Monkey2 is a new programming language designed by Mark Sibly, creator of the ‘Blitz’ range of languages.
While staying true to the ‘basic’ style of the original blitz languages, Monkey2 offers some very powerful new features including:
Generic classes and methods.
Classes, interfaces, structs, methods and functions can have ‘type’ parameters:
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struct Rect<T>
Field x0:T,y0:T
Field x1:T,y1:T
End
Function Main()
Local r:=New Rect<Float>
End
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‘First class’ functions.
Functions (and methods) can be stored in variables and passed to/from other functions.
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Function Test1()
Print "Test1!"
End
Function Test2()
Print "Test2!"
End
Function Tester( test:Void() )
test()
End
Function Main()
Tester( Test1 )
Tester( Test2 )
End
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Lambda functions.
Lambda functions allow you to create closures:
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Function Test( func:Void() )
func()
End
Function Main()
For Local i:=0 Until 10
Test( Lambda()
Print i
End )
Next
End
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New ‘struct’ type that provides value semantics.
Structs are similar to classes in that they encapsulate member data, but differ in that they are passed around ‘by value’ instead of ‘by reference’.
This allows structs to be efficiently created on the stack without any garbage collection overhead.
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Struct S
Field data:Int=10
End
Function Test( s:S )
s.data=100
End
Function Main()
Local s:=new S 'Create a new S on the stack (very fast!)
Test( s ) 'Test gets a copy of 's'.
Print s.data 'Print '10'
End
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Fibers for easy asynchronous programming.
Fibers provide support for ‘cooperative’ multithreading:
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Function Server( host:String,service:String )
Local server:=Socket.Listen( host,service )
Repeat
Local client:=server.Accept()
New Fiber( Lambda()
Local data:=client.Receive(...)
End )
Forever
End
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Operator overloading.
Operator overloading allows you to override the meaning of the built-in language operators, making for more expressive code:
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Struct Vec2
Field x:Float
Field y:Float
Method New( x:float,y:Float )
Self.x=x
Self.y=y
End
Operator+:Vec2( v:Vec2 )
Return New Vec2( x+v.x,y+v.y )
End
Operator To:String()
Return "Vec2("+x+","+y+")"
End
End
Function Main()
Local v0:=New Vec2( 10,20 )
Local v1:=New Vec2( 30,40 )
Print v0+v1
End
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Class extensions.
Class extensions allow you to add extra methods and functions to existing classes.
Fully garbage collected.
Monkey2 provides a ‘mostly’ incremental garbage collector that efficiently collects garbage as it runs without any of those annoying ‘sweep’ spikes found in typical garbage collectors.
Optional reflection features.
Monkey2 includes an optional reflection system that allows you to inspect and modify variables and values at runtime:
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#Import "<reflection>"
Class C
Method Update( msg:String )
Print "C.Update : msg="+msg
End
End
Function Main()
Local c:=New C
Local type:=Typeof( c )
Print type
Local decl:=type.GetDecl( "Update" )
decl.Invoke( c,"Hello World!" )
End
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Multi-target
Monkey2 works on a wide range of targets: Windows, Macos, Linux, Emscripten, Android and iOS.