🪄 MAGIC

I got tired of the timeline, so I wrote a language. The name is MAGIC. A committee did not get a vote. You can tell.

It mixes Lua and BASIC, and it compiles to JavaScript. A newline ends a statement. end closes the block. Keywords ignore case. Names keep theirs. Indexes start at 0, because I have already lived through the other argument. nil, false, 0, and "" are false. -- comments out the rest of the line. $"..." fills text. = assigns. == compares. This is not a riddle.

@canvas is a picture. @terminal is a grid of text. There’s also 3D, a UI kit, sound, hex boards, and the usual game helpers. A language that cannot move a sprite is just a slower way to be annoyed.

A program

@canvas
@games

let engine = new Engine({ width: 480, height: 270 })
let spark = engine.sprite("✦", 240, 135, 42)

fn frame()
  if engine.isKeyDown("ArrowRight") then
    spark.x = spark.x + 4
  end
  engine.update()
  engine.canvas.draw()
  requestAnimationFrame(frame)
end

requestAnimationFrame(frame)

magic run runs that file. magic app writes an Electron project around it. magic pack writes the same project, and magic pack --build also builds the app. The window keeps contextIsolation on, nodeIntegration off, and sandbox on. Alpha. It can still change. If it does something stupid, the code is in the repo, which is the point of the links below.

MIT. No account. No share-to-unlock. No quiet sponsor hiding in the footer.

The short course, if you want to read before you clone, is on the language site. The repo is still the copy that can change under you. The editor, if you want a window that starts black, is MAGIC Studio. The smaller desk, with the big Run button, is MAGIC Apprentice.

Two compilers

This page is MAGIC. It compiles to JavaScript. Pictures, a terminal, 3D, a UI kit, sound, hex boards, games, and an Electron window.

RETRO MAGIC is the other compiler. A script still looks like MAGIC. The output is BASIC and assembly for the Commodore 64, the Apple II, and the TI-99/4A. @3d stays here. It does not fit those machines. The window for that one is RETRO Studio.

Three repos

The language, the window, and the smaller desk. Roots. Not a signup form with a trailer.