => ale BEAN

So words, commands, and expressions are mutually recursive. If you're a conceptual person, skimming Syntactic Concepts may help you understand this on a deeper level.

Advanced YSH Features

Unlike shell, YSH is powerful enough to write reusable libraries. It also has reflective features, to allow creating reusable languages!

The following sections give you a taste of some advanced features.

Closures

Block arguments capture the frame they're defined in, which means they have lexical scope.

For example, this proc accepts a block, and runs it:

proc do-it (; ; ; block) {
  call io->eval(block)
}

When you pass a block to it, the enclosing stack frame is captured:

var x = 42
do-it {         
  echo "x = $x"  # outer x is visible LATER, when the block is run    
}

Objects

YSH has an Obj type that bundles code and data. (In contrast, JSON messages are pure data, not objects.)

The main purpose of objects is polymorphism:

var obj = makeMyObject(42)  # I don't know what it looks like inside

echo $[obj.myMethod()]      # But I can perform abstract operations

call obj->mutatingMethod()  # Mutation is considered special, with ->

YSH objects are similar to Lua and JavaScript objects: they have a Dict of properties, and a recursive "prototype chain" that is also an Obj.

Modules

A module is a file of source code, like lib/myargs.ysh.

The use builtin turns it into an Obj that can be invoked and inspected:

use myargs.ysh
myargs proc1 --flag val   # module name becomes a prefix, via __invoke__
var alias = myargs.proc1  # module has attributes

You can import specific names with the --pick flag:

use myargs.ysh --pick p2 p3
p2
p3

Reflecting on the Interpreter

YSH is a language for creating other languages. You can reflect on the interpreter with APIs like io->eval() and vm.getFrame().

(Ruby, Tcl, and Racket also have this flavor.)


These advanced features all live inside the Oils interpreter. But a shell naturally deals with textual data from the outside, so let's switch gears.

Data Notation / Interchange Formats

YSH reads and writes data notation, like JSON.

I think of them as languages for data, rather than code. Instead of being executed, they're parsed as data structures.

UTF-8

UTF-8 is the foundation of our textual data languages.

It's the most common Unicode encoding, and represents all code points consistently and efficiently.

Lines of Text (traditional), and JSON/J8 Strings

Traditional Unix tools like grep and awk operate on streams of lines. YSH supports this style, like any other shell.

But YSH also has J8 Notation, a data format based on JSON. It's a 100% compatible upgrade that fixes some warts in JSON, and makes Unix text and JSON work together more smoothly.


Let's talk about simple strings and lines first. Here is YSH code for making a string with 2 lines:

var mystr = u'pea\n' ++ u'42\n'

Now we can encode it into a message, which will fit on a single line.

json write (mystr) > message.txt

Now we can compress message.txt, encrypt it, and send it to another computer.

And then we can decode it, i.e. read it back into a variable:

json read (&x) < message.txt
= x  # => "pea\n42\n"

Structured: JSON8, TSV8

In addition to strings and lines, you can write and read tree-shaped data as JSON:

var d = {key: 'value'}
json write (d)                 # dump variable d as JSON
# =>
# {
#   "key": "value"
# }

echo '["ale", 42]' > example.json

json read (&d2) < example.json  # parse JSON into var d2
pp (d2)                         # pretty print it 
# => (List)  ['ale', 42]

JSON will lose information when strings have binary data, but the slight JSON8 upgrade won't:

var b = {binary: $'\xff'}
json8 write (b)
# =>
# {
#   "binary": b'\yff'
# }

Table-shaped data can be read and written as TSV8. (TODO: not yet implemented.)

The Runtime Shared by OSH and YSH

Although we describe OSH and YSH as different languages, they use the same interpreter under the hood. This interpreter has various shopt flags that are flipped for different behavior, e.g. with shopt --set ysh:all.

Understanding this interpreter and its interface to the Unix kernel will help you understand both languages!

Interpreter Data Model

The Interpreter State doc is under construction. It will cover:

Process Model (the kernel)

The Process Model doc is under construction. It will cover:

Summary

YSH is a large language that evolved from Unix shell. It has shell-like commands, Python-like expressions on typed data, and Ruby-like command blocks.

Even though it's large, you can "forget" the bad parts of shell like [ $x -lt $y ].

These concepts are central to YSH:

  1. Interleaved word, command, and expression languages.
  2. A standard library of shell builtins, as well as builtin functions
  3. Languages for data: J8 Notation, including JSON8 and TSV8
  4. A runtime shared by OSH and YSH

Related Docs

Appendix: Features Not Shown

Advanced

These shell features are part of YSH, but aren't shown for brevity.

Deprecated Shell Constructs

The shared interpreter supports many shell constructs that are deprecated:

Not Yet Implemented

This document mentions a few constructs that aren't yet implemented. Here's a summary:

# Unimplemented syntax:

echo ${x|html}               # formatters

echo ${x %.2f}               # statically-parsed printf

var x = "<p>$x</p>"html      
echo "<p>$x</p>"html         # tagged string

var x = 15 Mi                # units suffix

Appendix: Example of an YSH Module

YSH can be used to write simple "shell scripts" or longer programs. It has procs and modules to help with the latter.

A module is just a file, like this:

#!/usr/bin/env ysh
### Deploy script

use $_this_dir/lib/util.ysh --pick log

const DEST = '/tmp/ysh-tour'

proc my-sync(...files) {
  ### Sync files and show which ones

  cp --verbose @files $DEST
}

proc main {
  mkdir -p $DEST

  touch {foo,bar}.py {build,test}.sh

  log "Copying source files"
  my-sync *.py *.sh

  if test --dir /tmp/logs {
    cd /tmp/logs

    log "Copying logs"
    my-sync *.log
  }
}

if is-main {                    # The only top-level statement
  main @ARGV
}

You wouldn't bother with the boilerplate for something this small. But this example illustrates the basic idea: the top level often contains these words: use, const, proc, and func.

Generated on Wed, 06 Nov 2024 16:19:33 +0000