Binks v0.0.1

NOTICE! This language is in its earliest stages of development, so beware of the ever so frequent breaking changes.

Binks (play on words, lit. binary links) is an

1. interpreted -- because the source code is processed by the parser (written in Haskell) and then immediately executed;
2. esoteric -- because there is absolutely no way to write meaningful, optimal real-world software in it;
3. programming language -- because... it's a programming language. Tautology!

Basic Syntax

⬖ Creating the nodes and the links

The central data structure in Binks is the binary tree. The interior nodes connect two subtrees, but only the leaves can hold the data. In Binks, the leaves are called Nodes or, synonymously, 0-links, and they represent the simplest construct from which Links can be created. Links is the Binks' term for interior nodes. A Link of two Nodes is called a 1-link. A link is either a Node or a Link (the structure is unspecified).

1. Create the Node a that holds a value 0:

   a [<0>]
   

2. Create the Link b between a and the Node that holds a value 1 (the order matters):

   b a [<1>]
   

3. Create the Link c between a and b:

   c a b
   

4. Create the Link d of nested structure (spaces matter):

   d ([<-19>] b) a
   

⬖ Printing the link (REPL)

To print out the contents of the link, type out, followed by a space, and then provide the identifier of a link.

binksi> out b
([<0.0>] [<1.0>])

⬖ Accessing and updating the sublinks

To access or update a sublink, a non-empty list of directions needs to be specified.

1. < means 'enter the left sublink'
2. > means 'enter the right sublink'

Appending an asterisk (*) to a direction alters its definition: 'keep entering the left (right) sublink indefinitely until we run into a Node.'

1. Accessing:

   ? _link _directions
   

2. Updating:

   ! _link _directions _either-an-identifier-or-a-link
   

binksi> out d
(([<-19.0>] ([<0.0>] [<1.0>])) [<0.0>])
binksi> ? d <>*
[<1.0>]
binksi> ! d > b
binksi> out d
(([<-19.0>] ([<0.0>] [<1.0>])) ([<0.0>] [<1.0>]))

Upon reaching a Node all the remaining directions are ignored.

⬖ Mirroring the link

To mirror a link, type the name of the new link, followed by a space, and then the name of the existing link with the tilde (~) prepended to it.

binksi> d' ~d
binksi> out d'
(([<1.0>] [<0.0>]) (([<1.0>] [<0.0>]) [<-19.0>]))