Rift is a visual programming language that compiles to machine code focusing on performance and build times

Important

Rift is a project in early development. At this time it is not ready for general use.

Fundamentals

Code is Data

Rift code files do not contain plain code, instead they have a data representation of the code.

Where in languages like C, C++ you write code into text directly, in Rift you use an editor to modify it. At first this might sound counterintuitive, but it actually brings multiple key advantages with huge potential for the developer and code quality.

Coding style is User preference

Code does not specify how your code looks, your editor settings do, and they are your choice. Many programmers, many styles, same code.

Many code representations, one language

Rift has the concept of "Views" which are different visualizations of code (E.g: Visual Nodes and Text).

This means developers can choose how to code, while sharing the same language, same editor, same build system and same compiler. One example would be the development of a videogame where a designer uses visual nodes and a programmer uses text, but they both use the same environment.

No include or definition order

No need for includes, no circular dependencies, no order of functions or variables.

Compile times

Rift´s compiler is designed to be fast (no I mean, really fast). Some development workflows now a day have terrible iteration times, and a big reason of that is really slow compile times (talking about hours, days or even weeks).

The problem with slow compile times is not only the amount of wasted time for the developer (including focus and concentration issues), but also the speed and cost of CICD pipelines, or the frequency at which pipelines can run. Fast iteration times means many solutions we implement for our projects to work around this issues are simply not needed at all. You don't need to distribute binaries if building takes less time than syncing them. You don't need complicated pipelines with package managers downloading binaries either.

It means more productivity, and less wasted money. So yes, in Rift this is important.

Modularity

Unlike traditional compilers, Rift is designed so that modules are plugged in and out, modifying editor and compiler behavior according to the needs of your project.

Due to Rift being so new, this modularity is only partially implemented at the moment. However, you can already plug in your own backends. They will automatically show up in the editor and CLI.

One example of a custom backend could be JIT (Just In Time compilation).

Some examples of what future modularity would look like:

• Custom views
  Some examples of what custom views could be:
  • Text view
  • Execution flow view
  • Behavior Trees
• Editor/compiler/both passes
  • E.g: A format checker that ensures correct naming across a module, even while compiling

Documentation

Visit riftlang.org to read documentation on Rift.

Software Quality

The code is validated on the following platforms/compilers:

Windows	Ubuntu	Mac
Clang ^12.0	Clang ^12.0	Clang ^12.0
MSVC	GCC ^9

It has also been tested on x64 and ARM64 architectures.

Credits

Developed by Piperift and every direct or indirect contributors to the GitHub repository.

License

Rift is licensed under the LGPLv3 license with some exceptions.

Why LGPL License?

Any Rift's source code licensed as LGPLv3 seeks to defend the following:

• Rift must remain free and distributable to and by everyone
• Everyone can freely contribute and modify Rift
• Rift can be used to learn

The GPL strictly aims at protecting these freedoms, requiring everyone to share their modifications when they also share the software in public. That aspect is commonly referred to as Copyleft.

Details

While Rift editor, compiler and other tools are under LGPL, other components/tools might be under more permissive licenses.

This also means code you created can be under any license. One example could be a custom compiler pass for optimization, or a new view that adds a new way to edit code.

Rift’s source can also be embedded into other projects (explaining the L of LGPL). This means projects embedding Rift do not need to inherit the same license and can be commercial, but Rift components must keep their own licenses and remain open source if LGPL, including any modifications to them.

Your code

Any code or assets you create with Rift as a language is of your sole property. This includes code files like .rf and any generated files by Rift compiler, editor or tools.

This means Rift can be used commercially by studios, programmers, designers, artists or anyone else.