____  _       ____          _
  |  _ \(_)_ __ / ___|___   __| | ___
  | |_) | | '_ \ |   / _ \ / _` |/ _ \
  |  _ <| | |_) | |__| (_) | (_| |  __/
  |_| \_\_| .__/ \____\___/ \__,_|\___|
           |_|

RipCode 🤘

A destructive-first programming language that transpiles to JavaScript.

RipCode combines a metal/cyberpunk aesthetic with real programming power. Forge variables, shred through loops, pipe data through riffs, and mosh your async operations — all transpiled to clean, runnable JavaScript.

Install

npm install -g ripcode

Or try it without installing:

npx ripcode run hello.rip

Quick Start

# Create a new project
rip init my-project
cd my-project

# Run it
rip run main.rip

# Or build to JavaScript
rip build main.rip -o out.js

Hello World

// hello.rip
say "Hello, world!"

forge name = "RipCode"
say "Welcome to ${name} 🤘"

rip run hello.rip

Language Reference

Variables & Constants

forge x = 10          // let x = 10
lock PI = 3.14        // const PI = 3.14

Destructuring

forge obj = { name: "rip", version: 1 }
rip name, version from obj

forge arr = [1, 2, 3]
rip a, b, c from arr

Functions (Riffs)

// Single expression (auto-returns)
riff double(x) -> x * 2

// Block body
riff greet(name) {
  forge msg = "Hey, ${name}!"
  say msg
  return msg
}

// Default params + rest
riff log(level = "info", ...args) {
  say level, args
}

Pipeline Operator (~>)

Chain data through functions left-to-right:

riff double(x) -> x * 2
riff addTen(x) -> x + 10
riff square(x) -> x * x

forge result = 5 ~> double ~> addTen ~> square
say result  // 400

Noise Levels (Output)

whisper "debug info"       // console.debug
say "normal output"        // console.log
yell "warning!"            // console.warn
scream "EVERYTHING BROKE"  // console.error

Loops

// For-of loop
forge items = ["guitar", "bass", "drums"]
shred items as item {
  say item
}

// While loop
forge count = 3
while count > 0 {
  say "${count}..."
  count = count - 1
}

Conditionals

forge score = 95

if score >= 90 {
  say "A — shredding it!"
} else if score >= 80 {
  say "B — solid riff"
} else {
  yell "Needs practice"
}

Lambdas

forge double = |x| -> x * 2
forge add = |a, b| -> a + b

say double(21)   // 42
say add(20, 22)  // 42

Error Handling

brace {
  // risky code here
  forge data = riskyOperation()
} recover err {
  scream "Crashed: ${err}"
}

Concurrency (Mosh Pit)

mosh {
  fetchUsers(),
  fetchPosts(),
  fetchComments()
} -> results

Imports & Exports

// Import
grab { readFile } from "fs"
grab path from "path"

// Export
riff helper() -> "help"
drop helper
drop { helper, anotherFn }

String Interpolation

forge name = "world"
forge greeting = "Hello, ${name}!"
forge math = "2 + 2 = ${2 + 2}"

CLI Commands

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | rip run <file.rip> | Transpile and execute | | rip build <file.rip> [-o out.js] | Transpile to JavaScript | | rip init [name] | Scaffold a new project | | rip repl | Interactive RipCode REPL | | rip version | Show version | | rip help | Show help |

Hidden Commands

RipCode has 35 easter eggs baked in. Here are the ones we'll admit to:

| Command | What it does | |---------|-------------| | rip solo | Animated ASCII guitar solo | | rip lore | Typewriter-style origin story | | rip noise | Visual hierarchy of noise levels | | rip 666 | Number of the Beast Mode | | rip credits | Movie-style rolling credits | | rip unleash | Opens the Actor Arsenal | | rip quake | Plays the Quake theme (macOS, caches on first use) | | rip hierarchy | DOOM-style boss health bars for your project | | rip battle <f1> <f2> | Two .rip files fight in a 6-round tournament | | rip sacrifice <file> | Dramatic file deletion (recoverable) | | rip resurrect [file] | Bring a file back from the graveyard | | rip fortune | Metal fortune cookie | | rip rage <msg> | Escalating ASCII rage | | rip summon-kenny-g | The ultimate punishment | | rip roast <file> | Metric-based code roast | | rip roastme | Random humor from the rip-on-shit engine | | rip headcount | How many secrets exist |

There are also date-triggered surprises, a 5% chance of random quips, a Konami code in the REPL, and other things you'll have to find yourself.

Secret Language Features

// Battle cries — comments that survive transpilation
//! DESTROY ALL SEMICOLONS

// Headbang — the metal no-op
headbang

// Encore — repeat the previous statement
say "Hello!"
encore

// Summon — alt import syntax
summon { readFileSync } from "fs"

// Scream auto-caps at runtime
scream "this becomes ALL CAPS"

// The answer to everything
say 42    // prints: 42 (The Answer)

// The meaning of life
forge _meaning_of_life = 43   // transpiler adds: /* are you sure? */

Every transpiled file ends with // Forged with RipCode 🤘

Full Cheat Sheet

| RipCode | JavaScript | |---------|-----------| | forge x = 10 | let x = 10 | | lock PI = 3.14 | const PI = 3.14 | | rip a, b from obj | const { a, b } = obj | | riff fn(x) -> x * 2 | function fn(x) { return x * 2 } | | data ~> fn1 ~> fn2 | fn2(fn1(data)) | | whisper "x" | console.debug("x") | | say "x" | console.log("x") | | yell "x" | console.warn("x") | | scream "x" | console.error("x") | | shred arr as x { } | for (const x of arr) { } | | brace { } recover { } | try { } catch(e) { } | | mosh { } -> r | await Promise.all([...]) | | grab { x } from "y" | const { x } = require("y") | | drop fn | module.exports.fn = fn | | \|x\| -> x * 2 | (x) => x * 2 |

Error Messages

RipCode has themed error messages:

🔥 TRACK SCRATCHED (Syntax Error)
   at line 5, col 12
   Unexpected token 'blah' — expected '}'

💀 GHOST NOTE (Reference Error)
   at line 8
   'userName' doesn't exist in this pit

🎸 BROKEN STRING (String Error)
   at line 3
   Unterminated string — did you forget to close your quotes?

Examples

Check out the examples/ directory:

• hello.rip — Noise levels and basic variables
• pipeline.rip — Data pipelines with ~>
• mosh.rip — Loops, conditionals, grade report
• full-demo.rip — Complete feature showcase
• easter-eggs.rip — Hidden language features showcase

How It Works

RipCode is a source-to-source transpiler:

1. Lexer (src/lexer.js) — Tokenizes .rip source code
2. Parser (src/parser.js) — Recursive descent parser → AST
3. Transpiler (src/transpiler.js) — AST → JavaScript
4. Runtime (src/runtime.js) — Helper functions (pipelines, mosh, noise)

Zero dependencies. Pure Node.js.

License

MIT