VDX Programming Language

The programming language of Voidware (voidware.xyz).

Inspired by Java, C++, Rust, Python, and C# — built to be fast, with future focus on AI and games.

Version: 0.1.4

Supported Features

• class declarations (recommended but optional — top-level statements work without a class wrapper)
• print() with any expression arguments (e.g., print(1 + 1) outputs 2)
• let variable declarations (string, integer, float, bool)
• Optional type annotations: let x: int = 5;, let pi: float = 3.14;
• Variable reassignment (name = expr;)
• fn / func function declarations with parameters and return
• Operators: +, -, *, /, %, ==, !=, <, >, <=, >=, ++, --
• String concatenation with +
• Parenthesized expressions
• this keyword for class-scope variable access
• if / elif / else control flow
• while loop
• for loop (C-style): for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) { ... } (supports ++/-- in update)
• for-in loop over arrays: for (item in arr) { ... }
• Block scoping (variables in { } blocks are local)
• wait(ms) to pause execution
• Loop safety protection — while and for loops with iterations taking more than 2 seconds are flagged as potentially infinite
• @unsafe annotation — place before while or for to disable loop protection
• Types — float literals (3.14), true/false booleans, type annotations with runtime checking
• Mixed arithmetic — int/float operations auto-promote to float
• new / object instantiation — let obj = new ClassName();
• Dot access — obj.field, obj.method(args), obj.field = value;
• Arrays — let arr = [1, 2, 3];, index access arr[0], index assignment arr[0] = 5;
• Built-in len() — returns length of arrays and strings
• Built-in push() — appends a value to an array: push(arr, 4);
• break — exit loops early
• continue — skip to next loop iteration
• const — declare immutable constants: const PI = 3.14;
• math module — math functions: sqrt, pow, abs, sin, cos, tan, floor, ceil, round, min, max, random, pi, log, log2, log10, exp, cbrt, asin, acos, atan, atan2, degrees, radians, gcd, sign, clamp, factorial, fibonacci, isPrime, primes, primeCount, sort, sortDesc, count, lcm, sum, mean, comb, hypot, lerp, e, tau
• graph module — SVG plotting: graph.scatter(xs, ys), graph.line(xs, ys), graph.bar(labels, values), graph.hist(data, [bins]), graph.area(xs, ys), graph.title(), graph.xlabel(), graph.ylabel(), graph.grid(bool), graph.color(name), graph.legend(labels), graph.save(path), graph.show()
• import — import other VDX files: import "utils.vdx";
• type() — get type name as string: type(42) returns "int"
• input() — read user input: let name = input("Name: ");
• pop() — remove and return last array element: let last = pop(arr);
• Extended len() — now works with objects (returns field count)
• Improved error reporting — errors now show source file, line number, and surrounding code context

Loop Safety

By default, if a while or for loop iteration takes more than 2000ms, VDX halts it with an error. This prevents infinite loops and runaway CPU usage.

To bypass this for legitimate slow loops:

@unsafe while (condition) {
    // runs without speed checks
}

Install (Windows)

Download the .msi installer from voidwarelang.xyz/download. After installation, vdx is available in your terminal PATH.

Example (hello.vdx)

class Hello {
    print(1 + 1);

    let name = "VDX";
    print(this.name);

    let x = 10;
    if (x == 10) {
        print("x is 10");
    } elif (x > 5) {
        print("x is greater than 5");
    } else {
        print("x is something else");
    }

    fn max(a, b) {
        if (a > b) {
            return a;
        } else {
            return b;
        }
    }

    print("max(3, 7) =", max(3, 7));

    // for loop
    @unsafe for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
        print("i:", i);
    }

    // for-in
    let fruits = ["apple", "banana"];
    for (fruit in fruits) {
        print("fruit:", fruit);
    }

    // types
    let pi: float = 3.14;
    let active: bool = true;
    print("pi:", pi, "active:", active);
}

Object Instantiation

class Point {
    let x: int = 0;
    let y: int = 0;

    fn setXY(nx, ny) {
        x = nx;
        y = ny;
    }

    fn describe() {
        print("Point:", x, y);
    }
}

class Main {
    let p = new Point();
    p.x = 10;
    p.y = 20;
    p.describe();
}

Build

cd vdx
cmake -B build
cmake --build build

Build Release (Windows MSI)

# From the repository root — builds, creates MSI installer, and copies to releases/
.\build-release.ps1

Run

./build/vdx examples/hello.vdx

File Format

.vdx