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General
=======
What is Nimrod?
---------------
What is Nim?
------------
Nimrod is a statically typed, imperative programming language that tries to
give the programmer ultimate power without compromises on runtime efficiency.
Nim (formerly known as "Nimrod") is a statically typed, imperative programming
language that tries to give the programmer ultimate power without compromises
on runtime efficiency.
This means it focuses on compile-time mechanisms in all their
various forms. Beneath a nice infix/indentation based syntax with a
powerful (AST based, hygienic) macro system lies a semantic model that supports
@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ from that model.
Why yet another programming language?
-------------------------------------
Nimrod is one of the very few *programmable* statically typed languages, and
Nim is one of the very few *programmable* statically typed languages, and
one of the even fewer that produces native binaries that require no
runtime or interpreter.
@ -36,29 +37,29 @@ C++, Python, Lisp, Oberon.
What is Nimrod's take on concurrency?
-------------------------------------
What is Nim's take on concurrency?
----------------------------------
Nimrod primarily focusses on thread local (and garbage collected) heaps and
asynchronous message passing between threads. Each thread has its own GC, so no
Nim primarily focusses on thread local (and garbage collected) heaps and
message passing between threads. Each thread has its own GC, so no
"stop the world" mechanism is necessary. An unsafe shared memory heap is also
provided.
provided.
Future versions will additionally include a GC "per thread group"
and Nimrod's type system will be enhanced to accurately model this shared
and Nim's type system will be enhanced to accurately model this shared
memory heap.
How is Nimrod licensed?
-----------------------
How is Nim licensed?
--------------------
The Nimrod compiler and the library are MIT licensed.
The Nim compiler and the library are MIT licensed.
This means that you can use any license for your own programs developed with
Nimrod.
Nim.
How stable is Nimrod?
---------------------
How stable is Nim?
------------------
The compiler is in development and some important features are still missing.
However, the compiler is quite stable already: It is able to compile itself
@ -66,11 +67,11 @@ and a substantial body of other code. Until version 1.0.0 is released,
minor incompatibilities with older versions of the compiler will be introduced.
How fast is Nimrod?
-------------------
How fast is Nim?
----------------
Benchmarks show it to be comparable to C. Some language features (methods,
closures, message passing) are not yet as optimized as they could and will be.
The only overhead Nimrod has over C is the GC which has been tuned
The only overhead Nim has over C is the GC which has been tuned
for years but still needs some work.
@ -84,7 +85,7 @@ but would require much work.
What about editor support?
--------------------------
- Nimrod IDE: https://github.com/nimrod-code/Aporia
- Nim IDE: https://github.com/nimrod-code/Aporia
- Emacs: https://github.com/Tass/nimrod-mode
- Vim: https://github.com/zah/nimrod.vim/
- Scite: Included