QuarkCompiler

This is a simple little fun project I am working on to learn more about parsers and the JVM. The idea is to make a tiny but usable language that compiles and emits JVM bytecode (.class file).

How it works ?

The parser is generated using ANTLR . u can find the grammer in the Quark.g4 file . The tree walking is done in java classes while using the ASM library to generate the jvm bytecode .

Usage

Open the project in IntelliJ and add all the JARs from the jars folder to the classpath. Then run the code while passing the filepath to the .quark file . Here we use test.quark.
Remember IntelliJ runs the code from the root path so make sure the file path is correct . It will generate a filename.class file in the root folder itself , run it with the JVM. ($ java filename)
See the test.quark file for examples

using makefile

add the std library as class path in your .bashrc or .zashrc

For eg

export CLASSPATH=".:/home/tervicke/IdeaProjects/Quark/std:$CLASSPATH"

compile and create the build directory

make all

run the file

make run input=examples/structs.quark

run the binary

cd examples
java structs 

see more examples

Tests

The tests are stored in the json file , u can run the tests by running the python file file.

python3 run_tests.py

features

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🔹 1. Literals & Basic Types

• Integer literals (INT)
• Double literals (DOUBLE)
• Boolean literals (true, false)
• String literals ("...")
• Parenthesized expressions (expr)

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🔹 2. Types & Variable Declarations

• Basic types: int, string, bool, double
• Variable declaration with type (e.g., int x = 5)
• Variable declaration without type (type inference)
• Variable reassignment (x = expr)
• Typed function parameters
• Optional return type for functions (-> TYPE)
• Const or immutable variables (e.g., const x = 10)

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🔹 3. Expressions

• Arithmetic operators: +, -, *, /, %
• Comparison operators: <, >, <=, >=
• Equality operators: ==, !=
• Field access: obj.field
• Logical operators: &&, ||, !
• Unary minus / plus (-a, +a)
• Ternary expressions (cond ? a : b)

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🔹 4. Control Flow

• If statements (if (cond) { ... })
• If-else blocks
• While loops (while (cond) { ... })
• Nested blocks { ... }
• For loops
• Break & continue statements
• Switch / match expression

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🔹 5. Functions

• Function definition (fn name(args) { ... })
• Function call (foo(1, 2))
• Return statement (return expr)
• Optional return type (-> int)
• Function call from module (mod.func())
• Recursive functions
• Lambdas or anonymous functions

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🔹 6. Structs

• Struct definition (struct Name { ... })
• Struct fields with types
• Struct instantiation (Point(1, 2))
• Field access (p.x)
• Nested structs
• Struct methods

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🔹 7. I/O and Built-ins

• Print statement (print(...))
• Input from user
• String formatting
• Basic standard library (e.g., len(string), math functions)

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🔹 8. Modules and Imports

• Import statement (import module)
• Importing specific functions or structs
• Export keywords for public APIs

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