The V Programming Language
[vlang.io](https://vlang.io) | [Docs](https://github.com/vlang/v/blob/master/doc/docs.md) | [Changelog](https://github.com/vlang/v/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md) | [Speed](https://fast.vlang.io/) | [Contributing & compiler design](https://github.com/vlang/v/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md)
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## Key Features of V
- Simplicity: the language can be learned in less than an hour
- Fast compilation: ≈110k loc/s with a Clang backend,
≈1 million loc/s with native and tcc backends *(Intel i5-7500, SSD, no optimization)* ([demo video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvP6wmcl_Sc))
- Easy to develop: V compiles itself in less than a second
- Performance: as fast as C (V's main backend compiles to human-readable C)
- Safety: no null, no globals, no undefined behavior, immutability by default
- C to V translation ([Translating DOOM demo video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oXrz3oRoEg))
- Hot code reloading
- [Innovative memory management](https://vlang.io/#memory) ([demo video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmB8ea8uLsM))
- [Cross-platform UI library](https://github.com/vlang/ui)
- Built-in graphics library
- Easy cross-compilation
- REPL
- [Built-in ORM](https://github.com/vlang/v/blob/master/doc/docs.md#orm)
- [Built-in web framework](https://github.com/vlang/v/blob/master/vlib/vweb/README.md)
- C and JavaScript backends
- Great for writing low-level software ([Vinix OS](https://github.com/vlang/vinix))
## Stability guarantee and future changes
Despite being at an early development stage, the V language is relatively stable and has
backwards compatibility guarantee, meaning that the code you write today is guaranteed
to work a month, a year, or five years from now.
There still may be minor syntax changes before the 1.0 release, but they will be handled
automatically via `vfmt`, as has been done in the past.
The V core APIs (primarily the `os` module) will still have minor changes until
they are stabilized in V 1.0. Of course the APIs will grow after that, but without breaking
existing code.
Unlike many other languages, V is not going to be always changing, with new features
being introduced and old features modified. It is always going to be a small and simple
language, very similar to the way it is right now.
## Installing V - from source *(preferred method)*
### Linux, macOS, Windows, *BSD, Solaris, WSL, Android, etc.
Usually installing V is quite simple if you have an environment that already has a
functional `git` installation.
* *(* ***PLEASE NOTE:*** *If you run into any trouble or you have a different operating
system or Linux distribution that doesn't install or work immediately, please see
[Installation Issues](https://github.com/vlang/v/discussions/categories/installation-issues)
and search for your OS and problem. If you can't find your problem, please add it to an
existing discussion if one exists for your OS, or create a new one if a main discussion
doesn't yet exist for your OS.)*
To get started, simply try to execute the following in your terminal/shell:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/vlang/v
cd v
make
# HINT: Using Windows?: run make.bat in the cmd.exe shell
```
That should be it and you should find your V executable at `[path to V repo]/v`.
`[path to V repo]` can be anywhere.
(As in the hint above, on Windows `make` means running `make.bat`, so make sure you use
the `cmd.exe` terminal.)
Now you can try `./v run examples/hello_world.v` (`v.exe` on Windows).
* *Trouble? Please see the note above and link to
[Installation Issues](https://github.com/vlang/v/discussions/categories/installation-issues) for help.*
V is constantly being updated. To update V, simply run:
```bash
v up
```
### C compiler
It's recommended to use Clang, GCC, or Visual Studio.
If you are doing development, you most likely already have one of those installed.
Otherwise, follow these instructions:
- [Installing a C compiler on Linux and macOS](https://github.com/vlang/v/wiki/Installing-a-C-compiler-on-Linux-and-macOS)
- [Installing a C compiler on Windows](https://github.com/vlang/v/wiki/Installing-a-C-compiler-on-Windows)
However, if none is found when running `make` on Linux or Windows,
TCC is downloaded as the default C backend.
It's very lightweight (several MB) so this shouldn't take too long.
### Symlinking
NB: it is *highly recommended*, that you put V on your PATH. That saves
you the effort to type in the full path to your v executable every time.
V provides a convenience `v symlink` command to do that more easily.
On Unix systems, it creates a `/usr/local/bin/v` symlink to your
executable. To do that, run:
```bash
sudo ./v symlink
```
On Windows, start a new shell with administrative privileges, for
example by Windows Key, then type `cmd.exe`, right-click on its menu
entry, and choose `Run as administrator`. In the new administrative
shell, cd to the path, where you have compiled v.exe, then type:
```bat
.\v.exe symlink
```
That will make V available everywhere, by adding it to your PATH.
Please restart your shell/editor after that, so that it can pick
the new PATH variable.
NB: there is no need to run `v symlink` more than once - v will
continue to be available, even after `v up`, restarts, and so on.
You only need to run it again, if you decide to move the V repo
folder somewhere else.
### Docker
Expand Docker instructions
```bash
git clone https://github.com/vlang/v
cd v
docker build -t vlang .
docker run --rm -it vlang:latest
```
### Docker with Alpine/musl
```bash
git clone https://github.com/vlang/v
cd v
docker build -t vlang --file=Dockerfile.alpine .
docker run --rm -it vlang:latest
```
NB: In order to build Tetris or 2048 (or anything else using `sokol` or `gg` graphics modules)
on some Linux systems, you need to install `libxi-dev` and `libxcursor-dev` .
## V net.http, net.websocket, `v install`
If you plan to use the net.http module, or the net.websocket module, you also need to install
OpenSSL on non-Windows systems:
```bash
macOS:
brew install openssl
Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt install libssl-dev
Arch/Manjaro:
openssl is installed by default
Fedora:
sudo dnf install openssl-devel
```
## V sync
V's `sync` module and channel implementation uses libatomic.
It is most likely already installed on your system, but if not,
you can install it, by doing the following:
```bash
MacOS: already installed
Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt install libatomic1
Fedora/CentOS/RH:
sudo dnf install libatomic-static
```
## V UI
https://github.com/vlang/ui
## Android graphical apps
With V's `vab` tool, building V UI and graphical apps for Android can become as easy as:
```
./vab /path/to/v/examples/2048
```
[https://github.com/vlang/vab](https://github.com/vlang/vab).
## Developing web applications
Check out the [Building a simple web blog](https://github.com/vlang/v/blob/master/tutorials/building_a_simple_web_blog_with_vweb/README.md)
tutorial and Gitly, a light and fast alternative to GitHub/GitLab:
https://github.com/vlang/gitly
## Vinix, an OS/kernel written in V
V is great for writing low-level software like drivers and kernels.
Vinix is an OS/kernel that already runs bash, GCC, V, and nano.
https://github.com/vlang/vinix
## Troubleshooting
Please see the [Troubleshooting](https://github.com/vlang/v/wiki/Troubleshooting) section on our [wiki page](https://github.com/vlang/v/wiki)
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