ThonkLang

ThonkLang is an esoteric programming language that uses emojis for control flow and features a unique "1 is true, everything else is false" boolean system. It combines functional programming concepts with emoji-based syntax to create a playful yet capable programming environment.

Computational model

ThonkLang is based on a functional programming model with lambda expressions, control flow statements, and loops. It features a unique boolean system where 1 is considered true and any other value is considered false.

Etymology

The language's name combines "Thonk" (internet slang for the thinking face emoji 🤔) with "Lang" (short for language). This references the language's primary control flow operator 🤔, which serves as the if-statement keyword.

Language description

ThonkLang programs consist of expressions that can include:

• Lambda function definitions
• If-else statements using 🤔 (if) and 😅 (else)
• While and for loops
• Basic arithmetic operations (+, -, *, /)
• Variable assignments
• Function calls

Control Flow

The language uses emoji-based control flow:

• 🤔 serves as the "if" keyword
• 😅 serves as the "else" keyword
• Any expression that evaluates to 1 is considered true
• Any other value is considered false

Functions

Functions are defined using the lambda syntax:

lambda name,param1,param2: { body }

Sample programs

Truth Machine

The following implements a truth machine in ThonkLang:

truth = lambda n: {
    🤔 n {
        # If input is 1, enter infinite loop
        while 1 {
            print(1);
        };
    } 😅 {
        # If input is 0, print once and terminate
        print(0);
    };
};

Prime Number Checker

This program checks if a number is prime:

is_divisible = lambda n,d: 🤔 n - ((n/d) * d) + 1 1 😅 0;

is_prime = lambda n: {
    result = 1;
    🤔 n 0 😅 {
        for i in range(n-2) {
            d = i + 2;
            🤔 is_divisible(n,d) {
                result = 0;
            } 😅 {
                result = result;
            };
        };
    };
    result
};

Prime Number Generator

This program finds all prime numbers up to a given value:

find_primes = lambda n: {
    for i in range(n-1) {
        num = i + 2;
        🤔 is_prime(num) {
            print(num);
        } 😅 0;
    };
};

Computational class

ThonkLang is Turing-complete, supporting:

• Conditional branching (through 🤔/😅)
• Loops (while and for)
• Variable assignment
• Function definitions and calls
• Basic arithmetic operations

Implementation

ThonkLang is implemented in Python using the Lark parser generator. The implementation consists of:

• A lexer/parser for the language grammar
• An interpreter that executes the parsed syntax tree
• Support for nested scopes and variable binding
• Built-in functions for basic I/O operations

External resources

• Thonklang implementation