Valence

Valence is a programming language that brings the expressiveness of spoken language to code. Specifically, it adds two things: homonymy and structural ambiguity.

Concept

In Valence:

• Any symbol can be read as a variable name, an octal digit, a command, a type, or an expression
• For commands and expressions, most symbols have multiple interpretations based on parameter count
• Every possible reading of a program plays out in parallel
• Brackets can disambiguate a phrase when needed

Lexicon

Each instruction is a single letter, borrowed from Ancient Greek numbering and measuring signs. While there is some association between some borrowed signs and usage, they all mean something significantly different in Valence.

symbol	typed as	interpretation	type	params
𐅶	q	0	octal digit
		𐅶	var
		int	type	0
		not	exp	1 (exp)
		add	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		while	cmd	1 (exp)
		add_assign	cmd	2 (var, exp)
𐆇	w	1	octal digit
		𐆇	var	0
		read_as_digit	exp	1 (digit)
		subtract	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		if	cmd	1 (exp)
		while_queue	cmd	2 (var, exp)
𐅾	e	2	octal digit
		𐅾	var
		read_as_var	exp	1 (var)
		div	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		end block	cmd	0
		goto	cmd	1 (exp)
		trade_op	cmd	2 (var, range): CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS
𐆋	a	3	octal digit
		𐆋	var
		queue	type	0
		equals	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		print	cmd	1 (exp)
𐆉	s	4	octal digit	0
		string	type	0
		int_or_floor	exp	1 (exp)
		cast	exp	2 (type, exp)
		label	cmd	1 (var)
		assign	cmd	2 (var, exp)
𐅻	d	5	octal digit
		𐅻	var
		char	type	0
		mult_by_eight	exp	1 (exp)
		get_element (from queue)	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		jump	cmd	1 (exp)
		append	cmd	2 (var, exp)
𐆊	z	6	octal digit
		𐆊	var
		bool	type	0
		or	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		else	cmd	0
		else_if	cmd	1 (exp)
𐆁	x	7	octal digit
		𐆁	var
		ratio	type
		dequeue	var	1
		mul	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		input	cmd	1 (var)
		mul_assign	cmd	2 (var, exp)
[	[	begin lexical group
]	]	end lexical group

Example Programs

Hello World (with single interpretation)

[𐆋]𐆉[[𐅻]𐆉[[𐅻[𐅻[𐆇𐆇]]]𐅶[𐅻[𐆇𐆇]]]]
[𐅶]𐆉[𐅾𐆋]
[𐆋]𐅶[[𐅻[𐆇𐆋]]𐅶[𐆇𐅻]]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐆋]𐅶[𐆇𐆁]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐆋]𐅶[𐆇𐆋]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐅾𐆉]𐆉[𐅻[𐆇𐆉]]
[𐅶]𐅶[𐅾𐆉]
[𐆁]𐆉[[[𐅻[𐅻[𐆇𐆇]]]𐅶[𐅻[𐆇𐅾]]]𐅶[𐆇𐆁]]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆁]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐆋]𐅶[𐆇𐆋]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐆋]𐅶[𐅶[𐆇[𐆊]]]

Links

• Valence interpreter
• Introduction to Valence as bsky thread
• Github repo