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ᚣ Rune for Python Programmers

A faster, safer, and more productive systems programming language

Rune aims to provide much of the power of Python in a fast systems-programming language designed for safety and speed. Rune tries to offer much of the expressive power of Python, including function polymorphism, without the overhead of garbage collection.

This document is a brief introduction to Rune for Python programmers, with a focus on the differences, shown by example. Hopefully you will find this simple to read based on your Python experience.

Difference #1: Curly braces, not indentation

Rune uses curly braces, like C, C++, Java, C#, JavaScript, Go, etc. This call was tough to make, and there are pros and cons.

Pros:

  • Many Python coders enjoy indentation-based statement grouping, which requires less typing and results in fewer lines of code.

Cons:

  • Indentation based statement grouping leads to bugs when tabs and spaces are used in the same file.
  • Some folks have very low vision (including Rune's original author). The blind dislike Python’s indentation-based grouping, which screen readers by default do not read out loud.

Python:

if a > b:
	return a
else:
	return b

Rune:

if a > b {
	return a
} else {
	return b
}

To encourage similarity in programming style, Rune requires the open curly brace to be on the same line as the statement: Rune requires it.

Func, not def

There are lots of languages that call functions a word that implies function, such as "function", "fun", "func" or "fn". Rune uses "func" as a compromise between "function" and "fn".

Python:

def max(a, b):
	return a if a >= b else b

Rune:

func max(a, b) {
	return a >= b ? a : b  // Rune uses most C-style operators.
}

Functions in both Python and Rune are highly polymorphic. This means that you can pass different types of objects to functions, and as long as all the operations in the function are defined for those objects, it just works.

Predefined functions and variables

The "max" function is predefined in both Python and Rune. Predefined Python-like functions and variables in the global scope are:

  • min
  • max
  • abs
  • range
  • argv (not sys.argv)
  • randString (cryptographically random bytes suitable for secret keys)
  • ord
  • chr

Note that Rune has no character type. You can use '\n' and the usual escape sequences but the result is a u8 integer. The ord and chr functions convert from a 1-character string to a u8 and back.

Python-like CamelCase, not underscores

class Person(self, name) {
	self.name = name

	func helloWorld(self) {
		println "Hello, world, from ", self.name, "."
	}
}

Rune uses CapitalCamelCase by convention for classes, just like Python. Lower case is for variables, functions and methods. Underscores are not legal in identifiers. Underscores are reserved for code transformers where they ensure non-collision with user variable names.

Rather than using _ to create private identifiers, Rune makes identifiers public between packages with the export keyword. Modules within a package (files within a directory) can always access identifiers in other modules within the package. The rationale for this is that ownership boundaries between code files rarely divide modules within a package.

Strings, text, variables and comments are all UTF-8

Strings in Rune are internally represented as arrays of 8-bit unsigned integers, which are displayed as UTF-8 when printed. Note that for security reasons (see the Trojan Source attack), control characters are not allowed in Rune source files other than newline, return, and tab characters.

The following is valid in Rune:

hässlich = "Μεδουσα"
schön = "Ἀφροδίτη"
\. = "."  // You can even used keywords as variables, if escaped with a backslash.
println schön , " is prettier than ", hässlich , \.  // υποκειμενικά

Comments

Rune uses C-like comments:

// This is a single-line comment.
/*
  This is a block comment.
  Note that /* embedded comments */ do not end the comment block.
*/

Rune is a systems programming language

Rune is meant for writing high performance secure code. This drives the majority of changes in Rune from Python. For example:

  • No garbage collection (Rune’s memory system is memory safe, and fast)
  • Compiled, not interpreted (Rune compiles using the LLVM backend)
  • Rune programs are debugged using gdb

Constructors in class declaration, not __init__

In general, Rune tries to avoid accessing what look like internal compiler-specific variables where possible. For example, constructors are not declared with __init__.

Python:

class Point:
	def __init__(self, x, y):
		self.x = x
		self.y = y

	def manhattanDist(self):
		return abs(self.x) + abs(self.y)

# Python 3.7+:
from dataclasses import dataclass

@dataclass
class Point:
	x: int
	y: int

	def manhattanDist(self):
		return abs(self.x) + abs(self.y)

Rune:

class Point(self, x, y) {
	self.x = x
	self.y = y

	func manhattanDist(self) {
		return abs(x) + abs(y)
	}
}

Class construction parameters are passed to the class, which now looks more like a function where methods are just sub-functions.

Integers

Integers in Python are either fixed-width integer, rather than infinite precision. As a cryptography-centric systems language, Rune uses only fixed-integer widths, but the width can be any size up to 224-1.

Python:

modulus = 2**255 - 19  # Prime number used in curve25519 elliptic curve crypto.

Rune:

modulus = 2u256**255 - 19u256

Rune integer constants without a type suffix are unsigned 64-bit integers. To specify a width, add u<width> for unsigned integers, or i for signed.

123 → 64-bit unsigned integer
0xdeadbeefu256 → a 256-bit unsigned integer

Rune is strongly statically typed

In Rune, every type is automatically determined from constants at the leaves of expression trees. Further, type constraints can be annotated on every variable, parameter, and function return type. These type constraints are enforced at compile-time.

If you call a function twice, with different parameter types, Rune instantiates two different functions, one for each. Basically, all functions in Rune are template functions.

func add(a, b) {
	return a + b  // Like Python, addition of strings or arrays means concatenate.
}

println add(3, 5)

println add("This is", " a test")

Rune gives a compiler error when integer sizes are mixed. For example:

if x == 3u32 {  // An error if x is not a u32.
	…
}
if x == <x>3  {  // Works for any integer type of x wide enough to hold 3..
	...
}

Single type variables

Variables in Rune can only have a single assigned type for any given instantiation of a function. The following issues a compiler error:

x = 1
x = "test"  // Compiler error here since x changed type.

This is needed to make Rune strongly typed.

Recursion

Types of every value in a function are determined from the parameter types passed to the function. For non-recursive functions, this always works out. However, for a recursive function, Rune determines the return type from the first return statement, which must come before any recursive call.

Legal in Rune:

func fact(n) {
	if n == 1 {
		return 1
	}
	return n * fact(n - 1)
}

This will give a compiler error:

func fact(n) {
	if n != 1 {
		return n * fact(n - 1)
	}
	return 1
}

Try to evaluate the basis case first.

Null

Unlike Python, Rune needs to know the concrete type of every constant, including null, which acts like Python’s None. In Rune, null is the empty reference to a specific class type. For example:

point p = null(Point)  // Initialize a Point reference to null.

For classes with template parameters, you may specify a fully qualified type like:

Point p = null(Point(u32, u32))

In most cases, Rune figures out the type of null from just the class name. You can also get away with referring to the type of an existing variable, including self:

// null on its own here is assumed to be of the same type as self.
class Tree(self: Tree, label: string, left = null(Tree), right = null(Tree)) {
	self.label = label
	self.left = left
	self.right = right
	self.parent = null(self)  // In the body, you must be more specific.
	...
}

n1 = Tree("N1", Tree("L1"), Tree("L2"))
n2 = Tree("N2", Tree("L3"), Tree("L4"))
n3 = Tree("N3", n1, n2)
n4 = Tree("N4", null(Tree), Tree("L5"))
root = Tree("root", n3, n4)

Rune supports null safety. By default, type constraints declare variables to be non-null. To test if a variable is null, use isnull():

if !isnull(point) {
	println point!.toString()  // Works if Point has a toString method.
}

Rune creates a default .toString() method for you in debug mode (using -g flag), which can be called from gdb. The ! suffix checks that a value is not null null at compile time unless the compiler can prove this check is not needed.

Printing

Rune assumes there is a console output that can be used for debugging and/or logging. It is a compile-time error if you try to print a secret. This causes a compiler error:

println rand32  // An error because rand32 generates a secret random value.

Like Python before literal string interpolation, Rune embraces printf-like formatting with the % operator

println "%x" % (2u256**255 - 19u256)  // Print curve25519’s modulus in hex.

Currently supported format specifiers are:

  • %s - match a string value
  • %b - Match an bool value: prints true or false
  • %i - Match an Int value
  • %u - Match a Uint value
  • %x - Match an Int or Uint value, print in lower-case-hex
  • %[<type>] - Array of <type>
  • %(<type>) - Tuple of <type>

All format specifiers are checked at compile time and are type safe. In general, you can print builtin types directly without formatting, and a default format will be used.

The only difference between print and println is that println appends a newline. These are equivalent:

print "Hello, World!\n"
println "Hello, World!"

Dictionaries

In Rune, all dictionary entries have to have the same key types and the same value types, and they have to be declared when you create the dictionary:

Rune:

d = Dict(string, u32)
d["Bill"] = 123u32

Python:

d = {}
d["Bill"] = 123

Type constraints

Rune tries to be as polymorphic as possible, which was inspired from Python. However, in most cases, there is value in clearly stating the types of variables and functions. For example:

func addThree(a: Int | Uint) -> typeof(a) {
	return a + <a>3  // <a> means cast to the type of a.
}

Type constraints give Rune no additional expressive power, but help avoid bugs and convey the programmer’s intent to the reader. It is very common in Rune to cast a value to the type of another value, which is what <a> means, which is shorthand for <typeof(a)>.

You can take the union of two type constraints with the | operator, as in Python 3.10+. This means that either type is allowed. All unsigned integers match Uint, and all signed integers match Int. To specify a particular width:

func add3(a: u32) -> u32 {
	return a + 3u32
}

You can also restrict types in variable assignments:

a: string = 0x123.toString(2)  // a will be "100100011"

Looping

Rune supports Python-style looping:

for i in range(0, 11, 2) {  // Print 0, 2, 4, …, 10, same as Python.
	println i  // "println" adds a \n at the end, while "print" does not.
}
i = 0
while i <= 10 {
	println i
	i += 2
}

And also C-like for-loops:

for i = 0, i <= 10, i += 2 {
	println i
}

And one more loop structure to reduce the assignment-in-condition problem:

do {
	c = getNextChar()
} while c != ‘\0’ {
	processChar(c)
}

The do-block always executes, and the while-block only executes if the condition is true, after which we jump to the start of the do-block. If the condition is false, the loop terminates. This avoids the common C/C++ hack:

In C, the programmer would be tempted to write:

int c;
while ((c = getNextChar()) != '\0') {
	processChar(c);
}

Iterators

Rune uses "co-routines" which are similar to Python’s "generators":

// Simplified range iterator:
iterator range(n) {
	for i = <n>0, i < n, i += <n>1 {
		yield i
	}
}

Currently,only one yield statement is allowed in an iterator, and iterators are always inlined.

Tuples and arrays

Tuples and arrays are supported in Rune. Currently, unpacking syntax is not yet supported, but is planned.

l = [1, 2, 3, 4]
names = ["Bill", "Bob", "Dave"]

Note that array elements must have the same type, unlike Python. Tuples are defined like Python, but unlike Python, parentheses are mandatory:

point = (x, y)
x = point[0]; y = point[1]

However, tuples in Rune are mutable! Tuples are always passed by reference, not value, just like arrays.

Builtin type expressions

Each builtin type has a class representing its type, which holds some methods for the type:

  • Array
  • Function
  • Bool
  • String
  • Uint
  • Int
  • Tuple
  • Class
  • Float

These are template types that match categories of concrete types. Some examples of constants of each type:

  • Array: [1, 2, 3] or [["one", "two"], ["three"]], arrayof(u8) for an empty array of u8
  • Bool: true, false (lower case)
  • String: "Hello, World!"
  • Uint: 123u64, 0 (a u64), 0xdeadbeefu32
  • Int: -1i32, 123i64
  • Tuple: ("Bill", 123, [1u32, 2u32])
  • Class: MyString("test")
  • Float: 1.1e3 (defaults to f64, like C++ double), 3.14159f32, 2.0f64

Each concrete type can also be specified with a type expression:

Array: [string], [[u32]]
Bool: bool
String: string
Uint: u64, u123
Int: i64, i2048
Tuple: (string, u64, [u32])
Class: typeof(MyString(string))
Float: f32, (f32, f64)

To create an empty array of a given type:

emptyArrayOfStrings = arrayof(string)

Class templates

All functions, including class constructors, are templates in that calling them with different types of parameters results in different functions being instantiated. This is the heart of polymorphism. Simply calling a class constructor with different types of arguments does not create a new class.

For classes only, you can specify the template parameters that will instantiate a new class when different datatypes are used by putting the parameter name in angle brackets:

class Point(self, <x>, <y>) {
	self.x = x
	self.y = y
…
}

This allows, for a template Matrix class that can have different element types based on how the constructor is called.

Secrets

Rune is designed for safer processing over secret keys used in cryptography. When a secret is declared, the code generated by the compiler will run in constant time when processing data involving that secret.

password = secret("PaSsw0rd1")
if password == "password" {  // This line is a compiler error.
	throw "Don’t use \"password\" as the password!"
}

You cannot branch based on a Boolean value derived from a secret. You may not use a secret integer as an index into an array. You also may not print a secret. The Rune compiler automatically generates constant-time code when arguments to an operator are secret.

Eventually, you will want to reveal data derived in part from a secret, for example after encrypting a secret message, the ciphertext can be revealed:

password = secret("PaSsw0rd1")  // Typical poor password.  Let’s not leak it!
message = secret("Learn Rune!")
ciphertext = AesGcm256Encrypt(password, message)
println reveal(ciphertext)

In Rune, secrets are viral. Any operation involving a secret yields a datatype that is also secret. We can add a secret and non-secret, but the result is secret. If you assign a non-secret value to a variable containing a secret, the value becomes secret.

Secret is part of the datatype in Rune, enabling efficient static checking.

Random numbers

Cryptography does not work without hard to guess random numbers. Rune provides cryptographic pseudo-random numbers (seeded with true random) on demand. To generate a random integer:

key = rand256  // A 256-bit random unsigned secret integer

Random strings are easy, too:

nonce = randString(16)

To print them, you’ll have to reveal them:

println reveal(nonce)

Be careful what you reveal!

Switch statements

As most system programming languages, Rune includes a switch statement:

switch x {
	case 1 {
		println "one"
	}
	case 2 {
		println "two"
	}
	default {
		println "many"
	}
}

Which in Python would either have to be an if/elif chain or, from Python 3.10 on, a match/case:

match x:
    case 1:
        print("one")
    case 2:
        print("two")
    case _:
        print("many")

Unlike C, the cases can be arbitrary expressions. There is no fall-through, and no need for a break statement.

Switching on types

Like Python, in Rune, only operators can be overloaded, not functions. This leads to situations where we wish we had different functionality in a function based on the types of arguments passed. In Python we can use isinstance(object, type) or functools.singledispatch to test the object type and change a function’s behavior.

Similarly, in Rune, we can switch on the type of an object, and only the matching case is instantiated in the compiled code:

class MyString(self, value) {
	typeswitch value {
		case string {
			self.value: string = value
		}
		case u8 {
			self.value: string = <string>[value]
		}
		case [u8] {
			self.value: string = <string>value
		}
		case MyString {
			self.value: string = value.value
		}
	}
}

The compiler figures out the type of value at compile time and only instantiates the matching case. Types are first-class citizens in Rune. You can pass them to functions, assign them to variables, and use them in switch statements.

Import and use statements

The basic Python module import statement is supported, but not from foo import *. Rune also supports import as, e.g. import numpy as np.

To import modules in the same package (directory), use use foo syntax, which means you can access that module's functions, even when not marked "export", and you don't have to use a module prefix.

import math as m  // Import Rune's math package.
use hashing  // Only works if hashing.rn is in the same directory.

println "hashValue(123) = ", hashValue(123)
println "math.sqrt(123.0f64) = ", m.sqrt(123.0f64)

Linking with C functions

If you need to call a C/C++ function, use the extern "C" declaration:

extern "C" putchar(c: u8)

You can use ordinary types, and Rune will take care of the integration

extern "C" func readln(maxLen: u64 = 0u64) -> string

Currently, if you are passing of receiving integers there is a limitation, you can only use small integers (<= u64).

Operators

Like many languages, Rune has support for most C operators. The ones that have changed are:

  • x**2 means x squared.
  • A ^ B means A XOR B
  • i++, ++i, i--, --i are deleted, as in Python.
  • Rotation operators (often used in cryptography) are added: x <<< dist, and x >>> dist.
  • Arithmetic overflow throws an error! An exception is -1u32 is allowed.
  • In the rare cases you want overflow to be undetected, use !+, !-, !*, and !/
  • Down-conversion that can truncate bits should use !<type>, e.g. !<u256>-1i512.

Modular addition is also quite common in cryptography, so the mathematical notion of "mod" has been added:

// A is Alice’s pubkey, a is her privkey, g is the group generator, and p the prime modulus.
A = g**a mod p
B = g**b mod p
aliceShared = B**a mod p
bobShared = A**b mod p
assert A**b == B**a mod p

Mathematical expressions to the left of mod are evaluated modulo the modulus.

Overloading operators

Rune does this a bit differently:

// <x> and <y> here mean they are class template variables.
// Different classes will be instantiated for each set of types passed for x and y.
class Point(self, <x>, <y>) {
	self.x = x
	self.y = y

	operator + (a: Point, b: Point): Point {
		return Point(a.x + b.x, a.y + b.y)
	}
}

Operator overloading in Rune can specify type restrictions, which can be concrete types like u32, or type classes like Uint. The compiler generates an error if more than one operator overload matches a given call.

You can define the overload anywhere, not just in a class. They become global, which should not be a problem so long as you include a reference to an object of your class as a parameter.

The toString() method

If a class has a toString() method, it will be called in print and println statements, as well as throw. This is like Python's __repr__ (if __str__ is missing). If you print an object instance of a class without defining a toString() method, a default method will be added for you, but only in debug mode, specified with the -g flag.

Int.toString and Uint.toString take a base as a parameter, which defaults to 10:

println 0x123.toString(8)  // prints 443

Var parameters

Because Rune is a systems programming language, efficiency is critical. Python and Rune allow tuples to be returned which is the Pythonic way of returning multiple values. However, this creates new values on the stack when it is often more efficient to directly overwrite existing values.

Rune offers Pascal-like "var" parameters (see also C#'s ref keyword):

func increment(var x) {
	x += <x>1
}

Parameters are immutable by default

Because Rune is designed for safety, parameters are immutable and cannot be assigned to, unless they are declared ‘var’. This is important in Rune since folks may forget that passing in a u128 will be by reference while passing in a u32 will be by value.

Legal in Python:

def inc(x):
	x += 1
	return x

Compiler error in Rune, because x is const:

func inc(x) {
	x += 1  // This assignment generates a compiler error.
	return x
}

Values are copied (or moved) on variable assignment

In Python, if you want a local copy of an array, you must use a hack like this:

localList = list[:]

In Rune, all assignments imply deep copy for built-in types. For Class object references, only the reference is copied.

listCopy = list  // Copies the array
assert(listCopy == list)  // True because Rune does deep list comparison.
a1 = Foo("test)  // Create a Foo object
a2 = a1  // Does not copy the Foo object in a1.  Copies the reference instead.
assert(a1 == a2)  // True because the references are equal
t1 = (1, "two")
t2 = t1  // Makes a copy of the tuple in t1
assert(t1 == t2)  // Rune does not deep compare tuples.

Current builtin type methods

  • Array.length() -- Returns the length of the array in native machine width.
  • Array.resize(length) -- Resize the array. Length is in native machine width.
  • Array.append(element) -- Append the element to the array.
  • Array.concat(array) -- Concatenate the arrays.
  • Array.reverse() -- Reverse the elements in the array.
  • Array.toString() -- Convert the array to a string representation.
  • String.length() -- Returns the length of the string in native machine width.
  • String.resize(length) -- Resize the string. Length is in native machine width.
  • String.append(c: u8) -- Append the character to the array.
  • String.concat(s: string) -- Concatenate the strings.
  • String.reverse() -- Reverse the characters in the string byte-by-byte.
  • `String.toUintLE(type: Uint) // Eg s.toUintLE(u512). Pass an integer type, not an integer width.
  • String.toHex() -- Convert the binary string to a hexadecimal string twice as long.
  • String.fromHex() -- Convert hexadecimal string to binary string.
  • String.find() -- Like Python find.
  • String.rfind() -- Like Python rfind.
  • Uint.toStringLE() -- Convert an unsigned integer to a string, little-endian.
  • Uint.toString(base=10) -- Convert an unsigned integer to a string, using the base.
  • Int.toString(base=10) -- Convert a signed integer to a string, using the base.
  • Bool.toString( -- Convert a bool value to the string "true" or "false".
  • Tuple.toString() -- Convert the tuple to a string representation.

Unit tests

In Rune, a special unittest statement is provided:

func fact(n) {
	if n == 1 {
		return 1
	}
	return n*fact(n-1)
}

unittest factTest {
	if fact(6) != 720 {
		throw "Incorrect value for fact(6)"
	}
	println "Passed"
}

These tests do nothing unless they are in the main module, just like if you would state, for example,

if __name__ == "__main__":
	main()

do_unittests()

in Python.

Rune relationships

Relationships differentiates Rune from nearly every other language. There is a decades old bug in our computer languages:

Who informs the parent objects of a child object, when a child object is destroyed?

Python is garbage-collected, and does not have this dangling-pointer problem, and Rune attempts to have similar power, while running fast. However, if a child object is accidentally left hanging off of one of its parents, Python will have a memory leak.

Instead of pointers, Rune has object references, similar to Python. Most complex relationships between classes are instantiated with relation statements. For example, to create a DoublyLinked relationship between a Graph class and a Node class:

relation DoublyLinked Graph Node cascade

The "cascade" at the end means cascade-delete. If you destroy a node, as in:

node.destroy()

Then the auto-generated Node destructor will automatically remove itself from its Graph. If the graph object is destroyed:

graph.destroy()

Then the graph’s auto-generated destructor will destroy all its nodes, because we specified cascade-delete. Otherwise, it would simply remove them from the doubly-linked list before freeing the graph object.

If you further define an Edge class and want a directed graph, you can add two additional relationships:

relation DoublyLinked Node:from Edge:out cascade
relation DoublyLinked Node:to Edge:in cascade

This means that Node has an outEdges iterator, and an inEdges iterator:

// Print names of nodes in the graph that are reachable by traversing only forward edges.
func printReachableNodes(node: Node, reachedNodes) {
	print node.name
	node.visited = true
	reachedNodes.append(node)
	for edge in node.outEdges() {
		otherNode = edge.toNode
		if !otherNode.visited {
			printReachableNodes(otherNode, reachedNodes)
		}
	}
}

Now destroying the graph recursively deletes all its nodes and edges.

You can create your own relationship types, but take care! Rune’s safety guarantees require relationship transformers to be bug-free, which is harder than it sounds. Most folks will just use the default relationship types, which are:

  • LinkedList - Singly-linked list: insert is fast, remove is slow.
  • DoublyLinked - Doubly-linked list: both insert and remove are fast.
  • TailLinked - Like LinkedList, but has a fast append function.
  • OneToOne - Parent has one child, and child has one parent
  • Array - Like vectors of classes, but safer: children know how to remove themselves.
  • Heapq - Binary heap queue, supporting constant-average-time push, log(n) pop, always returns smallest element, or largest if you set ascending false.
  • Hashed - Hash table relationship, ordered by default. Constant time insert, find, and removal.

Let's take a look at these relationship statements:

relation TailLinked Node:From Edge:Out cascade
relation TailLinked Node:To Edge:In cascade

TailLinked is defined in builtin/taillinked.rn, and is written in Rune. It is an efficient tail-linked list where the parent, Node, in this case, has a firstOutEdge and a lastOutEdge object reference. Since it is tail-linked, only the forward iterator is defined, so given a node, looping through its outEdges looks like:

for edge in node.outEdges() {
	destNode = edge.toNode
	// Do something with node...
}

Reduce memory leaks with auto-generated destructors

In Python, we manually write destructors when we have complex relationships between objects. For example, we might have a segment object in a path that is being merged with other segments that are all inp a straight line. In Python we would still need to remove the segment from all the relationships it has to other segments and the parent object (eg a Polyline), or a memory leak would result.

Rune saves you the hassle, and creates a destructor function that does this for you. Otherwise, Rune’s memory system acts almost just like Python’s garbage collection, without actually doing garbage collection under the hood. As stated above, you are free to remove the object from cascade-delete relationships manually, in which case the object’s destructor is automatically called when it goes out of scope.

Destructor hook

Occasionally you may need to create a destructor hook, which is a function called when an object is destroyed. Rune uses "final" methods for this:

class Foo(self, name) {
	self.name = name

	final(self) {
		println "Destroying ", self.name
	}
}

foo = Foo("123")
foo = null(Foo)

This results in "Destroying 123", because the Foo value stored in foo is destroyed when foo is overwritten with null.

Memory safety

One of the coolest features of Rune is its safe yet high performance memory management. All data is stored in dynamic arrays or on the stack. These arrays are not fixed like memory returned by malloc, and are occasionally compacted to recover freed memory. Top level objects are reference counted, and may not be in pointer-loops with other reference counted objects..

Most objects should be in cascade-delete relationships. These objects have no need for reference counting: they will be destroyed when one of their cascade-delete parents is destroyed. Cascade-delete objects can safely be in relationship loops.

This scheme offers memory safety like Rust, with improved performance, and without the no-pointer-loop (other than in "unsafe" code) restriction.

Transformers

Not be confused with Python’s "generators", which other languages call co-routines, Rune’s transformers are actual code transformers! Rune transformers are interpreted by the compiler to instantiate code in existing classes, methods, and functions. Relationship transformers automatically update both the parent and child destructors to clean up when a child is destroyed, cascade-delete if the relationship is cascade-delete, or remove children that are not cascade-delete before destroying the parent.

This simple rule ensures that dangling pointers in Rune are impossible, so long as the relationship transformers are bug-free. Transformers are more powerful than templates. Transformers can modify existing class methods, while templates cannot.

Like complex C++ templates, most users will never write Rune transformers. If you’ve read this far, and still want to see the magic under the hood, take a look at existing relationship transformers in the rune/builtin directory, such as doublylinked.rn and hashed.rn. Long-term, Rune’s transform capability will be enhanced to have similar power to Java’s mirror classes, but they run at compile-time. For now, only features required to support the builtin relationships are implemented.

Running Rune

Follow Rune’s README to build and install Rune. After that, you can create a rune program, say the classic hello world, containing:

println "Hello, World!"

In a file called hello.rn. Then compile it:

$ rune hello.rn

And run it:

$ ./hello

To debug it with gdb, compile with the -g flag:

$ rune -g hello.rn
$ gdb ./hello

In the near-term, you’ll likely run into compiler bugs. If you do, ping me, and I’ll fix them. Email bugs to [email protected].

The directed graph example

The power of Rune really shows when trying to create objects even as simle as a graph. Look how short the graph definition is. An example depth-first-traversal function is defined to print all the reachable nodes from a given node, when traversing only forward edges.

class Graph(self) {
}

class Node(self, graph, name) {
	self.name = name
	self.visited = false
}

class Edge(self, outNode: Node, inNode: Node) {
	outNode.appendOutEdge(self)
	inNode.appendInEdge(self)
}

relation DoublyLinkedList Graph  Node cascade
// Edges have a "fromNode" and a "toNode".
// Nodes have "outEdges" and "inEdges".
relation DoublyLinkedList Node:from Edge:out cascade
relation DoublyLinkedList Node:to Edge:in cascade

// Print names of nodes in the graph that are reachable by traversing only forward edges.
func printReachableNodes(node: Node, reachedNodes) {
	print node.name
	node.visited = true
	reachedNodes.append(node)
	for edge in node.outEdges() {
		otherNode = edge.toNode
		if !otherNode.visited {
			printReachableNodes(otherNode, reachedNodes)
		}
	}
}

func clearVisitedFlags(reachedNodes) {
	for i in range(reachedNodes.length()) {
		reachedNodes[i].visited = false
	}
}

unittest graphTest {
	// Build an example graph.
	graph = Graph()
	a = Node(graph, "A"); b = Node(graph, "B")
	c = Node(graph, "C"); d = Node(graph, "D")
	e = Node(graph, "E"); f = Node(graph, "F")
	Edge(a, b); Edge(b, c); Edge(c, a)
	Edge(d, b); Edge(d, a); Edge(c, e)
	Edge(e, a); Edge(f, d); Edge(f, c)

	// Should print ABCE.
	reachedNodes = arrayof(typeof(a))
	printReachableNodes(a, reachedNodes)
	println
	// Clear the visited flags on all the nodes we reached.
	clearVisitedFlags(reachedNodes)
}

Write your own crypto... in Rune! (but never use it!)

See the Rune code in the crypto_class directory.

One of the driving factors behind Rune is to help folks write cryptographic code safely. Applications in secure enclaves tend to be crypto-heavy, and experience shows that it is nearly impossible to get this sort of code right without help from the compiler.

I teach how to build a cryptographic sponge, and how to use them to build several fundamental crypto primitives such as collision-resistant hash functions, and also I teach how implement a basic Diffie-Hellman public key exchange. If you write your crypto in Rune, you’ll likely get the constant-time part right.