The Berry Script Language.
Berry is a ultra-lightweight dynamically typed embedded scripting language. It is designed for lower-performance embedded devices. The Berry interpreter-core's code size is less than 40KiB and can run on less than 4KiB heap (on ARM Cortex M4 CPU, Thumb ISA and ARMCC compiler).
The interpreter of Berry include a one-pass compiler and register-based VM, all the code is written in ANSI C99. In Berry not every type is a class object. Some simple value types, such as int, real, boolean and string are not class object, but list, map and range are class object. This is a consideration about performance. Register-based VM is the same meaning as above.
Berry has the following advantages:
- Lightweight: A well-optimized interpreter with very little resources. Ideal for use in microprocessors.
- Fast: optimized one-pass bytecode compiler and register-based virtual machine.
- Powerful: supports imperative programming, object-oriented programming, functional programming.
- Flexible: Berry is a dynamic type script, and it's intended for embedding in applications. It can provide good dynamic scalability for the host system.
- Simple: simple and natural syntax, support garbage collection, and easy to use FFI (foreign function interface).
- RAM saving: With compile-time object construction, most of the constant objects are stored in read-only code data segments, so the RAM usage of the interpreter is very low when it starts.
LaTeX documents repository: https://github.com/Skiars/berry_doc
Short Manual: berry_short_manual.pdf.
Reference Manual: berry_rm_en_us.pdf, berry_rm_zh_cn.pdf.
Berry's EBNF grammar definition: tools/grammar/berry.ebnf
- Base Type
- Nil:
nil
- Boolean:
true
andfalse
- Numerical: Integer (
int
) and Real (real
) - String: Single quotation-mark string and double quotation-mark string
- Class: Instance template, read only
- Instance: Object constructed by class
- Module: Read-write key-value pair table
- List: Ordered container, like
[1, 2, 3]
- Map: Hash Map container, like
{ 'a': 1, 2: 3, 'map': {} }
- Range: include a lower and a upper integer value, like
0..5
- Nil:
- Operator and Expression
- Assign operator:
=
,+=
,-=
,*=
,/=
,%=
,&=
,|=
,^=
,<<=
,>>=
- Relational operator:
<
,<=
,==
,!=
,>
,>=
- Logic operator:
&&
,||
,!
- Arithmetic operator:
+
,-
,*
,/
,%
- Bitwise operator:
&
,|
,~
,^
,<<
,>>
- Field operator:
.
- Subscript operator:
[]
- Connect string operator:
+
- Conditional operator:
? :
- Brackets:
()
- Assign operator:
- Control Structure
- Conditional statement:
if-else
- Iteration statement:
while
andfor
- Jump statement:
break
andcontinue
- Conditional statement:
- Function
- Local variable and block scope
- Return statement
- Nested functions definition
- Closure based on Upvalue
- Anonymous function
- Lambda expression
- Class
- Inheritance (only public single inheritance)
- Method and Operator Overload
- Constructor method
- Destructive method
- Module Management
- Built-in module that takes almost no RAM
- Extension module support: script module, bytecode file module and shared library (like *.so, *.dll) module
- GC (Garbage collection)
- Mark-Sweep GC
- Exceptional Handling
- Throw any exception value using the
raise
statement - Multiple catch mode
- Throw any exception value using the
- Bytecode file support
- Export function to bytecode file
- Load the bytecode file and execute
-
Install the readline library (Windows does not need):
sudo apt install libreadline-dev # Ubuntu brew install readline # MacOS
-
Build (The default compiler is GCC):
make
-
Run:
./berry # Bash or PowerShell berry # Windows CMD
-
Install (Only Unix-like):
make install
Visual Studio Code pulgin are in this directory: ./tools/pulgins/vscode.
After compiling successfully, use the berry
command with no parameters to enter the REPL environment:
Berry 0.0.1 (build in Dec 24 2018, 18:12:49)
[GCC 8.2.0] on Linux (default)
>
Now enter this code:
print("Hello world!")
You will see this output:
Hello world!
You can copy this code to the REPL:
def fib(x)
if x <= 1
return x
end
return fib(x - 1) + fib(x - 2)
end
fib(10)
This example code will output the result 55
and you can save the above code to a plain text file (eg test.be) and run this command:
./berry test.be
This will also get the correct output.
Berry is free software distributed under the MIT license.
The Berry interpreter partly referred to Lua's design. View Lua's license here: http://www.lua.org/license.html.