LIZARD

LIZARD is a native Rust-based programming language focused on simple syntax and fast startup.

Current milestone: a native interpreter and CLI with functions, collections, loops, a growing standard library, terminal animation, and Windows/Linux/macOS release automation.

LIZARD requires Rust and Cargo. Clone the repository, run the example program, and verify the compiler with:

git clone https://github.com/surjolive/LIZARD.git
cd LIZARD
cargo run -- hello.lz
cargo test

Use cargo run -- --help to see the available CLI commands. The installed executables are named lz and lizard and use the same runtime.

LIZARD is open source under the MIT License. Use the links below for the rules that govern code, community participation, and security reports.

The VS Code language package is in editors/vscode/lizard-vscode. It registers .lz files, syntax highlighting, snippets, run/check commands, and formatting through the native LIZARD CLI.

Run the test suite after changing the parser, runtime, or CLI:

cargo test

For a fast compile-only check, use:

cargo check

The full language and editor guide is available at docs/LIZARD-GUIDE.md.

• Native Rust implementation with a fast-starting interpreter and runtime
• Simple syntax with readable blocks and .lz source files
• Core values: numbers, text, booleans, null, lists, maps, and functions
• Variables and expressions: arithmetic, comparisons, boolean operators, and interpolation
• Control flow: if, else, while, repeat, and each
• Functions: parameters, return values, and reusable program logic
• Collections: indexing, slicing, list helpers, map values, and iteration

• Text: toText, lower, upper, trim, contains, split, and join
• Collections: size, first, last, push, pop, reverse, and slice
• Numbers: toNumber, abs, floor, ceil, round, min, max, and clamp
• Output: say, print, echo, log, info, and aro
• Terminal animation: animate(message, frames, delayMs) for visible progress feedback

• REPL for experimenting with expressions and language features
• Formatter with preview and in-place --write modes
• Checker for validating source without executing it
• Native builder for producing a standalone runtime output
• Project generator with new ProjectName
• Diagnostics with doctor, version reporting, and clear runtime errors
• Update tools with update, upgrade, and safe update --check mode
• VS Code package with .lz language support, syntax highlighting, snippets, run/check commands, and formatting

For the complete installation, CLI, language, build, testing, and editor guide, see docs/LIZARD-GUIDE.md.

The package ecosystem specification is documented in LIZARD_PACKAGE_ECOSYSTEM_SPECIFICATION.md. The planned registry is packages.lizard.dev; registry and publishing features are not yet implemented in the current interpreter.

Terminal animation is built into the runtime. The first argument is the message, the second is the number of frames, and the third is the delay between frames in milliseconds:

animate("Loading LIZARD", 8, 120)
print("Ready!")

For deterministic scripts and tests, use a delay of 0:

animate("Checking", 3, 0)

The animation works as a standalone function call, so it does not need to be wrapped in say.

The installer downloads lz.exe and lizard.exe into %LOCALAPPDATA%\LIZARD\bin and adds that directory to the user PATH.

From a cloned project directory:

$env:LIZARD_RELEASE_BASE_URL = "https://github.com/surjolive/LIZARD/releases/latest/download"
.\install.ps1

From Command Prompt:

set LIZARD_RELEASE_BASE_URL=https://github.com/surjolive/LIZARD/releases/latest/download
install.bat

After publishing this repository, direct URL installation works from PowerShell:

$env:LIZARD_RELEASE_BASE_URL = "https://github.com/surjolive/LIZARD/releases/latest/download"
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/surjolive/LIZARD/master/install.ps1 | iex

From CMD or any shell with curl and PowerShell:

set LIZARD_RELEASE_BASE_URL=https://github.com/surjolive/LIZARD/releases/latest/download
curl.exe -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/surjolive/LIZARD/master/install.ps1 | powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command -

The published repository is surjolive/LIZARD.

Download the latest native release from the GitHub Releases page:

On Linux or macOS, install the latest release with one command:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/surjolive/LIZARD/master/install.sh | sh

The Unix installer places lz and lizard in ~/.local/bin. Set LIZARD_INSTALL_DIR to choose another location. Releases are built automatically by GitHub Actions whenever a v* tag is pushed.

Use the installed CLI to manage the runtime without downloading files manually:

# Check without changing anything
lz update --check

# Install the latest release
lz update

# Same operation as update
lz upgrade

# Remove LIZARD binaries and PATH entries
lz uninstall

The updater starts the platform installer in the background so the running executable can exit before its files are replaced. Open a new terminal after an update, then confirm the installed version with lz --version.

Run build.bat from Command Prompt or ./build.ps1 from PowerShell. The release binaries are written to release/windows-x64/lz.exe and release/windows-x64/lizard.exe.

The native Windows GNU target requires MinGW. The build scripts validate the Rust source first and then produce both CLI names from the same runtime.

say "Hello World"

x = 10
y = 20

say x + y

if x < y
    say "LIZARD is simple and fast"