AMMA programming language & Interpreter

Amma is an educational programming language written in Malayalam, designed primarily as a learning tool for understanding compiler and interpreter design. Despite being created for educational purposes, Amma offers a complete programming experience even like recursion, file-handling, string operations etc with Malayalam keywords, making programming more accessible to Malayalam speakers.

Note

I created this project for me to learn about compilers, lexers, and related concepts. This is a personal educational project to help me understand how programming languages work under the hood.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Installation
• Language Features
  • Variables and Data Types
  • Basic Operations
  • Control Structures
  • Functions
  • File I/O Operations
  • String Operations
• Syntax Guide
• Examples
• Keywords Reference

Overview

Amma is implemented in Rust, showcasing principles of lexical analysis, parsing, and interpretation. A key feature of Amma is its support for both Malayalam script and Latin transliteration - you can write code using English characters that will be automatically converted to Malayalam keywords. This makes the language accessible even to those who cannot type in Malayalam directly.

Installation

Using Pre-built Binaries

Pre-built binaries for Windows and Linux are available in the GitHub Releases section. Simply:

1. Download the appropriate binary for your platform
2. Make it executable (on Linux: chmod +x amma) // ignore this for windows
3. Create your Amma script with .amma file extension or try one from samples i have provided
4. Run your script ( for linux in terminal ):

   ./amma your_script.amma

5. Run your script ( for windows cmd ):

   .\amma your_script.amma

Building from Source

If you prefer to build from source, ensure you have the Rust compiler installed on your system:

1. Clone the Amma repository
2. Build the project using Cargo:

   cargo build --release

3. The compiled binary will be available in the target/release directory

Language Features

Language file extension

Amma language used .amma file extension , which means the program file should have .amma extension ,ex : hello.amma

Variables and Data Types

Amma supports the following data types:

• Numbers: Integers are the primary number type
• Strings: Text enclosed in single or double quotes
• Boolean: Represented as 1 (true) and 0 (false)

Variable assignment is straightforward:

name = "Aaron"
age = 19

Basic Operations

Amma provides standard arithmetic and logical operations:

• Addition: +
• Subtraction: -
• Multiplication: *
• Division: / (integer division)
• Modulo: %
• Comparison: ==, !=, <, >, <=, >=
• Logical: && (AND), || (OR)

Control Structures

Conditional Statements

ഇത് condition സത്യമോ {
    // code to execute if true
} അല്ലെങ്കില് {
    // code to execute if false
}

Transliterated version (automatically converted to Malayalam):

ithu condition sathyamo {
    // code to execute if true
} allenkil {
    // code to execute if false
}

Loops

For Loop:

start മുതൽ end വരെ {
    // code to execute
    // Use _ variable for current iteration
}

Transliterated:

start muthal end vare {
    // code to execute
    // Use _ variable for current iteration
}

While Loop:

ഈ condition സത്യമാവണവരെ {
    // code to execute
}

Transliterated:

ee condition sathyamaavanavare {
    // code to execute
}

Functions

Function definition and calls:

നിശ്ചയിക്കുക function_name(parameter1, parameter2) {
    // function body
    മറുപടി result
}

Transliterated:

nischayikkuka function_name(parameter1, parameter2) {
    // function body
    marupadi result
}

File I/O Operations

Amma provides simple file operations:

Reading:

content = വായിക്കുക("filename.txt")

Writing:

എഴുതുക(content, "filename.txt")

Appending:

കൂട്ടിച്ചേർക്കുക(content, "filename.txt")

String Operations

String Concatenation:

full_name = first_name + " " + last_name

String Length:

x= നീളം("hello")

String Indexing:

first_char = name[0]

Substring:

part = name.മുറിക്കുക(0, 5)

Multiplication:

x=  "*" * 10

Syntax Guide

Comments

// This is a single-line comment

/* This is a
   multi-line comment */

Input and Output

Printing to console:

പറയുക "Hello, World!"
പറയുക variable_name

Taking user input:

സ്വീകരിക്കുക variable_name

Transliteration System

A standout feature of Amma is its transliteration system. You can write code in three ways:

1. Direct Malayalam: Using Malayalam script if you have a Malayalam keyboard
2. English Transliteration: Using romanized equivalents that will be automatically converted to Malayalam at run type

For example, the print statement can be written in any of these forms:

പറയുക "Hello, World!"  // Direct Malayalam
parayuka "Hello, World!"  // English transliteration

All keywords will be automatically converted to Malayalam during processing, making the language accessible to everyone regardless of keyboard capabilities or typing preferences.

Write This (English)	Gets Converted To (Malayalam)
parayuka	പറയുക
sweekarikkuka	സ്വീകരിക്കുക
muthal	മുതൽ
vare	വരെ
ithu	ഇത്
sathyamo	സത്യമോ
etc......

Examples

Hello World

പറയുക "Hello, World!"

Or with transliteration:

parayuka "Hello, World!"

Simple Calculator

parayuka "Simple Calculator"
sweekarikkuka num1
sweekarikkuka num2
parayuka "Sum: " + (num1 + num2)
parayuka "Difference: " + (num1 - num2)
parayuka "Product: " + (num1 * num2)
ithu num2 != 0 sathyamo {
    parayuka "Division: " + (num1 / num2)
} allenkil {
    parayuka "Cannot divide by zero"
}

Fibonacci Sequence

നിശ്ചയിക്കുക fib(n) {
    ഇത്  (n == 0) സത്യമോ {
        മറുപടി(0)
    } അല്ലെങ്കില് {
        ഇത്  (n == 1) സത്യമോ{
            മറുപടി(1)
        } അല്ലെങ്കില് {
            മറുപടി(fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2))
        }
    }
}
സ്വീകരിക്കുക x

0 മുതൽ  x വരെ {
    പറയുക(fib(_))
 }

File Handling

// write
ezhuthuka("Aaron Thomas", "out.txt")

// append
കൂട്ടിച്ചേർക്കുക(" build this", "out.txt")

// read
x=vayikkuka("out.txt")
പറയുക x

More Examples are in samples

Keywords Reference

Malayalam Keyword	Transliteration	Function
പറയുക	parayuka	Print to console
സ്വീകരിക്കുക	sweekarikkuka	Accept user input
മുതൽ	muthal	For loop start
വരെ	vare	For loop end
ഈ	ee	While loop condition start
സത്യമാവണവരെ	sathyamaavanavare	While loop condition end
ഇത്	ithu	If statement condition
സത്യമോ	sathyamo	If statement condition end
അല്ലെങ്കില്	allenkil	Else statement
നിശ്ചയിക്കുക	nischayikkuka	Function definition
മറുപടി	marupadi	Return statement
വായിക്കുക	vayikkuka	Read file
എഴുതുക	ezhuthuka	Write file
കൂട്ടിച്ചേർക്കുക	kootticherkuka	Append to file
മുറിക്കുക	murikkuka	Substring operation
നീളം	neelam	string length

Educational Purpose

Amma was created primarily as an educational tool for learning about compilers. The language demonstrates:

1. Lexical Analysis: Converting source code to tokens
2. Parsing: Constructing an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST)
3. Interpretation: Executing the parsed AST
4. Transliteration: Converting between writing systems

By studying and extending Amma, you can gain insights into language design and implementation.

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Contributing

Contributions to Amma are welcome! Feel free to submit issues or pull requests to help improve the language.

Made with ❤️ by arxhr007

If you find this project helpful, please consider giving it a star ⭐

License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.