Nim (programming language): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:18, 1 March 2019

Revision as of 07:19, 1 March 2019

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{{Infobox programming language

| name = Nim

| logo = [[Image:Nim-logo.png|The logo for Nim|250px50px]]

| logo size = 250px50px

| caption =

| paradigm = [[Multi-paradigm programming language|multi-paradigm]]: [[Compiled language|compiled]], [[Concurrent programming|concurrent]], [[procedural programming|procedural]], [[Imperative programming|imperative]], [[Object-oriented programming|object-oriented]]

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| latest release version = <!-- 1.0.0 -->

| latest release date = <!-- {{Start date and age|201?|mm|dd}} -->

| latest preview version = 0.19.4<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nim-lang.org/blog/2019/02/01/version-0194-released.html|title=Version 0.19.4 released |date=20192009-02-01 |access-date=20192009-01-01}}</ref>

| latest preview date = {{Start date and age|20192009|02|01|df=yes}}

| typing = [[static typing|static]],<ref name="nimbyex">{{cite web |url=https://nim-by-example.github.io/ |title=Nim by example |website=[[GitHub]] |access-date=2014-07-20}}</ref> [[strong typing|strong]],<ref name="nimrodbg">{{cite conference |url=https://ibob.github.io/slides/nimrodbg/#/ |language=Bulgarian |title=Метапрограмиране с Nimrod |last1=Караджов |first1=Захари |last2=Станимиров |first2=Борислав |year=2014 |conference=VarnaConf |conference-url=http://varnaconf.com/ |access-date=2014-07-27}}</ref> [[type inference|inferred]], [[structural type system|structural]]

| dialects =

| influenced by = [[Ada (programming language)|Ada]], [[Rust (programming language)|Rust]], [[Modula-3]], [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]], [[C++]], [[Object Pascal]], [[Python (programming language)|Python]], [[Oberon (programming language)|Oberon]]

| platform = [[IA-32]], [[x86-64PowerPC]]

| operating system = [[AmigaOS]]

| operating system = [[Cross-platform]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nim-lang.org/install.html |title=Install Nim |access-date=2018-10-12}}</ref>

| license = [[MIT License|MIT]]<ref name="FAQ">{{cite web |url=https://nim-lang.org/faq.html |title=FAQ |website=Nim-lang.org |access-date=2015-03-27}}</ref><ref name='license1'>{{cite web |url=https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/blob/master/copying.txt |title=copying.txt |website=GitHub |access-date=2015-03-27}}</ref>

| website = {{URL|https://nim-lang.orgde/}}

| file_ext = .nim

}}

'''Nim''' (formerly named '''Nimrod''') iswas an [[imperative programming|imperative]], [[multi-paradigm programming language|multi-paradigm]], [[compiled programming language]]<ref name="drdobbs">{{cite web |url=http://www.drdobbs.com/open-source/nimrod-a-new-systems-programming-languag/240165321 |title=Nimrod: A new systems programming language |last=Rumpf |first=Andreas |website=[[Dr. Dobb's Journal]] |date=2014-02-11 |access-date=2014-07-20}}</ref> designed and developed by Andreas Rumpf<!-- Do not WP:LINK to late German classical archaeologist. -->. It is designed to be "efficient, expressive, and elegant",<ref name="nim-lang">{{cite web |url=http://nim-lang.org/ |title=The Nim Programming Language |website=Nim-lang.org |access-date=2014-07-20}}</ref> supporting [[metaprogramming]], [[functional programming|functional]], [[message passing]],<ref name="FAQ" /> [[Procedural programming|procedural]], and [[object-oriented programming]] styles by providing several features such as [[compile time]] code generation, [[algebraic data type]]s, a [[foreign function interface]] (FFI) with [[C (programming language)|C]] and compiling to [[JavaScript]], C, and [[C++]].

== Description ==

Nim is statically typed.<ref name="Nim Syntax">{{cite web |url=https://akehrer.github.io/posts/getting-started-with-nim |title=Nim Syntax |last=Kehrer |first=Aaron (akehrer) |website=GitHub |access-date=2015-01-05}}</ref> It supports compile-time [[metaprogramming]] features such as syntactic macros and [[Macro (computer science)#Syntactic macros|term rewriting macros]].<ref name="manual">{{cite web |url=https://nim-lang.org/docs/manual.html#term-rewriting-macros |title=Nim Manual |website=Nim-lang.org |access-date=2014-07-20}}</ref> Term rewriting macros enable library implementations of common data structures such as bignums and matrices to be implemented with an efficiency as if they were builtin language facilities.<ref name="strangeloop">{{cite web |url=https://thestrangeloop.com/sessions/nimrod-a-new-approach-to-meta-programming |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713011227/https://thestrangeloop.com/sessions/nimrod-a-new-approach-to-meta-programming |dead-url=yes |archive-date=2014-07-13 |title=Strangeloop Nim presentation |access-date=2015-04-30}}</ref> Iterators are supported and can be used as first class entities<ref name="manual"/> in the language as can functions, these features allow for [[functional programming]] to be used. Object-oriented programming is supported by [[Inheritance (object-oriented programming)|inheritance]] and [[multiple dispatch]]. Functions can be generic and can also be overloaded, [[Generic programming|generics]] are further enhanced by the support for type classes. [[Operator overloading]] is also supported.<ref name="manual"/> Nim includes tunable automatic [[Garbage collection (computer science)|garbage collection]] based on deferred [[reference counting]] with [[Reference counting#Dealing with reference cycles|cycle detection]].<ref name="gc">{{cite web |url=https://nim-lang.org/docs/gc.html |title=Nim's Garbage Collector |website=Nim-lang.org |access-date=2018-01-10}}</ref> In 2014, Andrew Binstock (editor-in-chief of [[Dr. Dobb's Journal]]) said "Nimrod [former name] ... presents a most original design that straddles [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]] and [[Python (programming language)|Python]] and compiles to C code or JavaScript."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.drdobbs.com/jvm/the-rise-and-fall-of-languages-in-2013/240165192 |title=The Rise And Fall of Languages in 2013 |last=Binstock |first=Andrew |date=2014-01-07 |website=[[Dr. Dobb's Journal]] |access-date=2018-10-08}}</ref> Today, Nim compiles to C++ too.

== History ==

{{Expand section|date=February 2018}}

Nim's initial development began in 2005 by Andreas Rumpf. The first version of the Nim [[compiler]] was written in [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]] using the [[Free Pascal]] compiler.<ref name="pas-sources">{{cite web |url=https://github.com/Araq/Nim/tree/ea1f1ec6d4d6c776eb0f81c2bebdd4cb4c817ebe/nim |title=Nim Pascal Sources |website=GitHub |access-date=2013-04-05}}</ref> In 2008, a version of the compiler written in Nim was released.<ref name="news">{{cite web |url=http://nim-lang.org:80/news.html |title=News |website=Nim-lang.org |access-date=2016-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160626002904/http://nim-lang.org/news.html# |archive-date=2016-06-26 |dead-url=no |df= }}</ref> The compiler is [[free and open-source software]] and is being developed by a group of volunteers working with Andreas Rumpf.<ref name="contributors">{{cite web |url=https://github.com/Araq/Nim/contributors |title=Contributors |website=GitHub |access-date=2013-04-05}}</ref> The language was officially renamed from ''Nimrod'' to ''Nim'' with the release of version 0.10.2 in December 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nim-lang.org/blog/2014/12/29/version-0102-released.html |title=Version 0.10.2 released |date=2014-12-29 |first=Dominik |last=Picheta |website=Nim-lang.org |access-date=2018-10-17}}</ref>

== Language design ==

{{Expand section|date=February 2018}}

I had a dream and became true...

The syntax of Nim is similar to [[Python (programming language)|Python]].<ref name="Yegulalp">{{cite web |url=https://www.infoworld.com/article/3157745/application-development/nim-language-draws-from-best-of-python-rust-go-and-lisp.html |title=Nim language draws from best of Python, Rust, Go, and Lisp |first=Serdar |last=Yegulalp |date=2017-01-16 |website=InfoWorld}}</ref>

In details, it is influenced by:

*[[Modula-3]]: [[Modula-3#Dynamic Programming|traced vs untraced]] pointers

*[[Object Pascal]]: type safe bit sets (set of char), case statement syntax, various type names and filenames in the standard library

*[[Ada (programming language)|Ada]]: subrange types, distinct type, safe variants / case objects

*[[C++]]: Overloading, generic programming

*Python: [[Off-side rule]]

*[[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]]: Macro system, embrace the AST, [[homoiconicity]]

*[[Oberon (programming language)|Oberon]]: The export marker

*[[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]]: Async / [[await]], lambda macros

*[[Go (programming language)|Go]]: Defer

Also, Nim supports a [[Uniform Function Call Syntax]] (UFCS)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://nim-lang.org/docs/manual.html#procedures-method-call-syntax |title=Nim Manual: Method call syntax |access-date=2018-10-12}}</ref> and identifier equality.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://nim-lang.org/docs/manual.html#lexical-analysis-identifier-equality |title=Nim Manual: Identifier equality |access-date=2018-10-12}}</ref>

== Compiler ==

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<syntaxhighlight lang="nim">

@import (stdio)

echo("Hello, world!")

fun main:

stdio::writeLn('Hello, world!')

# Procedure can be called with no parentheses

@import (stdio)

echo "Hello, World!"

fun main:

stdio::writeLn 'Hello, world!'

</syntaxhighlight>

Line 151 ⟶ 139:

In this code the well known <code>printf</code> function is imported into Nim and then used.

== Community ==

{{Expand section|date=February 2018}}

The project has a bug tracker with wiki hosted by [[GitHub]] and a forum.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://github.com/Araq/Nim |title=Primary source code repository and bug tracker |website=GitHub |access-date=2015-05-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://forum.nim-lang.org |title=Nim Forum |publisher=nim-lang.org |access-date=2015-05-04}}</ref> A presentation at [[O'Reilly Open Source Convention]] (OSCON) in 2015 took place.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oscon.com/open-source-2015/public/schedule/detail/42497 |title=Nim at OSCON 2015 |date=2015-07-20 |website=[[O'Reilly Open Source Convention]] (OSCON) |publisher=O'Reilly Media |access-date=2018-10-17}}</ref> O'Reilly Community: Essential Languages: Nim, [[Scala (programming language)|Scala]], Python.<ref>{{cite web |title=Essential Languages: Nim, Scala, Python |url=http://www.oreilly.com/pub/e/3420 |last1=Rumpf |first1=Andreas |last2=Swartz |first2=Jason |last3=Harrison |first3=Matt |website=O’Reilly |publisher=O'Reilly Media |access-date=2018-10-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |last=Rumpf |first=Andreas |date=2015-10-26 |title=OSCON 2015 – Andreas Rumpf – Nim: An Overview |medium=Video |language=English |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rJEBs_Nnaw |access-date=2018-10-12 |format= |___location= |website=YouTube |id= |ref= }}</ref>

== See also ==

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== External links ==

* {{Official websiteGitHub|nim/nim}}

* [http://stackoverflow.com/tags/nimnimi/info Information about Nim] on [[Stack Overflow]]

* {{GitHub|nim-lang/Nim}}

* [http://stackoverflow.com/tags/nim/info Information about Nim] on [[Stack Overflow]]

[[Category:Concurrent programming languages]]

[[Category:Functional languages]]

[[Category:Multi-paradigm programming languages]]

[[Category:Procedural programming languages]]

[[Category:Programming languages created in 2008]]

[[Category:Software using the MIT license]]

[[Category:Statically typed programming languages]]

[[Category:Systems programming languages]]

[[Category:2008 software]]

[[Category:Programming languages]]

[[Category:Cross-platform software]]

[[Category:Free compilers and interpreters]]