Getting started

q64 is a stream-first language that compiles to WebAssembly. This guide takes you from an empty directory to a running program.

Install the toolchain

Clone the repository and run the setup script, which vendors a pinned Zig toolchain and the supporting tools, then builds the q64 binary:

git clone https://github.com/q64-lang/q64
cd q64
./init.sh
export PATH="$PWD/vendor/zig:$PATH"
( cd q64 && zig build )   # produces q64/zig-out/bin/q64

Your first qube

A q64 source file uses the .q extension. The module header is a //! doc comment; fn main is the entry point.

//! hello — minimal q64 example.

fn main {
    env.out("Hello, q64.")
}

Save it as hello.q, then compile it to WebAssembly:

q64 emit hello.q /tmp/hello.wasm

Inspecting the language

The compiler can describe itself. q64 doc --json emits the full language index — keywords, builtin types, and diagnostics — the same data this site’s reference is generated from:

q64 doc --json | jq '.language.keywords[0]'

When you hit an error, q64 explain <code> prints what it means (and links to its page under Diagnostics):

q64 explain LEX010

Next steps

Browse the Reference for the language surface.
Read the Spec for the authoritative semantics.