About

NattLua is variant of LuaJIT with optional types. The main goal is to provide a complete picture of how a program might run or fail in all possible paths.

There is a playground you can try. It supports hover type information and other diagnostics.

Here are some examples:

local x = 1 -- literal number 1
x = x + 1 -- x is now 2

local x: number = 1 -- wide number 1
x = x + 1 -- x is still number

local list: {[number] = string | nil} = {} -- -1 index is alllowed
local list: {[number] = string} | {} = {} -- same as the above, but expressed another way
local list: {[1..inf] = string | nil} = {} -- only 1..inf index is allowed

local map: {[string] = string | nil} = {} -- any string index is allowed
local map: {foo = string, bar = string} = {foo = "hello", bar = "world"} -- only foo and bar is allowed as keys, but values can be any string

local a = "fo" -- a is a string literal "fo", and not the wide type string
local b = string.char(string.byte("o")) -- these are type functions that take in literal and non literal types
local map = {}
map[a..b] = "hello"

-- this print call is a typesystem call, this will be ommitted when transpiling back to LuaJIT
print<|map|> -- >> {foo = "hello"}

local Vec3 = {}
Vec3.__index = Vec3

-- give the type a friendly name for diagnostics
type Vec3.@Name = "Vector"

-- define the type of the first argument in setmetatable
type Vec3.@Self = {
    x = number,
    y = number,
    z = number,
}

function Vec3.__add(a: Vec3, b: Vec3)
    return Vec3(a.x + b.x, a.y + b.y, a.z + b.z)
end

setmetatable(Vec3, {
    __call = function(_, x: number, y: number, z: number)
        return setmetatable({x=x,y=y,z=z}, Vec3)
    end
})

local new_vector = Vector(1,2,3) + Vector(100,100,100) -- OK

It aims to be compatible with LuaJIT as a frst class citizen, but also 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 and Garry's Mod Lua (a variant of Lua 5.1).

The build_output.lua file is a bundle of this project that can be require()'d in your project. It also should work in garry's mod, though type definitions there are lacking.

Code analysis and typesystem

The analyzer works by evaluating the syntax tree. It runs similar to how Lua runs, but on a more general level, and can take take multiple paths when "if" conditions and loops are uncertain. If everything is known about a program and you didn't add any types, you may get the actual output during analysis.

local cfg = [[
    name=Lua
    cycle=123
    debug=yes
]]

local function parse(str: ref string)
    local tbl = {}
    for key, val in str:gmatch("(%S-)=(.-)\n") do
        tbl[key] = val
    end
    return tbl
end

local tbl = parse(cfg)
print<|tbl|>
>>
--[[
{
    "name" = "Lua",
    "cycle" = "123",
    "debug" = "yes"
}
]]

The ref keyword means that the cfg variable should be passed in as a type reference. This is similar to how type arguments in a generic function is passed to the function itself. If we removed the ref keyword, the output of the function is be inferred to be { string = string } because str would become a non literal string.

We can also add a return type to parse by writing function parse(str: ref string): {[string] = string} to help constrain the ouput, but if you don't it will be inferred. The the ref keyword is also supported on the return type so that you may get the literal output, serving as a typical generic function.

When the analyzer detects an error, it will try to recover from the error and continue. For example:

local func = nil
if math.random() > 0.5 then func = function() return 1336 end end
-- func is now the type: nil | function=()>(1336)
local x = func() -- error calling a nil value, but the value is 1336
local y = x + 1 -- y is 1337

When the analyser reports an error in this case, it would would branch out, creating a scope where nil is removed from the union nil | (function(): number) after the call and continue.

Current status and goals

My long term goal is to develop a language to use for my other projects (such as goluwa).

At the moment I focus strongly on type inference correctness, adding tests and keeping the codebase maintainable.

I'm also working on bootstrapping the project with comment types. So far the lexer part of the project and some other parts are typed and is part of the test suite.

Types

Fundamentally the typesystem consists of number, string, table, function, symbol, range, union, tuple and any. Tuples and unions and ranges exist only in the typesystem. Symbols are things like true, false, nil, etc.

Most types can go from wide, narrow and literal, so as a showcase example we can describe the fundamental types like this:

local type Boolean = true | false
local type Number = -inf..inf | nan
local type String = $".*"
local type AnyValue = Number | Boolean | String | nil

-- nil and nan cannot be used as a key
-- self means the current table type, useful for recursive type declarations
local type Table = { [AnyValue ~ (nan | nil) | self] = AnyValue | self }

local type AnyValueWithTable = AnyValue | Table

-- CurrentType is a type function that lets us get the reference to the current type we're constructing
local type Function = function=(...AnyValueWithTable | CurrentType<|"function"|>)>(...AnyValueWithTable | CurrentType<|"function"|>)

-- declare the global type
type Any = AnyValueWithTable | Function

So here all the PascalCase types should have semantically the same meaning as their lowercase counter parts.

Numbers

From literal > narrow > wide

type N = 1

local foo: N = 1
local foo: N = 2
      ^^^: 2 is not a subset of 1

type N = 1 .. 10

local foo: N = 1
local foo: N = 4
local foo: N = 11
      ^^^: 11 is not a subset of 1 .. 10

type N = 1 .. inf

local foo: N = 1
local bar: N = 2
local faz: N = -1
      ^^^: -1 is not a subset of 1 .. inf

type N = -inf .. inf

local foo: N = 0
local bar: N = 200
local faz: N = -10
local qux: N = 0/0
      ^^^: nan is not a subset of -inf .. inf

The logical progression would be defining N as -inf .. inf | nan but that has semantically the same meaning as number

Strings

Strings can be defined more narrowly as lua string patterns:

local type MyString = $"FOO_.-"

local a: MyString = "FOO_BAR"
local b: MyString = "lol"
                    ^^^^^ : the pattern failed to match

A literal value:

type foo = "foo"

Or wide:

type foo = string

$".-" is semantically the same as string

Tables

are similar to lua tables, where its key and value can be any type.

the only special syntax is self which is used for self referencing types

here are some natural ways to define a table:

local type MyTable = {
    foo = boolean,
    bar = string,
}

local type MyTable = {
    ["foo"] = boolean,
    [number] = string,
}

local type MyTable = {
    ["foo"] = boolean,
    [number] = string,
    faz = {
        [any] = any
    }
}

-- extend the type
type MyTable.bar = number

Unions

A Union is a type separated by | These tend to show up in uncertain conditions.

For example this case:

local x = 0
-- x is 0 here

if math.random() > 0.5 then
    -- x is 0 here
    x = 1
    -- x is 1 here
else
    -- x is 0 here
    x = 2
    -- x is 2 here
end

-- x is 1 | 2 here

This happens because math.random() returns number and number > 0.5 is true | false.

One of these if blocks must execute, so that's why we end up with 1 | 2 instead of 0 | 1 | 2.

local x = 0
-- x is 0 here
if true then
    x = 1
    -- x is 1 here
end
-- x is still 1 here because the mutation = 1 occured in a certain branch
-- we would also get a warning saying the branch is always truthy

This happens because true is true as opposed to true | false and so there's no uncertainty in executing the if block.

Analyzer functions

Analyzer functions help us bind advanced type functions to the analyzer. We can for example define math.ceil and a print function like this:

analyzer function print(...)
    print(...)
end

analyzer function math.floor(T: number)
    if T:IsLiteral() then
        return types.Number(math.floor(T:GetData()))
    end

    return types.Number()
end

local x = math.floor(5.5)
print<|x|>
-->> 5

When transpiled to lua, the result is just:

local x = math.floor(5.5)

So analyzer functions only exist when analyzing. The body of these functions are not analyzed like the rest of the code. For example, if this project was written in Python the contents of the analyzer functions would be written in Python as well.

They exist to provide a way to define advanced custom types and functions that cannot easily be made into a normal type function.

Type functions

Type functions is the recommended way to write type functions. We can define an assertion function like this:

local function assert_whole_number<|T: number|>
    assert(math.floor(T) == T, "Expected whole number")
end

local x = assert_whole_number<|5.5|>
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Expected whole number

<| |> here means that we are writing a type function that only exist in the type system. Unlike analyzer functions, its content is actually analyzed.

When the code above is transpiled to lua, the result is still just:

local x = 5.5

<|a,b,c|> is the way to call type functions. In other languages it tends to be <a,b,c> but I chose this syntax to avoid conflicts with the < and > comparison operators. This syntax may change in the future.

local function Array<|T: any, L: number|>
    return {[1..L] = T}
end

local list: Array<|number, 3|> = {1, 2, 3, 4}
                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^: 4 is not a subset of 1..3

In type functions, the type is by default passed by reference. So T: any does not mean that T will be any in the function body. It just means that T is allowed to be anything.

In Typescript it would be something like

type Array<T extends any, length extends number> = {[key: 1..length]: T} // assuming typescript supports number ranges

Type function arguments always need to be explicitly typed.

More examples

List type

function List<|T: any|>
	return {[1..inf] = T | nil}
end

local names: List<|string|> = {} -- the | nil above is required to allow nil values, or an empty table in this case
names[1] = "foo"
names[2] = "bar"
names[-1] = "faz"
^^^^^^^^^: -1 is not a subset of 1 .. inf

ffi.cdef parse errors to type errors

In NattLua, ffi type definitions are mostly complete. There is a c declaration parser and type definitions for ctype and cdata, but to showcase analyzer functions, here's an example of a minimal but useful ffi.def definition:

analyzer function ffi.cdef(c_declaration: string)
    if c_declaration:IsLiteral() then
        local ffi = require("ffi")
        ffi.cdef(c_declaration:GetData()) -- if cdef throws an error, it's propagated up to the compiler as an error
    end
end

ffi.cdef("bad c declaration")

4 | d
5 | end
6 |
8 | ffi.cdef("bad c declaration")
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-> | test.lua:8:0 : declaration specifier expected near 'bad'

`load` evaluation

local function build_summary_function(tbl)
    local lua = {}
    table.insert(lua, "local sum = 0")
    table.insert(lua, "for i = " .. tbl.init .. ", " .. tbl.max .. " do")
    table.insert(lua, tbl.body)
    table.insert(lua, "end")
    table.insert(lua, "return sum")
    return load(table.concat(lua, "\n"), tbl.name)
end

local func = build_summary_function({
    name = "myfunc",
    init = 1,
    max = 10,
    body = "sum = sum + i !!ManuallyInsertedSyntaxError!!"
})

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    4 | )
    5 |  table.insert(lua, "end")
    6 |  table.insert(lua, "return sum")
    8 |  return load(table.concat(lua, "\n"))
                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    9 | end
10 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-> | test.lua:8:8
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1 | local sum = 0
    2 | for i = 1, 10 do
    3 | sum = sum + i !!ManuallyInsertedSyntaxError!!
                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    4 | end
    5 | return sum
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    -> | myfunc:3:14 : expected assignment or call expression got ❲symbol❳ (❲!❳)

This works because there is no uncertainty about the code generated passed to the load function. If we wrote body = "sum = sum + 1" as string, it would widen the body value in the table so, which in turn would cause table.concat return string and not the actual results of the concatenation.

anagram proof

local bytes = {}
for i,v in ipairs({
    "P", "S", "E", "L", "E",
}) do
    bytes[i] = string.byte(v)
end
local all_letters = _ as bytes[number] ~ nil -- remove nil from the union
local anagram = string.char(all_letters, all_letters, all_letters, all_letters, all_letters)

print<|anagram|> -- >> "EEEEE" | "EEEEL" | "EEEEP" | "EEEES" | "EEELE" | "EEELL" | ...
assert(anagram == "SLEEP")
print<|anagram|> -- >> "SLEEP"

This is true because anagram becomes a union of all possible letter combinations which also contains the string "SLEEP".

However, it's also false as it contains all the other combinations, but since we use assert to check the result at runtime, it will silently "error" and mutate the anagram upvalue to become "SLEEP" after the assertion.

If we did assert<|anagram == "SLEEP"|> (a type call) it would error, because the typesystem operates more literally.

Parsing and transpiling

As a learning experience I wrote the lexer and parser trying not to look at existing Lua parsers, but this makes it different in some ways. The syntax errors it can report are not standard and are bit more detailed. It's also written in a way to be easily extendable for new syntax.

Syntax errors can be nicer than standard Lua parsers. Errors are reported with character ranges.
The lexer and parser can continue after encountering an error, which is useful for editor integration.
Whitespace can be preserved if needed
Both single-line C comments (from GLua) and the Lua 5.4 division operator can be used in the same source file.
Transpiles bitwise operators, integer division, _ENV, etc down to valid LuaJIT code.
Supports inline importing via require, loadfile, and dofile.
Supports teal syntax, however the analyser does not currently support its scoping rules.

I have not fully decided the syntax for the language and runtime semantics for lua 5.3/4 features. But I feel this is more of a detail that can easily be changed later.

Development

To run tests run luajit nattlua.lua test

To build run luajit nattlua.lua build

To format the codebase with NattLua run luajit nattlua.lua fmt

To build vscode extension run luajit nattlua.lua build-vscode

To install run luajit nattlua.lua install

If you install you'd get the binary nattlua which behaves the same as luajit nattlua.lua ...

I've setup vscode to run the task onsave when a file is saved with the plugin pucelle.run-on-save. This runs on_editor_save.lua which has some logic to choose which files to run when modifying project.

There is also some hotreload comment syntax which can let you specify which tests to run when saving a file, along with hotreload.lua scripts that specify how any file in the directory and sub directories will be ran when saved.

I also locally have a file called test_focus.nlua in root which will override hotreload logic when the file is not empty. This makes it easier to debug specific tests and code.

Some debug language features are:

§ followed by lua code. This invokes the analyzer so you can inspect or modify its state.

local x = 1337
§print(env.runtime.x:GetUpvalue())
§print(analyzer:GetScope())

£ followed by lua code. This invokes the parser so you can inspect or modify its state.

local x = 1337
£print(parser.current_statement)

Similar projects

Teal has a more pragmatic and stricter approach when it comes to type inference.

Luau Similar to teal, but closer to typescript in syntax for types.

sumneko lua a language server for lua that supports analyzing lua code. It has a typesystem that can be controlled by using comments.

EmmyLua Similar to sumneko lua.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 3,080 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
.vscode		.vscode
examples		examples
language_server		language_server
nattlua		nattlua
test		test
vscode_extension		vscode_extension
web_playground		web_playground
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
README.md		README.md
flake.lock		flake.lock
flake.nix		flake.nix
nattlua.lua		nattlua.lua
nlconfig.lua		nlconfig.lua

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Code analysis and typesystem

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Code analysis and typesystem

Current status and goals

Types

Numbers

Strings

Tables

Unions

Analyzer functions

Type functions

More examples

List type

ffi.cdef parse errors to type errors

load evaluation

anagram proof

Parsing and transpiling

Development

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