Dynamically typed, general-purpose programming language
Ring is a dynamically typed, general-purpose programming language. It can be embedded in C/C++ projects, extended using C/C++ code or used as a standalone language. The supported programming paradigms are imperative, procedural, object-oriented, functional, meta, declarative using nested structures, and natural programming. The language is portable (Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, WebAssembly, etc.) and can be used to create console, GUI, web, game and mobile applications.
History.
In 2009, Mahmoud Samir Fayed created a minor domain-specific language called Supernova that focuses on User interface (UI) creation and uses some ideas related to Natural Language Programming, then he realized the need for a new language that is general-purpose and can increase the productivity of natural language creation. Ring aims to offer a language focused on helping the developer with building natural interfaces and declarative DSLs.
Goals.
The general goals behind Ring:
Examples.
Hello World program.
The same program can be written using different styles. Here is an example of the standard "Hello, World!" program using four different styles.
The first style:
The second style:
The third style:
Another style: similar to xBase languages like Clipper and Visual FoxPro
Change the keywords and operators.
Ring supports changing the language keywords and operators.
This could be done many times in the same source file, and is useful for
Translate Ring keywords to Japanese
Translate Ring keywords to Arabic
Use style similar to the Pascal programming language
ChangeRingKeyword func function
ChangeRingKeyword see write
begin = :begin
function main
begin
write("Hello, World!");
return 0;
end
ChangeRingKeyword function func
ChangeRingKeyword write see
Loop command.
The Loop command can take an integer to apply the continue semantics to enclosing outer loops
Object-oriented programming.
Ring supports object-oriented programming (classes, objects, composition, inheritance, encapsulation, etc.)
In Ring classes can be defined at runtime using the Eval() function
Implementation.
Compiler and virtual machine.
Ring programs are not interpreted directly from the textual Ring file, but are compiled into bytecode, which is then run on the Ring virtual machine. The compilation process is typically invisible to the user and is performed at run-time, but it can be done offline in order to increase loading performance or reduce the memory footprint of the host environment by leaving out the compiler.
The compiler and the virtual machine are designed using visual programming through the Programming Without Coding Technology software then the C code is generated.
Extensions.
The following are extensions that can be used immediately after the installation of the full installation version (with a file size of about 280 MB for Ring 1.12). Since these are officially provided and maintained on the Ring side, the users are not bothered by library dependencies that may cause problems in other languages, and there is a concern that they can not be used suddenly even if there are destructive language specification changes.
The extensions are implemented in approximately 500,000 lines of C and C++ code.
Libraries.
Ring comes with libraries written in Ring itself, such as libraries related to web and game development.
Applications.
Ring is distributed with over 60 applications written in the language.
Some of these applications are
Tools.
Ring is distributed with a Standard IDE that includes the following tools:
Ring is also distributed with extensions for many code editors such as Emacs, Notepad++, Geany, Atom, Sublime Text 2, and Visual Studio Code.
Documentation.
Ring is distributed with documentation written using Sphinx. A Japanese translation of the documentation is also available.
Reception.
Popularity.
Ring had a rapid rise and fall in popularity as measured by the TIOBE Programming Community Index. In February 2018, Ring broke into the top 50 for the first time (position 45). As of October 2020, Ring holds position 93 on the TIOBE index. Ring is listed by GitHub in the list of programming languages that are actively developed.
Criticism.
Ring critics pointed to some features in Ring that are not common in widely used programming languages.
The list index starts from 1 instead of 0.
In Ring, the index of the first item in lists and the first character in strings is 1.
Implicit type conversions.
The language can automatically convert between numbers and strings.
References.
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