Jam: A Friendly, Expressive Language for All Developers

Jam is a beginner-friendly programming language with a readable, English-like syntax that compiles to JavaScript. Designed to be simple enough for newcomers and powerful enough for professionals.

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Table of Contents

• Why Jam?
• Quick Start
• Your First Jam Program
• Language Guide
  • Variables
  • Control Flow
  • Loops
  • Functions
  • Operations
  • Utilities
• Architecture
• Vision
• Contributing
• Areas We Need Help With
• Development Setup
• License
• Acknowledgments
• Support

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Why Jam?

For Beginners

• Intuitive Syntax — English-like commands that make sense right away
• Beginner-Friendly Learning Curve — No complex symbols or obscure syntax
• Interactive Feedback — Built-in interpreter for immediate results
• Helpful Guidance — Get warnings and tips as you learn

For Professionals

• JavaScript Compilation — Convert Jam into clean, production-ready JavaScript
• Type Inference — Smart type detection and warning system
• Modern Features — Functions, lambdas, maps, timers, and more
• Extensible Architecture — Easily add new features or tools

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Quick Start

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/UnitaryIron/Jam-Backend.git
cd Jam-Backend

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

Your First Jam Program

Create a file called hello.jam:

# Welcome to Jam!
say "Hello, World!"
set name = ask "What's your name?" into name
print "Welcome " + name + "!"

Run with the Jam interpreter:

python jam.py hello.jam

Or compile to JavaScript:

python jam.py --compile hello.jam > hello.js
node hello.js

Language Guide

Variables

set message = "Hello Jam!"
set count = 42
set pi = 3.14159
set is_active = true
set numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Control Flow

if temperature > 30 {
    say "It's hot outside!"
} else if temperature > 20 {
    say "It's warm outside!"
} else {
    say "It's cool outside!"
}

Loops

repeat 5 {
    print "This will print 5 times"
}

Functions

Named function:

function greet (name) {
    return "Hello " + name + "!"
}

Anonymous function (lambda):

set double = function anonymous (x) {
    return x * 2
}

Calling functions:

call greet "Jam Developer"
print double(21)

Operations

Math operations:

add 5 and 3 into result
multiply result and 2 into final

String operations:

uppercase "hello" into shout
reverse "Jam" into backwards

List operations:

set numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
length of numbers into count

Map (transform array):

set doubled = map (n) => n * 2 over numbers

Utilities

Timing execution:

timer start
# ... your code ...
timer stop

Random values:

random between 1 and 100 into lucky_number
choose from "apple", "banana", "cherry" into fruit

User input:

ask "What's your name?" into username
print "Hello " + username

Architecture

Jam is built with a dual-path architecture:

• Interpreter: Runs Jam directly in Python for quick testing
• Compiler: Transpiles Jam into readable, performant JavaScript

Core Components:

• Parser — Converts Jam syntax into an abstract syntax tree
• Type System — Provides inference and developer-friendly warnings
• JavaScript Transpiler — Outputs clean, idiomatic JavaScript
• Standard Library — Built-in support for common operations

Vision

Jam aims to be the most approachable language without sacrificing power or extensibility.

Roadmap

• Web-based playground
• Package manager for Jam modules
• Optional static type annotations
• Debugger and developer tools
• Expanded standard library
• Performance improvements

Contributing

We welcome developers of all skill levels! Start contributing in just a few steps:

• Fork the repository
• Create a feature branch

 git checkout -b feature/my-feature

• Commit your changes

 git commit -m "Add my feature"

• Push to GitHub

 git push origin feature/my-feature

• Open a Pull Request

Please see the CONTRIBUTING.md and CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

Areas We Need Help With

• Language design and syntax ideas
• Documentation and tutorials
• Standard library development
• Editor tooling and plugins
• Test coverage and edge cases

Development Setup

# Clone your fork
git clone https://github.com/UnitaryIron/Jam-Backend.git
cd Jam-Backend

# Run tests
python test_jam.py

Documentation build instructions coming soon.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License .

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by educational languages like Scratch, Python, and BASIC
• Created to make programming more accessible and expressive

Thanks to all contributors

Support

• Documentation: Coming soon
• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions
• Email: em.lijo@outlook.com