The V Programming Language
[vlang.io](https://vlang.io) |
[Docs](https://github.com/vlang/v/blob/master/doc/docs.md) |
[Changelog](https://github.com/vlang/v/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md) |
[Speed](https://fast.vlang.io/) |
[Contributing](https://github.com/vlang/v/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md)
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## Key Features of V
- Simplicity: the language can be learned in less than an hour
- Fast compilation: ≈80k loc/s with a Clang backend, ≈1 million loc/s with x64 and tcc backends *(Intel i5-7500, SSD, no optimization)*
- Easy to develop: V compiles itself in less than a second
- Performance: within 3% of C
- Safety: no null, no globals, no undefined behavior, immutability by default
- C to V translation
- Hot code reloading
- [Cross-platform UI library](https://github.com/vlang/ui)
- Built-in graphics library
- Easy cross compilation
- REPL
- Built-in ORM
- C and JavaScript backends
## Stability guarantee and future changes
Despite being at an early development stage, the V language is relatively stable and has
backwards compatibility guarantee, meaning that the code you write today is guaranteed
to work a month, a year, or five years from now.
There still may be minor syntax changes before the 1.0 release, but they will be handled
automatically via `vfmt`, as has been done in the past.
The V core APIs (primarily the `os` module) will still have minor changes until
they are stabilized in 2020. Of course the APIs will grow after that, but without breaking
existing code.
Unlike many other languages, V is not going to be always changing, with new features
being introduced and old features modified. It is always going to be a small and simple
language, very similar to the way it is right now.
## Installing V from source
### Linux, macOS, Windows, *BSD, Solaris, WSL, Android, Raspbian
```bash
git clone https://github.com/vlang/v
cd v
make
```
That's it! Now you have a V executable at `[path to V repo]/v`.
`[path to V repo]` can be anywhere.
(On Windows `make` means running `make.bat`, so make sure you use `cmd.exe`)
Now you can try `./v run examples/hello_world.v` (`v.exe` on Windows).
V is being constantly updated. To update V, simply run:
```
v up
```
### C compiler
It's recommended to use Clang or GCC or Visual Studio. If you are doing development, you most likely already have one of those installed.
Otherwise, follow these instructions:
- [Installing a C compiler on Linux and macOS](https://github.com/vlang/v/wiki/Installing-a-C-compiler-on-Linux-and-macOS)
- [Installing a C compiler on Windows](https://github.com/vlang/v/wiki/Installing-a-C-compiler-on-Windows)
However, if none is found when running `make` on Linux or Windows, TCC would be downloaded and set as an alternative C backend. It's very lightweight (several MB) so this shouldn't take too long.
### Symlinking
NB: it is *highly recommended*, that you put V on your PATH. That saves
you the effort to type in the full path to your v executable everytime.
V provides a convenience `v symlink` command to do that more easily.
On Unix systems, it creates a `/usr/local/bin/v` symlink to your
executable. To do that, run:
```bash
sudo ./v symlink
```
On Windows, start a new shell with administrative privileges, for
example by Windows Key, then type `cmd.exe`, right click on its menu
entry, and choose `Run as administrator`. In the new administrative
shell, cd to the path, where you have compiled v.exe, then type:
```bat
.\v.exe symlink
```
That will make v available everywhere, by adding it to your PATH.
Please restart your shell/editor after that, so that it can pick
the new PATH variable.
NB: there is no need to run `v symlink` more than once - v will
continue to be available, even after `v up`, restarts and so on.
You only need to run it again, if you decide to move the V repo
folder somewhere else.
### Docker
Expand Docker instructions
```bash
git clone https://github.com/vlang/v
cd v
docker build -t vlang .
docker run --rm -it vlang:latest
v
```
### Docker with Alpine/musl:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/vlang/v
cd v
docker build -t vlang --file=Dockerfile.alpine .
docker run --rm -it vlang:latest
/usr/local/v/v
```
If you plan to use the http package, you also need to install OpenSSL on non-Windows systems.
```
macOS:
brew install openssl
Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt install libssl-dev
Arch/Manjaro:
openssl is installed by default
Fedora:
sudo dnf install openssl-devel
```
## V UI
https://github.com/vlang/ui
## Developing web applications
Check out the [Building a simple web blog](https://github.com/vlang/v/blob/master/tutorials/building-a-simple-web-blog-with-vweb.md)
tutorial and Gitly, a light and fast alternative to GitHub/GitLab:
https://github.com/vlang/gitly
## Troubleshooting
Please see the [Troubleshooting](https://github.com/vlang/v/wiki/Troubleshooting) section on our [wiki page](https://github.com/vlang/v/wiki)
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