Getting Started

Learn how to install TinyLang, write your first program, and explore the development tools.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ (Node.js 22 recommended)
• npm (comes with Node.js)

Install from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/tinylang/tinylang.git
cd tinylang

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

# Run a program
node dist/cli/index.js run examples/01-hello.tiny

Global Installation (Optional)

# Link globally for the `tinylang` command
npm link

# Now you can use tinylang directly
tinylang run examples/01-hello.tiny

Your First Program

Create a file called hello.tiny:

// hello.tiny
print("Hello, World!")

let name = "TinyLang"
print("Welcome to " + name + "!")

Run it:

tinylang run hello.tiny

Output:

Hello, World!
Welcome to TinyLang!

Project Scaffolding

Use tinylang init to create a new project with all the standard files:

tinylang init my-project
cd my-project

This creates:

Running Programs

Interpreter (Default)

The default execution mode uses a tree-walk interpreter:

tinylang run main.tiny

Compile and Execute

For better performance, compile to bytecode and run on the VM:

# Compile to bytecode
tinylang compile main.tiny

# Execute the compiled bytecode
tinylang exec main.tinyc

View Disassembly

See the generated bytecode instructions:

tinylang compile main.tiny --disassemble

Using the REPL

Start an interactive session to experiment with TinyLang:

tinylang repl

Example REPL session:

TinyLang REPL v1.0.0
Type expressions or statements. Use Ctrl+C to exit.

> let x = 42
> x * 2
84
> fn square(n) { return n * n }
> square(7)
49
> [1, 2, 3].map((x) => x * 2)
[2, 4, 6]

Using the Web IDE

TinyLang includes a full-featured Web IDE (in the playground/ directory) that runs entirely in the browser. It features:

• CodeMirror editor with syntax highlighting
• AST Viewer to inspect the parse tree
• Debugger with step-through execution
• Multiple example programs to load and experiment with
• Bytecode disassembly viewer

To use the Web IDE, simply open playground/index.html in your browser.

Development Workflow

A typical TinyLang development workflow:

# 1. Write code
tinylang init my-app
cd my-app

# 2. Run and iterate
tinylang run main.tiny

# 3. Format your code
tinylang fmt --write main.tiny

# 4. Check for issues
tinylang lint main.tiny

# 5. Run tests
tinylang test

# 6. Check syntax without executing
tinylang check main.tiny

# 7. Debug if needed
tinylang debug main.tiny

# 8. Benchmark performance
tinylang bench main.tiny --compare

What Next?