Tova

A modern programming language that transpiles to JavaScript, unifying frontend and backend development with clean, enjoyable syntax.

Created by Enoch Kujem Abassey.

Features

• Full-stack in one file — server, client, and shared blocks
• Immutable by default — x = 1 is immutable, var x = 1 is mutable
• Reactive UI — built-in signals, computed values, and effects
• Seamless RPC — call server functions from client like regular functions
• Pattern matching — exhaustive match expressions
• Pipe operator — data |> transform() |> format()
• Python-inspired — comprehensions, chained comparisons, in/not in, elif
• Gradual typing — optional type annotations with inference
• npm compatible — use any npm package

Quick Start

# Install (macOS / Linux)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tova-lang/tova-lang/main/install.sh | sh

# Or install via npm (requires Bun)
bun install -g tova

# Create a new project
tova new my-app

# Run development server
cd my-app
tova dev

Example

shared {
  type User {
    id: Int
    name: String
    email: String
  }
}

server {
  fn get_users() -> [User] {
    db.query("SELECT * FROM users")
  }

  route GET "/api/users" => get_users
}

client {
  state users: [User] = []

  effect {
    users = server.get_users()
  }

  component App {
    <div class="app">
      <h1>"Users"</h1>
      for user in users {
        <p>"{user.name}"</p>
      }
    </div>
  }
}

Syntax Highlights

// Immutable binding
name = "Tova"

// Mutable binding
var count = 0

// Functions
fn greet(name = "world") {
  "Hello, {name}!"
}

// Pattern matching
fn describe(value) {
  match value {
    0 => "zero"
    1..10 => "small"
    n if n > 100 => "big"
    _ => "other"
  }
}

// List comprehension
evens = [x * 2 for x in range(10) if x > 0]

// Pipe operator
result = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  |> filter(fn(x) x > 2)
  |> map(fn(x) x * 2)
  |> sum()

// Chained comparisons
if 1 < x < 10 {
  print("in range")
}

License

MIT