Discus¶

The Discus language is an experimental dialect of Haskell which investigates static typing and program transformation in the presence of computational effects.

The main language features are:

• Haskell-like source language, so Haskell-like programs should work with minor modifications.
• Modal region and effect system using ‘box’ and ‘run’ to suspend and force computations.
• Higher rank polymorphism with bidirectional type inference.
• Simple two space copying garbage collection.
• Default call-by-value evaluation.
• Typed external core language.

Version 0.5.1 (2017/10/23) includes new support for copying garbage collection and implicit function parameters.

Examples¶

For example programs, see the demo directory on github, which includes:

• Conway’s Life demo which uses mutable arrays.
• Almost Primes demo which uses infinite streams.
• Lambda demo which defines a simple lambda calculus interpreter.
• Ray Tracer demo which makes nice pictures, described in this blog post.

Documentation¶

More Information¶