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diff --git a/blog/exploring-hare/index.org b/blog/exploring-hare/index.org deleted file mode 100644 index 749e46f..0000000 --- a/blog/exploring-hare/index.org +++ /dev/null @@ -1,169 +0,0 @@ -#+title: Exploring the Hare Programming Language -#+date: 2023-02-02 -#+description: A retrospective on my first time using the Hare Programming Language. -#+filetags: :dev: - -* A Quick Note -By no means am I a professional developer, so this post will be rather -short. I won't be going into depth on the specification or anything that -technical. - -Instead, I will simply be talking about how I (a relatively basic -hobbyist programmer) have been playing with Hare and what intrigues me -about the language. - -* Hare -The [[https://harelang.org][Hare]] programming language is a -straightforward language that should look familiar if you've ever -programmed with C, Rust, or other languages that aim to build software -at the system-level. - -The Hare homepage states the following: - -#+begin_quote -Hare is a systems programming language designed to be simple, stable, -and robust. Hare uses a static type system, manual memory management, -and minimal runtime. It is well-suited to writing operating systems, -system tools, compilers, networking software, and other low-level, high -performance tasks. - -#+end_quote - -I have found this all to be true while playing with it for the first -time today. In the next few sections, I'm going to walk through my -installation and first program. - -** Installation -I'm currently running Alpine Linux on my Thinkpad, so the installation -was quite easy as there is a package for Hare in the =apk= repositories. - -#+begin_src sh -doas apk add hare hare-doc -#+end_src - -However, I was able to install Hare from scratch on Fedora Linux a short -while ago, which was also very easy to do. If you need further -instructions and Hare doesn't have a package on your system, take a look -at the [[https://harelang.org/installation/][Hare Installation]] page. - -** Creating a Test Project -In order to play with the language, I created -[[https://git.sr.ht/~cmc/hare-projects][hare-test]] and will be putting -any of my Hare-related adventures in here. - -#+begin_quote -*Update:** I also created a simple Hare program for creating a file from -user input: -[[https://git.sr.ht/~cmc/hare-projects/tree/main/item/files/files.ha][files.ha]] - -#+end_quote - -Luckily, Hare doesn't require any complex set-up tools or build -environment. Once you have Hare installed, you simply need to create a -file ending with =.ha= and you can run a Hare program. - -I created a file called =rgb.ha= in order to test out the random number -generation and passing parameters between functions. - -#+begin_src sh -nano rgb.ha -#+end_src - -Within this file, I was able to easily import a few of the -[[https://harelang.org/tutorials/stdlib/][standard library modules]]: -=fmt=, =math::random=, and =datetime=. - -With these modules, I created two functions: - -1. =main=: This function calls the =generate_rgb= function and then - prints out the returned values. -2. =generate_rgb=: This function uses the current Unix epoch time to - generate a pseudo-random value and uses this value to create three - more random values between 0 and 255. These three numbers represent a - color in RGB format. - -#+begin_quote -*Note*: Some syntax coloring may look odd, as Zola currently doesn't -have a syntax highlighting theme for Hare. Instead, I'm using the C -theme, which may not be exactly accurate when coloring the code below. - -#+end_quote - -#+begin_src C -use datetime; -use fmt; -use math::random; - -export fn main() void = { - const rgb = generate_rgb(); - fmt::printfln("RGB: ({}, {}, {})", rgb[0], rgb[1], rgb[2])!; -}; - -fn generate_rgb() []u64 = { - // Use the current Unix epoch time as the seed value - let datetime = datetime::epochunix(&datetime::now()); - - // Generate initial pseudo-random value - // You must cast the datetime from int to u64 - let x = random::init(datetime: u64); - - // Generate RGB values between (0, 255) using pseudo-random init value - let r = random::u64n(&x, 255); - let g = random::u64n(&x, 255); - let b = random::u64n(&x, 255); - - // Structure data as array and return - let rgb_array: [3]u64 = [r, g, b]; - return rgb_array; -}; -#+end_src - -** Running a Program -Once you have a Hare file written and ready to run, you simply need to -run it: - -#+begin_src sh -hare run file.ha -#+end_src - -You can also compile the program into an executable: - -#+begin_src sh -hare build -o example file.ha -./example -#+end_src - -** Initial Thoughts -1. Documentation Improvements Would Help - - While I was able to piece everything together eventually, the biggest - downfall right now in Hare's documentation. For such a new project, - the documentation is in a great spot. However, bare specifications - don't help as much as a brief examples section would. - - For example, it took me a while to figure out what the =u64n= - function was looking for. I could tell that it took two parameters - and the second was my max value (255), but couldn't figure out what - the first value should be. Eventually, I inspected the =random.ha= - file in the - [[https://git.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/hare/tree/master/item/math/random/random.ha][Hare - source code]] and found the test suite that helped me discover that - it needed an =init()= value in the form of =&var=. - -2. More Basic Modules - - This is another point that comes from Hare being new and awaiting - more contributions, but there are some basic functions that I would - personally enjoy seeing in Hare, such as one to convert decimal - (base 10) values to hexadecimal (base 16). - - If I'm feeling comfortable with my math, I may work on the list of - functions I want and see if any can make it into the Hare source - code. - -3. Overall Thoughts - - Overall, I actually really enjoy Hare. It's not as tedious to get a - project up and running as Rust, but it's also simpler and more - user-friendly than learning C. I am going to continue playing with it - and see if I can make anything of particular value. |