English Language Module for Raku

A Raku module that provides UK English spelling variants alongside US English spellings, allowing developers to write code using their preferred spelling conventions while maintaining full compatibility.

Overview

This module bridges the spelling gap between UK and US English in programming. Rather than forcing developers to adapt to one spelling convention, it provides both variants for common programming terms, making code more natural to write for developers from different English-speaking regions.

Installation

zef install English

Or install from source:

zef install .

Quick Start

use English;

# Both UK and US spellings work identically
say capitalise("hello world");    # UK spelling -> Hello World
say capitalize("hello world");    # US spelling -> Hello World

# Mathematical operations
my $result = maths_add(5, 3);     # UK: "maths" -> 8
my $same = math_add(5, 3);        # US: "math" -> 8

# Boolean values
if yes { say "Affirmative!" }     # British -> True
if aye { say "Och aye!" }         # Scottish -> True

Features

String Functions

All string functions have both UK and US variants:

UK Spelling	US Spelling	Description
capitalise	capitalize	Convert string to title case
lower_case	lowercase	Convert to lowercase
upper_case	uppercase	Convert to uppercase
centre	center	Center text with padding
colour_code	color_code	Get ANSI color codes
normalise	normalize	Clean and standardize strings
emphasise	emphasize	Add emphasis markers
serialise	serialize	Convert data to string format
analyse_text	analyze_text	Get text statistics

Example Results

• capitalise("london bridge") → "London Bridge"
• upper_case("whisper") → "WHISPER"
• centre("UK", 10) → " UK "
• center("US", 10, "*") → "US"
• colour_code("red") ~ "Error!" ~ "\e[0m" → Displays "Error!" in red
• normalise(" Hello World ") → "hello-world"
• analyse_text("Hello\nWorld") → {chars => 11, words => 2, lines => 2}

Mathematical Functions

Mathematical functions use "maths" (UK) vs "math" (US):

UK Spelling	US Spelling	Description
maths_add	math_add	Addition
maths_subtract	math_subtract	Subtraction
maths_multiply	math_multiply	Multiplication
maths_divide	math_divide	Division
maths_round	math_round	Round to nearest integer
maths_floor	math_floor	Round down
maths_ceiling	math_ceiling	Round up
maths_abs	math_abs	Absolute value
maths_sqrt	math_sqrt	Square root
maths_power	math_power	Exponentiation

Example Results

• maths_add(10, 5) → 15
• math_multiply(3, 7) → 21
• maths_round(3.7) → 4
• math_floor(3.7) → 3
• maths_ceiling(3.2) → 4
• maths_sqrt(144) → 12
• math_power(2, 8) → 256
• maths_abs(-42) → 42

Boolean Values

The module provides regional variants for boolean values:

British	Scottish	Value
yes	aye	True
no	nay	False

Example Results

• Conditions: if yes { ... } or if aye { ... } ⟶ Code executes
• Negation: unless no { ... } or unless nay { ... } ⟶ Code executes
• Boolean operations:
  • yes && aye ⟶ True
  • no || nay ⟶ False
  • !nay ⟶ True

Design Philosophy

This module follows several key principles:

1. Equal Treatment: Neither UK nor US spelling is treated as "primary" - both are first-class citizens
2. Functional Implementation: Every exported function is fully implemented, no placeholders
3. Consistency: Function pairs always behave identically regardless of spelling variant used
4. Practical Focus: Includes commonly used functions where UK/US spelling differences occur

Use Cases

• International Teams: Teams with members from different English-speaking countries can use their preferred spellings
• Educational Settings: Students can use familiar spellings while learning programming
• Code Migration: Gradually transition codebases between spelling conventions
• Personal Preference: Individual developers can choose their preferred style

Complete Function Reference

String Manipulation

• capitalise/capitalize($str) - Convert to title case
• lower_case/lowercase($str) - Convert to lowercase
• upper_case/uppercase($str) - Convert to uppercase
• centre/center($str, $width, $fill = ' ') - Center with padding
• normalise/normalize($str) - Clean and standardize
• emphasise/emphasize($str) - Add emphasis (text)
• serialise/serialize($data) - Convert to string representation

String Utilities

• colour_code/color_code($name) - ANSI color codes
  • Supports: red, green, blue, grey/gray
• analyse_text/analyze_text($text) - Returns hash with:
  • chars: Character count
  • words: Word count
  • lines: Line count

Mathematics

• maths_add/math_add($a, $b) - Addition (a + b)
• maths_subtract/math_subtract($a, $b) - Subtraction (a - b)
• maths_multiply/math_multiply($a, $b) - Multiplication (a × b)
• maths_divide/math_divide($a, $b) - Division (a ÷ b)
• maths_round/math_round($n) - Round to nearest integer
• maths_floor/math_floor($n) - Round down
• maths_ceiling/math_ceiling($n) - Round up
• maths_abs/math_abs($n) - Absolute value
• maths_sqrt/math_sqrt($n) - Square root
• maths_power/math_power($base, $exp) - Exponentiation (base^exp)

Boolean Constants

• yes = aye = True
• no = nay = False

Testing

The module includes a comprehensive test suite to ensure all functions work correctly:

# Run all tests
raku t/run-all-tests.raku

# Or run individual test files
raku t/01-basic.rakutest
raku t/02-text-processing.rakutest

The tests verify all functionality including:

• String manipulation functions
• Math/Maths functions
• Boolean values and operations
• Text processing utilities

Contributing

https://github.com/raku-multilingual/raku-english

License

Artistic License 2.0

Author

Danslav Slavenskoj

See Also

• Raku Documentation
• British vs American Spelling