WebScript is an in-development programming language for interacting with the web.
Found a bug? Want a new feature? Create an issue! (Please check for an existing one first to avoid duplicates!)
Want to contribute? You can find good first issues here.
While the installation process is quick and straightfoward, it differs slightly by OS. Please skip to the installation guide for the OS you are using.
To quick install WebScript to ~/.webscript, run the following command:
wget https://github.com/CragglesG/WebScript/blob/main/linux/install.sh && chmod +x install.sh && ./install.sh
After this command has executed, you can run WebScript using the command webscript.
If you would rather inspect install.sh first to see what's happening under the hood, you can do so by running the above commands separately. This first command downloads install.sh from this repository:
wget https://github.com/CragglesG/WebScript/blob/main/linux/install.sh
If you would like to inspect install.sh, you can do this now. To make this file executable so that we can run it, we need to change its permissions:
chmod +x install.sh
Lastly, we'll run the file, which will automatically install WebScript into the .webscript folder inside your home directory:
./install.sh
Done! You can now use the command webscript to run WebScript.
WARNING: This has not yet been tested and may not work as intended.
This process is much the same as the process for Linux, with the only difference being slightly different download links.
WebScript requires that your default shell is set to zsh. If you are running macOS Catalina 10.15 or higher, and you have not changed your default shell, you are already using zsh.
To quick install WebScript to ~/.webscript, run the following command:
wget https://github.com/CragglesG/WebScript/blob/main/macos/install.sh && chmod +x install.sh && ./install.sh
After this command has executed, you can run WebScript using the command webscript.
If you would rather inspect install.sh first to see what's happening under the hood, you can do so by running the above commands separately. This first command downloads install.sh from this repository:
wget https://github.com/CragglesG/WebScript/blob/main/macos/install.sh
If you would like to inspect install.sh, you can do this now. To make this file executable so that we can run it, we need to change its permissions:
chmod +x install.sh
Lastly, we'll run the file, which will automatically install WebScript into the .webscript folder inside your home directory:
./install.sh
Done! You can now use the command webscript to run WebScript.
WARNING: This has not yet been tested and may not work as intended.
Before installing WebScript, you must enable execution of local scripts. You can do this using the following command in PowerShell (Run as administrator):
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
To install WebScript run the following in PowerShell (Do not run as administrator):
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "$env:USERPROFILE/.webscript"
git clone "https://github.com/CragglesG/WebScript/" "$env:USERPROFILE/.webscript"
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", $env:Path + ";$env:USERPROFILE/.webscript/windows/", "User")
Done! You can now use the command webscript to run WebScript.
Once installed, you can use WebScript with the webscript command. To enter REPL, simply run webscript alone:
webscript
To run a WebScript file, run the following, replacing FILE with the desired filename:
webscript FILE
WebScript's debug mode will output the AST (Abstract Syntax Tree) and tokens generated into the files ast.json and tokens.json, respectively. This can be useful for debugging while contributing. To run a file in debug mode, add the flag --dbg:
webscript FILE --dbg
WebScript currently adopts a very similar syntax to Hack Club's Easel. (WebScript was orignally made using the tutorial, but is constantly being modified and improved.) It also shares some similarities with the language it is written in, JavaScript. Below is a table of the current WebScript syntax:
| Operation | Syntax | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Declare/Mutate Variable | prepare NAME as VALUE |
This syntax is also used to modify object attributes, for example: prepare obj.attr as 'attr' |
| Define Struct | type NAME has { PROPERTIES } |
- |
| Create Instance of Struct | prep NAME(PROPERTIES) |
NAME should be the name of the struct. References to the struct after instance creation will refer to the instance. |
| Define Function | func NAME needs (PARAMS) { BODY } |
Whitespace is always ignored, but it is recommended for readability. |
| Return from Function | return VALUE |
- |
| Loop through Range | loop COUNTER through (START, END) { BODY } |
COUNTER should usually, by convention, be i. |
| Loop While True | while (CONDITION) { BODY } |
- |
| If/Else-if/Else Statement | if (CONDITION) { BODY } elif (CONDITION) { BODY } else { BODY } |
- |
| Exit REPL | exit() |
Only available in REPL mode. |
| Equivalent | == |
- |
| Not Equivalent | != |
- |
| Greater Than | > |
- |
| Less Than | < |
- |
| Addition | + |
- |
| Multiplication | * |
- |
| Subtraction | - |
- |
| Division | / |
- |
| Or | || |
- |
| Comment | // |
- |
| String | '' or "" |
Strings should be ended with the same type of quotation mark they begun with. |
WebScript's Standard Library provides numerous helpful methods and objects for you to use. Below is a table of all included methods and objects:
| Name | Use | Description |
|---|---|---|
display |
display(ARGS) |
Prints ARGS to the console using console.log(). Accepts multiple arguments. |
random |
random([MIN, MAX]) |
Chooses a random number between MIN and MAX using Math.random(). |
round |
round(NUMBER) |
Rounds NUMBER to the nearest whole number using Math.round(). |
request |
prepare NAME as request(URL) |
request is a request object that utilises XMLHttpRequest. Use is further documented below. |
crypto |
prepare NAME as crypto |
crypto is a BlockchairAPI object. Use is further documented below |
The request object is provided in the Standard Library to allow GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE requests to be easily sent through HTTP. A table of all attributes and methods is provided below:
| Method/Attribute | Use | Description |
|---|---|---|
request |
prepare NAME as request(URL) |
Prepares NAME as a request object with URL as this.url |
request.get(headers=[]) |
request.get(HEADERS) |
Sends a GET request with HEADERS to this.url |
request.post(body=null, headers=[] |
request.post(BODY, HEADERS) |
Sends a POST request with BODY and HEADERS to this.url |
request.put(body=null, headers=[]) |
request.put(BODY, HEADERS) |
Sends a POST request with BODY and HEADERS to this.url |
request.delete(body=null, headers=[]) |
request.delete(BODY, HEADERS) |
Sends a DELETE request with BODY and HEADERS to this.url |
If you find the above table unhelpful or hard to understand, here's a step-by-step example of how to use request to make a GET request to Google:
First, we need to prepare a request object with our chosen URL. We can do this by creating a variable:
prepare google as request('https://www.google.ie')
Now that we've prepared our request, we can send it! We're going to use a GET request to retrieve Google's homepage and print the data to the console:
prepare data as google.get()
display(data)
Notice how we didn't need to use any custom request headers, so we didn't pass in any arguments. If we wanted to include request headers, we would do it like this:
google.get([YOUR_HEADERS_HERE])
The crypto object allows you to query the Blockchair API directly from WebScript (up to 1400 times/day without an API key) to retrieve information from 14 blockchains. A table of all attributes and methods is provided below:
| Method/Attribute | Use | Description |
|---|---|---|
crypto |
prepare NAME as crypto |
Prepares NAME as a BlockchairAPI object |
crypto.getPrice(crypto="bitcoin", convertTo="usd") |
crypto.getPrice(CRYPTO, CONVERTTO) |
Returns the price of CRYPTO in CONVERTTO. CONVERTTO can be "bitcoin", "btc", or "usd" |
crypto.getStats(crypto="bitcoin") |
crypto.getStats(CRYPTO) |
Returns all data on CRYPTO in JSON |
crypto.getOther(url) |
crypto.getOther(URL) |
Returns JSON data from the specified Blockchair API link. |
crypto.setAPIKey(key) |
crypto.setAPIKey(KEY) |
Sets KEY as the key to be used in all queries. |
This information is mostly for those who would like to contribute to WebScript but are not sure about how the underlying code works. It assumes a basic understanding of how programming languages are made in general. There are some comments throughout WebScript's code to help you to understand it if you do decide to contribute.
WebScript recognises the following tokens:
( ) { } [ ] . , : | ! && == !=== > >= < <= + - * \ EOF Keyword Identifier String Number
WebScript recognises the following as keywords:
prepare, as, type, prep, has, func, needs, return, loop, through, while, if, elif, else
WebScript's AST contains the following nodes:
Literal, Array, Var, Binary, Func, Return, For, While, Conditional, Set, Struct, Instance, Call, Get, Unary