🐾 Paws

A programming language made of animal noises.

Paws is a stack-based language where every operation is an animal sound. Write programs that read like a conversation between cats and dogs — in clean, Lisp-style S-expression syntax.

# Compute the nth Fibonacci number

(meow fib (n)
        (uwu (stare n 0)
             0)
        (uwu (stare n 1)
             1)
        (purr a 0)
        (purr b 1)
        (purr idx (swat n 1))
        (woof (snarl idx 0)
              (purr tmp (pounce a b))
              (purr a b)
              (purr b tmp)
              (purr idx (swat idx 1)))
        b)

(stalk fib 10 yip)
# → 55

Quick Start

Install

pip install -e .    # from the repository root

Run

paws examples/fib.paws              # Run a file (plisp syntax, .paws extension)
paws repl                          # Interactive REPL
paws repl -l                       # Lisp-style REPL
echo '(42 yip)' | paws             # Pipe from stdin
paws compile examples/fib.paws     # Compile to Python

Native VM (C Runtime)

cd vm && make
./paws_vm ../examples/fib.paws

Documentation

Doc	What it covers
Getting Started	Install, first program, REPL
Syntax	S-expression syntax guide
Syntax Reference	Complete operator reference
Prerequisites (Linux)	Build requirements: gcc, raylib, etc.
Architecture	Project layout, backends, tests
Native VM	Standalone C runtime
Web Playground	Wasm playground — build and run locally
Tooling	Formatter, linter, LSP server

Full docs index: docs/INDEX.md

Examples

Basics (examples/)

File	What it does
hello.paws	Hello, World!
fib.paws	Fibonacci with nested conditionals
factorial.paws	Factorial using recursion
sum.paws	Sum 1 to n with a while loop
conditionals.paws	Classify positive/negative/zero
guess.paws	Number guessing game
string.paws	String ops: rub, scratch, nip, paw
array.paws	Array ops: paw, scratch, mark, trail
spit.paws	Error handling with spit
check.paws	Assertions with check
math.paws	Math module (import test)
arithmetic.paws	Arithmetic and comparison operators
list.paws	List ops: map, filter, reduce

Legacy postfix versions live in examples/legacy/.

Graphics Demos (examples/demo/)

Demo	What it exercises
plasma.paws	Float math, pixel buffer, sine waves
mandelbrot.paws	Nested loops, complex arithmetic
particles.paws	Orbital motion, trig functions
wireframe-cube.paws	3D rotation, perspective projection
kaleidoscope.paws	Symmetry, color math

Test Status

Runtime	Status
Python (interpreter + compiler)	✅ All green
Native VM (C, 11 session tests: 1–8, 11, 17, 18)	✅ All green

Cross-Backend Parity ✅

All 4 backends produce identical output for core example files:

Backend	Status
Python interpreter	✅ Reference
Paws→Python compiler	✅ Verified
Paws→C compiler	✅ Verified
Native VM	✅ Verified

Roadmap

See planning/INDEX.md for the full roadmap with phase status and links.

Completed: Phases 1–10 — Native OS, Web Playground, Debugger & Profiler ✅ Current: FPGA Phase 5 VGA — Steps 1–4 complete (VGA, draw ops, FX math, text console w/ scroll + string bark) — Step 5 (Integration demos) next 🔧

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Made with 🐾 by cats and dogs, together.