LuaVenusCompiler

A compiler that translates venus files into lua. Written in lua.
The compiler reads a venus file and replaces venus syntax by lua syntax.
It can also load and run the result.

features

foreach

The foreach statement will geneate a pairs statement.

local table = {2,1,3,"test"}

foreach el in table {
  print(el)
}

will generate

local table = {2,1,3,"test"}

for _, el in table do
  print(el)
end

comments

for comments -- and ## can be used if something follows a -- it will always be treated as comment

curly braces

The do,then and end statements can be replaced by curly brace syntax.
They can be used in functions, loops, conditions.
For example:

do {
	local table = {2,1,3,"test","test2",3}

	function findTest(t) {
		repeat {
			local found = false
			local el = table.remove(t)
			if el == "test" {
				found = true
			} else {
				print(el)
			}
		} until found
	}
}

will generate

do
	local table = {2,1,3,"test","test2",3}

	function findTest(t) 
		repeat
			local found = false
			local el = table.remove(t)
			if el == "test" then
				found = true
			else
				print(el)
			end
		until found
	end
end

functions

fn can be used instead of function.

fn test() {
	print("hi")
}

will generate

function test()
	print("hi")
end

lambdas

Lambda syntax (args) => {...} can be used to create functions.

local result
fn store_it(f) {
	result = f(10,6)
}

store_it((a,b) => {
	return (a - b) * 2
})

will generate

local result
function store_it(f)
	result = f(10,6)
end

store_it(function(a,b)
	return (a - b) * 2
end)

incrrement and decrement

++ and -- can be used to in/decrement by 1

local i = 0
local j = 0

i++
j--

will generate

local i = 0
local j = 0

i = i + 1
j = j - 1

-- can also be a comment!
If there is anything behind a -- the -- treated as comment.

assignments

Assignment operators +=, -=, *=, /=, ^= and .= can be used.

local a = 0
-- increment
a += 2
## decrement
a -= 1
## multiply
a *= 8
-- divide
a /= 2
-- to the power of
a ^= 3
## concatenate string
a .= " str"

will generate

local a = 0
-- increment
a = a + 2
-- decrement
a = a - 1
-- multiply
a = a * 8
-- divide
a = a / 2
-- to the power of
a = a ^ 3
-- concatenate string
a = a .. " str"

working with the compiler

loading

The init.lua returns a function for loading the compiler.
You have to call it with the path to the script itself as argument.
In case you have the LuaVenusCompiler directory within your project's
ways of loding it may be:

--in case your project is run within it's own folder
local vc = dofile("LuaVenusCompiler/init.lua")("LuaVenusCompiler/")
--in case you have a variable called project_loc containing the path to your projects folder
local vc = dofile(project_loc.."/LuaVenusCompiler/init.lua")(project_loc.."/LuaVenusCompiler/")
--using require
local vc = require("LuaVenusCompiler")("LuaVenusCompiler/")

When it is loaded it can also be accessed with the global called "LuaVenusCompiler".

running venus files

vc.dovenus(file) works like dofile(file)
It's argument can be a relative or absolute path to the file that should be run.

loading venus files

vc.loadvenus(file) works like loadfile(file)
It's argument can be a relative or absolute path to the file that should be loaded.
It returns a function that runs the generated lua.

generating lua code

vc.tl_venus_file(file) returns the lua generated from the files contents
It's argument can be a relative or absolute path to the file that should be translated.
It returns the generated lua as string.

vc.tl_venus_string(str) returns the lua generated from the given string
It returns the generated lua as string.

generating lua files

vc.convert_venus_file(venus_file_in,lua_file_out) generates a lua file
It's arguments can be relative or absolute paths.
The venus_file_in will be converted to lua and written to lua_file_out.