Getting Started with Soplang

Welcome to Soplang! This guide will help you install Soplang, set up your development environment, and write your first Soplang program.

1. Installation

Before you can start programming with Soplang, you need to install it on your system. Choose the installation method that works best for you:

Option 1: Direct Download

soplang-installer

Welcome to the Soplang installer. Please select your operating system...

Option 2: Package Managers

package-manager-install

Choose your preferred package manager to install Soplang...

For more detailed installation instructions, check out our comprehensive installation guide.

2. Your First Soplang Program

Now that you have Soplang installed, let's write a simple "Hello, World!" program:

hello.sop

// This is a comment
print("Hello, World!")

// Variables
name = "Soplang"
version = 1.2
print(f"Welcome to {name} version {version}!")

// Simple function
def greet(person):
    return f"Hello, {person}!"

message = greet("Developer")
print(message)

Save this code in a file named hello.sop.

Running Your Program

To run your Soplang program, open a terminal or command prompt and navigate to the directory where you saved the file. Then run:

You should see the following output:

Hello, World!
Welcome to Soplang version 1.2!
Hello, Developer!

Congratulations! You've just written and executed your first Soplang program.

3. Basic Concepts

Variables and Data Types

Soplang is dynamically typed, meaning you don't need to declare variable types. The language supports common data types like strings, numbers, booleans, lists, and dictionaries.

data_types.sop

// String
name = "Soplang"

// Integer
version = 1

// Float
pi = 3.14159

// Boolean
is_awesome = True

// List
languages = ["Somali", "JavaScript", "Soplang"]

// Dictionary
features = {
    "syntax": "clean",
    "learning_curve": "gentle",
    "performance": "excellent"
}

Control Flow

Soplang uses indentation to define code blocks in control structures:

control_flow.sop

// If-else statement
age = 25
if age < 18:
    print("You are a minor")
elif age >= 18 and age < 65:
    print("You are an adult")
else:
    print("You are a senior")

// For loop
for language in ["Somali", "JavaScript", "Soplang"]:
    print(f"I like {language}")

// While loop
count = 5
while count > 0:
    print(count)
    count -= 1
print("Blast off!")

Functions

Functions in Soplang are defined using the def keyword:

functions.sop

//Simple function
def greet(name):
    return f"Hello, {name}!"

// Function with default parameter
def power(base, exponent=2):
    return base ** exponent

// Function with type hints (optional)
def add(a: int, b: int) -> int:
    return a + b