Zaka Docs

These pages are the manual of Zaka (စံကား). Where Learn teaches the language one small example at a time, the manual states the rules in full: what each sentence means, what the compiler checks, what the VM does while a program runs, and the reasons behind each choice.

How the manual is laid out

Chapter	For	What it holds
The language	programmers	the exact rules of words, kinds, sentences, functions, pointers, ownership and lists
The compiler	programmers	the zakac commands, the stages a program passes through, and its messages
The VM	programmers	how the Zaka VM runs a program, holds its data, and stops on a mistake
Concepts	the curious	the ideas behind the design, explained with scenarios
Inside the compiler	contributors	how the code of the compiler is built, crate after crate

The reference pages at the end list the reserved words, the operator precedence and each error code.

From a sentence to a running program

Each chapter looks at one part of this road:

 program.zaka                    The language: what the sentences mean
      │
      ▼
 ┌─────────┐   words   ┌────────┐   tree   ┌──────────────────────────┐
 │  lexer  │ ────────▶ │ parser │ ───────▶ │ natural wording,         │
 └─────────┘           └────────┘          │ names and kinds          │
                                           └────────────┬─────────────┘
      The compiler: what it checks                      │ tree
                                                        ▼
 ┌────────────────┐   IR   ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐
 │ borrow checker │ ◀───── │ fold constants   │◀─│ lower to IR  │
 └───────┬────────┘        └──────────────────┘  └──────────────┘
         │ IR
         ▼
 ┌────────────────┐   instructions   ┌──────────────┐
 │ code generator │ ───────────────▶ │   Zaka VM    │
 └────────────────┘                  └──────────────┘
                                       The VM: how it runs

A mistake the compiler finds stops the program before it runs, with a message and a code such as ZK0701. A mistake that slips past the checks stops the program while it runs, with a message that starts the program stopped:.

Reading the examples

The examples in the manual run, just as the ones in Learn do: press Run to see the output, or change the program and run it again. Each example is checked against the compiler, so the output shown is the output the program prints now.

"မင်္ဂလာပါ" ဟု ပြသပါ။          // show: hello

မင်္ဂလာပါ

An example meant to fail states it, and names the code of the message it gives. A program that prints Western digits in its source still prints Burmese digits (၁၂၃).

Start with the language, or open the table of contents.