tiko by Example

tiko is a compiled, statically typed language for building fast, self-contained programs on Windows and Linux. This site teaches it the way you learn most things in practice: by reading short, complete programs and watching what they do.

Every page is built around one example. The example is a whole program, not a fragment, and the text under it is the output that program printed. Nothing here was typed in by hand: each example on the site is compiled and run on both windows-x86_64 and linux-x86_64 before a page is published, and the output you see is the output the program produced.

How to run an example

Save the program as example.tiko and compile it:

tiko example.tiko

The program takes the source file's name: example on Linux, example.exe on Windows. Run it as ./example or example.exe. Where an example needs a compiler flag, the flag is written inside the program itself, as a #cmdline line near the top, so the file alone reproduces the result.

How this site is organised

The sections start with the smallest things you need to write a program — printing, values, variables and control flow — and move through procedures, types and objects to the standard library, concurrency and calling C. Each section opens with a short overview page, and each page ends with a few activities: small changes to try, so the example becomes yours.

If you want the longer explanation of why tiko works the way it does, read The tiko Programming Language, the book this site accompanies.

Where to look things up

An example shows one way to use a feature. The full definition of every keyword, option and library function is in the tiko wiki, github.com/PaulSquires/tiko-lang/wiki, the language's reference documentation:

• Feature Index — every language feature and library, one line each, with a link to its reference page.
• Function Finder — every function, grouped by what you want to do, with one line on what each one does.
• Keyword Index — every keyword, statement and operator, A to Z.
• Quick Start — building a toolchain and compiling your first program.

When an example uses a function you have not met, the Function Finder is the fastest way to its page.