Milk Tea

This README is the primary, implementation-focused language reference for the project. It is the preferred first entry point for getting to know the language.

If this file conflicts with docs/language-manual.md, the manual wins. docs/language-design.md is for design direction and rationale, not the authoritative implementation spec.

Package manifests, build workflow, and run workflow are documented separately in docs/build-guide.md.

1. File Kinds And Layout

Source files use the .mt extension.
Ordinary files are the normal source form. They have no module header; module identity is inferred from the file path.
Raw ABI binding files use a leading external header.
External files are the dedicated raw ABI surface, usually for generated or low-level std.c.* bindings.
Module lookup resolves a.b.c to a/b/c.mt.
Inside a package, the file path relative to package.source_root defines the module name; platform-specific files such as name.linux.mt still map to module name.
In ordinary files, import statements appear only at the top.
In external files, leading import statements are allowed after external.
Only external files accept include, link, and compiler_flag directives.
After those imports and directives, external files stay narrow: they contain raw ABI declarations, not ordinary module logic.

Blocks are indentation-based:

: starts a block.
Indentation must be spaces only.
Tabs are rejected.
Indentation must be a multiple of 4 spaces.
Indentation can increase by only one level at a time.
Newlines end statements except inside () and [], or when the previous physical line ends with a binary operator such as +, and, or ==.
Comma-separated lists inside () and [] accept trailing commas. Prefer them for multiline parameters, arguments, and type lists.

Long expressions should usually be wrapped with delimiters, following the same broad shape as Python's implicit line joining:

let total = (
    subtotal
    + tax
    - discount
)

Milk Tea also accepts operator-led continuation when the previous line ends with a binary operator:

let total = subtotal +
    tax -
    discount

This also applies to range expressions:

let values = 1 ..
    4

Do not rely on starting the next physical line with the operator; wrap the expression in () instead if that layout reads better.

Comments:

# starts a line comment.
## starts documentation comments attached to the next declaration if no blank line intervenes.

2. Literals And Tokens

Supported literals:

integers: 42, 0xff, 0b1010, _ separators allowed. Integer type suffixes: 42u (uint), 0xFFub (ubyte), 100z (ptr_uint), 7i (int), -1l (long), etc.
floats: 3.14, 1.2e-3, 1.0f (float suffix), 1.0d (double suffix)
character: 'a', '\n', '\t', '\\', '\'', '\0', '\x41'. Type is ubyte. Escape sequences: \n, \r, \t, \\, \', \", \0 (null byte), \xNN (hex byte).
booleans: true, false
string: "hello" -> str
cstring: c"hello" -> cstr
heredoc string: <<-TAG ... TAG
heredoc cstring: c<<-TAG ... TAG
format string: f"count=#{count}"
null, including typed forms like null[ptr[char]] when context does not determine the target type

Common punctuation and operators:

delimiters: ( ) [ ]
access and separators: : , .
type markers: -> ?
arithmetic: + - * / %
bitwise: ~ & | ^ << >>
comparison: == != < <= > >=
assignment: = += -= *= /= %= &= |= ^= <<= >>=
variadic marker: ...
word operators: and, or, not
pattern test: is — desugars to match expression for variant arm membership test

3. Top-Level Declarations

Supported top-level declarations:

const (expression form and block-bodied form with ->)
const function — compile-time-evaluable function, callable from compile-time and runtime
var
type
attribute
interface
struct
union
variant
enum
flags
opaque
extending
function
async function
external function
foreign function
event
static_assert(...)
emit — compile-time code generation inside const function or inline bodies
when (compile-time conditional; may appear at module level or inside function bodies)

File-kind note:

Ordinary files may use the full declaration surface above.
External files are intentionally narrower: after optional imports and directives, they allow only const, type, struct, union, enum, flags, opaque, and external function. External files cannot declare new attributes, but supported attribute applications such as @[packed] and @[align(...)] may still appear on declarations that accept them.
event declarations are not allowed in external files.

Visibility:

public is allowed on exportable ordinary declarations.
public is rejected on extending blocks.
public is rejected on ordinary external declarations and static_assert.
In external files, declarations are implicitly exported and public is rejected.

4. Variables And Guards

const requires an explicit type and initializer. A block-bodied form const NAME -> TYPE: followed by an indented block is also supported; the block is evaluated at compile time and must end with a return.
Top-level var requires an explicit type. Its initializer is optional but must be static-storage-safe when present.
Local let is immutable.
Local var is mutable.
A local declaration without an initializer requires an explicit type and must be zero-initializable.

Guard form:

let value = maybe_value else:
    return 1

var runtime = maybe_runtime else:
    return 1

let parsed = parse(input) else as error:
    return error

let _ = initialize() else:
    return 1

Tuple destructuring:

let (a, b) = pair()
let (x, y) = (1, 2)

Struct destructuring:

struct Vec2:
    x: float
    y: float
let p = Vec2(x = 1.0, y = 2.0)
let Vec2(x, y) = p

Rules for let ... else: and var ... else::

Both let and var support an else block.
The initializer must have type T?, Option[T], or Result[T, E].
For T?, the bound name has type T.
For Option[T], the bound name is some.value.
For Result[T, E], the bound name is success.value.
else as error: optionally binds the failure.error value.
let _ = expr else: checks success without binding a name.
The else block must terminate control flow.

Postfix Result/Option propagation:

let parsed = parse(input)?
let lowered = lower(parsed)?
return Result[Output, Error].success(value= lowered)

expr? requires Option[T] or Result[T, E] with a non-void success type. Any variant with matching arm structure (some(value: T)/none or success(value: T)/failure(error: E)) also works.
On success, expr? evaluates to the unwrapped T.
On failure, expr? returns Option[_].none or Result[_, E].failure(error= ...) from the enclosing function or proc.
As an expression statement, expr? also accepts Option[void] or Result[void, E]; success continues and failure returns early.
expr? is only allowed inside function and proc bodies.
Inside async functions, failure completes the task early.
expr? is not allowed inside defer blocks.
The enclosing function or proc must return a compatible type — Option[_] or Result[_, E] with the same error type E.
let _ = expr else: is still useful when you need an explicit else block or else as error: binding.

Callable and ref[...] rules:

Plain stored ref[T] values are rejected in constants, module variables, and nested local storage such as arrays or other generic containers.
In struct or union fields, bare ref[T] auto-generates an implicit lifetime parameter. The struct becomes non-owning, inheriting ref-like restrictions: allowed as function params and local let variables, rejected as returns and module storage. Explicit lifetime parameters (struct Cursor[@a]: data: ref[@a, span[ubyte]]) are still supported when the lifetime needs to be shared across multiple fields.
Ordinary local bindings may still hold a direct ref[T] value, for example let handle = ref_of(counter).
fn(...) and proc(...) parameter types may use ref[...] directly in parameter position.
Stored callable values may use ref[...] only in direct callable parameter positions. This includes fn(...) values and proc(...) closure values stored in locals, struct fields, and generic containers such as array[...].
Stored callable values may not use ref[...] in return types.
Stored callable values may not nest ref[...] anywhere except direct callable parameter positions.
External functions still cannot take ref[...] parameters, and ordinary functions still cannot return ref[...].
proc captures are value captures. A captured local is not a mutable alias back to the outer binding. Any storable type may be captured, including scalars, arrays, structs, and other proc values. Captured proc values participate in the ref-counted lifecycle: the capturing proc retains the captured proc on creation and releases it when the env is freed.
ref[T] values are not capturable by design since they are non-owning.
Shared mutable proc state should use explicit storage such as std.cell.alloc[T](...) or other explicit pointer-backed state, not implicit mutable capture.

5. Data Declarations

Examples:

type Seconds = float

struct Vec2:
    x: float
    y: float

@[packed]
struct Header:
    tag: ubyte

@[align(16)]
struct Mat4:
    data: array[float, 16]

Nested structs declare scoped types inside an enclosing struct body:

```mt
struct Rectangle:
    x: float
    y: float

    struct Edge:
        start: float
        end: float

    top_edge: Edge
    left_edge: Edge

Nested structs are full independent types scoped inside their parent. Their qualified name is Parent.Nested (e.g., Rectangle.Edge).
Inside the parent struct, bare names resolve to nested types (e.g., Edge means Rectangle.Edge).
Outside, use the qualified name: var e: Rectangle.Edge.
Nested structs may themselves contain nested structs to arbitrary depth.
The generated C name uses underscore-separated path components (e.g., module_Rectangle_Edge).

union Number: i: int f: float

enum State: ubyte idle = 0 running = 1

flags Mask: uint a = 1 << 0 b = 1 << 1

opaque SDL_Window

variant Token: ident(text: str) number(value: int) eof


Rules:

- `struct` and `opaque` may declare nominal interface conformance with `implements`.
- `attribute[target, ...]` declares reusable declaration attributes for `struct`, `field`, `callable`, `const`, `event`, `enum`, `flags`, `union`, and `variant` targets.
- Attributes are applied with one or more leading `@[name(...)]` blocks. Built-in `packed`, `align(bytes)`, and `deprecated(message)` are predefined attributes.
- `variant` arms may carry named payload fields.
- Payload arm construction uses named fields: `Token.ident(text = "hello")`.
- No-payload arms are bare member expressions: `Token.eof`.
- `enum` and `flags` backing types must be integer primitives.
- `enum` and `flags` members must be compile-time integer constants.
- `flags` members may reference earlier members to spell composite aliases such as `read_write = Permission.read | Permission.write`.
- `align(...)` must be a positive power of two.
- Compile-time reflection over validated attributes uses `has_attribute`, `attribute_of`, `attribute_arg[T]`, `field_of`, and `callable_of`.
- `field_of(...)`, `callable_of(...)`, and `attribute_of(...)` produce compile-time handle values with source-visible handle types `field_handle`, `callable_handle`, and `attribute_handle`.
- The current C backend lowers `packed` / `align(...)` attributes with GNU-style `__attribute__((...))`, so these layout controls currently require a Clang/GCC-family compiler. On Windows that means Clang or GCC-family toolchains such as MinGW; `cl.exe` is not a supported backend for these attributes today. On wasm/browser targets the same feature works through Emscripten `emcc`, which is Clang-based.

Enum and flags values support the full set of comparison operators (`==`, `!=`, `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`) against values of the same enum type and against their backing integer type. Comparisons use the underlying integer backing values. Flags also support bitwise operators (`|`, `&`, `^`, `~`).

Generic variants and structs are supported, for example `Option[int]`.

## 6. Interfaces And Methods

Interface example:

```mt
public interface Damageable:
    editable function take_damage(amount: int) -> void
    function is_alive() -> bool

Interface rules:

Interface bodies contain function, editable function, or static function signatures.
Generic interfaces are supported: interface Mapper[T]: function map(x: T) -> T.
Interface methods may not have their own type params — T comes from the interface.
Interface methods may not be async.
Interface methods do not have bodies.
Bare interface names are not runtime storage types.
Interfaces are used by implements and constrained generics, not as runtime value types.
Runtime interface values use dyn[InterfaceName] — a fat pointer carrying a data pointer and a vtable pointer. Construct with adapt[Interface](value: ref[T]), which verifies T implements Interface at compile time.
Generic interfaces instantiated through dyn must be fully specified: dyn[Mapper[int]] is valid; dyn[Mapper] is rejected.
Conformance with generic interfaces uses type substitution: struct Foo implements Mapper[int] checks that Foo's methods match Mapper's methods with T replaced by int.

Method kinds:

function -> value receiver
editable function -> editable receiver
static function -> no receiver

Method notes:

Async methods are supported.
Generic methods are supported.
There is no constructor keyword. Names like init and default are ordinary static methods.

7. Functions, Externals, And Foreign Functions

Ordinary functions:

Parameters must be typed.
Parameters are non-rebindable.
Return type defaults to void if omitted.
Generic functions are supported.
Generic function and method type parameters may use implements constraints.

const function:

A const function is evaluable at compile time. Its body follows the same restrictions as a block-bodied const. When called from a compile-time context (const, when, inline if, inline for), the call is constant-folded:

const function square(x: int) -> int:
    return x * x

const RESULT: int = square(5)   # folded to 25 at compile time

const function also generates a normal runtime function, callable from ordinary runtime code.

External functions:

external function printf(format: cstr, ...) -> int

Raw std.c.* modules usually group many external function declarations inside an external file, but external function is also allowed in ordinary files for small manual ABI bridges.

Rules:

No body.
Variadic ... is supported.
Cannot be generic.
Cannot be async.
Cannot take arrays.
Cannot take ref parameters.
Cannot take proc parameters.
Cannot return arrays.
Calls may pass enum or flags values to same-width fixed-width integer parameters without an explicit cast for C ABI interop.

Foreign functions:

foreign function init_window(width: int, height: int, title: str as cstr) -> void = c.InitWindow
foreign function load_file_data(file_name: str as cstr, out data_size: int) -> ptr[ubyte]? = c.LoadFileData
foreign function close_window(consuming window: Window) -> void = c.CloseWindow

Parameter modes:

plain
in
out
inout
consuming

Boundary projection syntax:

name: PublicType as BoundaryType

Foreign-function rules:

as is only allowed on plain and in parameters.
in, out, and inout are declared on the parameter, not at the call site.
Legacy call syntax like load_file_data(path, out size) or inspect(in value) is rejected.
consuming foreign functions must return void.
Consuming foreign calls must appear as top-level expression statements.
A consuming argument must be a bare nullable local or parameter binding.

8. Statements And Control Flow

Supported statements:

local declaration (let, var)
assignment
if / else if / else
match
unsafe
static_assert
for
parallel for — data-parallel loop dispatched across CPU cores
while
when — compile-time conditional; only the chosen branch is type-checked and emitted
inline for — loop over a compile-time-known array, unrolled at compile time
inline while — loop with a compile-time-known condition, unrolled at compile time
inline match — match with a compile-time-known scrutinee, unrolled at compile time
inline if — if with a compile-time-known condition; only the chosen branch is type-checked and emitted
pass
break
continue
return
defer
emit — only inside const function or inline for/while/if/match bodies
expression statement

Rules:

Conditions must be bool.
There is no truthy or falsy coercion from integers or pointers.
pass is an explicit no-op statement for intentionally empty block bodies.

match supports the following scrutinee types:

enum scrutinees
variant scrutinees
integer scrutinees

match may also be used as an expression, producing a value from the matched arm:

let label = match code:
    1: "one"
    2: "two"
    _: "other"

match rules:

Enum and variant matches must be exhaustive unless _ is present.
Integer matches require _. Match arms accept integer literals and char literals (e.g., '(' against a ubyte scrutinee).
Multiple pattern values may share the same arm body using |: kind matches kind_a | kind_b.
Variant payload arms may bind with as name.
Variant payload arms may destructure fields inline with struct patterns: Variant.arm(field > 0, other) — comparisons are guards (arm skipped if false), identifiers are bindings (field becomes a local), and field = value is an equality guard.

match token:
    Token.ident(text):
        use_name(text)
    Token.number as n:
        use_value(n.value)
    Token.eof:
        return

# Discard unneeded fields with _
match multi_field:
    Entity.tag(_, _, _, label):
        use_label(label)

Struct pattern rules:

Guards (hp > 0, level >= 3) skip the arm if the condition is false; the match tries the next arm. Supported guard operators: ==, !=, <, <=, >, >=.
Equality patterns (kind = Kind.boss) skip the arm if the field does not equal the value.
Bindings (position) create immutable local variables bound to the field value.
Discard (_) skips a field position without binding it; useful when you only need a subset of a multi-field payload arm.
Guards and equality patterns are refutable: they do not count toward exhaustiveness. Exception: when equality patterns for an enum-typed field gatherively cover every member of the enum, the arm is considered exhaustive.
For variant payload arms, struct patterns compose with as name bindings.
When a variant arm has exactly one payload field of struct type, and no pattern argument references that field name, the struct's own fields are transparently destructured. For example, Entity.positioned(x, y) where positioned(loc: Pos) destructures through Pos to bind x and y.

Loop forms:

for i in 0..count: for exclusive integer ranges
for item in items: for arrays, spans, and custom iterables
Custom iterable protocol: items.iter() must take no arguments, be a non-editable method, and return the iterator value.
Iterator forms: either next() -> nullable pointer-like item, or next() -> bool together with current() -> T.
for left, right in xs, ys: for parallel array/span iteration
Parallel for does not accept ranges.

parallel for dispatches loop iterations across multiple CPU cores using real OS threads:

parallel for i in 0..entity_count:
    positions[i] += velocities[i] * dt

Rules:

Only range iteration is supported (0..N).
The loop body must not contain break, continue, return, defer, or nested parallel for.
Captured ref[T] values are rejected at compile time.
Array captures are passed by pointer; span and scalar captures are passed by value.
The compiler automatically links libuv for thread dispatch when parallel for is used.

parallel: blocks run each statement concurrently, blocking the caller until all complete:

parallel:
    textures = load_textures(path)
    sounds = load_sounds(path)

Rules:

A parallel: block must contain at least two statements.
Each statement must not contain break, continue, return, or defer.
The compiler enforces single-writer-or-multiple-readers: if a variable is written in one statement, no other block may access it.
Captured ref[T] values are rejected at compile time.

detach spawns work on a separate thread and returns a Handle. gather blocks until all handles complete:

let a = detach load_textures(path)
let b = detach load_sounds(path)
process_other_stuff()
gather a, b

Rules:

detach is an expression returning a Handle — must be bound with let or var.
Currently only supports global function calls with no captured local variables.
gather takes one or more Handle values, joined in order.
Captured ref[T] values are rejected at compile time.
The compiler automatically links libuv for thread dispatch.

defer:

defer expr
defer: block form
return is not allowed inside defer blocks.

unsafe is required for:

pointer indexing
raw pointer dereference
pointer arithmetic
pointer casts
reinterpret[...]

Range index assignment is supported:

buf[0..3] = (1.0, 2.0, 3.0)

Rules:

The bounds must be integer literals.
The range is start-inclusive and end-exclusive.
The right-hand side must be an expression list with exactly matching width.

Compile-time control flow:

when evaluates its discriminant at compile time and emits only the chosen branch:

when TARGET_OS:
    TargetOs.linux:
        return open_linux(path)
    TargetOs.windows:
        return open_windows(path)

The discriminant must be a compile-time constant.
Only the chosen branch is type-checked and lowered.
An else branch is required unless the discriminant is an enum and every member is covered.
when may appear at module level to conditionally include declarations.

inline for unrolls a loop over a compile-time-known array:

inline for field in fields_of(Particle):
    static_assert(field.type == float, "Particle fields must be float")

The iterable must be a compile-time-known array (from reflection builtins or a literal array).

inline while unrolls a loop with a compile-time-known condition:

inline while n < 1024:
    n = n * 2

The condition must be a compile-time constant. The loop unrolls to a fixed number of iterations.

inline match unrolls a match with a compile-time-known scrutinee; only the chosen arm emits code. It is not required to be exhaustive.

inline if branches on a compile-time-known boolean condition:

const DEBUG_RENDER: bool = false

function draw() -> void:
    inline if DEBUG_RENDER:
        debug_overlay()

The condition must be a compile-time constant.
Only the chosen branch is type-checked and emitted. The dead branch may reference types and symbols that do not exist.
inline if supports else and else if branches; the chosen branch follows the same dead-elimination rule.

9. Expressions And Operators

Primary expressions:

identifiers
literals
parenthesized expressions
tuple literal: (a, b) — positional; (x = 1, y = 2) — named
size_of(T)
align_of(T)
offset_of(T, field)

size_of and offset_of accept compile-time expressions for the type and field arguments respectively, enabling generic per-field introspection through inline for:

inline for field in fields_of(Point):
    let s = size_of(field.type)
    let o = offset_of(Point, field)

proc(...) -> T: ...
proc(...) -> T: expr for a single expression body, implicitly returned
if cond: a else: b
match scrutinee: arm: value ... — produces a value from the matched arm

Postfix forms:

member access: a.b
indexing: a[i]
call: f(x)
partial field update: v.with(x = 10.0) — returns a copy with specified fields replaced
specialization: name[T], name[32], mod.name[T]
explicit specialization is only accepted on bare or module-qualified names; value.member[32](...) remains indexed-call syntax, so value-member calls rely on inference instead of explicit literal specialization

Operator precedence, low to high:

or
and
|
^
&
==, !=
<, <=, >, >=
<<, >>
+, -
*, /, %

Native type operators:

Vectors (vecN/ivecN): +, -, * (component-wise) with same-type vectors; *, / with scalar; unary -
Matrices (matN): +, - with same-type matrices; *, / with scalar; unary -
Quaternions (quat): +, -, * (component-wise) with same-type quaternions; unary -

10. Type System

Primitive types:

bool
byte, short, int, long
ubyte, ushort, uint, ulong
char
ptr_int, ptr_uint
float, double
void
str
cstr
vec2, vec3, vec4 — float vectors with .x .y .z .w fields
ivec2, ivec3, ivec4 — integer vectors with .x .y .z .w fields
mat3, mat4 — column-major matrices; mat3 has vec3 columns .col0–.col2, mat4 has vec4 columns .col0–.col3
quat — quaternion with .x .y .z .w fields (layout-compatible with vec4)

Native vector, matrix, and quaternion types support aggregate construction with named fields, same as struct literals. Omitted fields default to zero.

let direction = vec3(x = 1.0, y = 0.0, z = 0.0)
let identity = mat4(
    col0 = vec4(x = 1.0, y = 0.0, z = 0.0, w = 0.0),
    col1 = vec4(x = 0.0, y = 1.0, z = 0.0, w = 0.0),
    col2 = vec4(x = 0.0, y = 0.0, z = 1.0, w = 0.0),
    col3 = vec4(x = 0.0, y = 0.0, z = 0.0, w = 1.0),
)
let q = quat(x = 0.0, y = 0.0, z = 0.0, w = 1.0)

Primitive type names are reserved. They cannot be reused for value bindings, parameters, locals, import aliases, or type parameters.

Type constructors:

ptr[T]
const_ptr[T]
ref[T]
span[T]
array[T, N]
str_buffer[N]
Task[T]
Option[T]
Result[T, E]
fn(params...) -> R
proc(params...) -> R
SoA[T, N] — Structure-of-Arrays: each struct field becomes a separate array of length N; access soa[i].field reads from column field at row i
dyn[InterfaceName] — runtime interface value (fat pointer: { void* data, void* vtable }). Constructed via adapt[Interface](value: ref[T]). @see §6.
atomic[T] — atomic value for lock-free concurrent access. T must be a primitive integer or bool. Methods: load() -> T, store(value: T), add(value: T) -> T, sub(value: T) -> T, exchange(value: T) -> T. All operations use sequential consistency. Lowers to C11 _Atomic T with __atomic_* builtins.
(T, U) — tuple type. Positional fields auto-named _0, _1. Named fields use (x = T, y = U). Copy by value, returns supported.

When a span[T] is expected, an addressable array[T, N] value may be passed directly via implicit boundary coercion. For explicit conversion, array.as_span() returns span[T] without requiring a boundary context.

Nullability:

Nullable form is T? for pointer-like types.
Use null for absence.
In nullable pointer-like contexts, prefer null over zero[ptr[T]].
ref[T] is non-null and cannot be nullable.

Generics:

Generic structs, variants, functions, methods, and foreign functions are supported.
Generic interfaces are supported: interface Mapper[T]: function map(x: T) -> T.
Generic type parameter constraints use implements on structs, variants, interfaces, functions, and methods.
implements is the interface constraint kind.
Multiple interface constraints are joined with and.
There are no separate hashes or equates constraints. Generic bodies that call hash[T](...), equal[T](...), or order[T](...) rely on specialization-time checking of the canonical associated functions.
Current type parameters can be used as type expressions for associated function calls in generic bodies, for example T.default() or T.tag().
Generic value parameters use the form [N: int] to declare a compile-time integer usable in expressions. The call site specializes with a literal: int_with_bits[64].
type is a built-in type name representing the type of types. A function may return type to pick a type at compile time from its value parameters.

11. Built-In Callable Surface

Special recognized callables:

fatal(message)
ref_of(x)
const_ptr_of(x)
read(r)
read(p)
ptr_of(x)
T<-value
reinterpret[T](value)
zero[T]
default[T]
hash[T](value)
equal[T](left, right)
order[T](left, right)
array[T, N](...)
span[T](data = ..., len = ...)
get(coll, index) — recoverable array/span indexing returning ptr[T]?; null on out‑of‑bounds instead of aborting
adapt[I](value) — constructs a dyn[I] runtime interface value; verifies value's type implements interface I at compile time

Reference and pointer notes:

read(ref_value) explicitly projects the referent value. Use read(handle) = value to write through a bare ref[T] value.
Member access and method calls auto-dereference ref[T] receivers. For mutable field access through ref[Struct], use handle.field += x directly — no read() needed.
Passing a mutable addressable T to a parameter of type ref[T] implicitly borrows it.
hash[T](value), equal[T](left, right), and order[T](left, right) lower to T.hash(...), T.equal(...), and T.order(...) associated functions. Each argument must be a safe stored T lvalue that can be borrowed, or an existing ref[T], ptr[T], or const_ptr[T].
T.order(left: const_ptr[T], right: const_ptr[T]) -> int returns a negative value when left < right, 0 when equal, and a positive value when left > right.
There are no separate hashes or equates constraints; the builtins themselves force those hook requirements at specialization time.
There is no separate defaults constraint. A generic body that uses default[T] relies on specialization-time checking that T.default() exists.

Compile-time reflection builtins:

field_of(T, name) — returns a field_handle for the named field of T.
callable_of(T, name) — returns a callable_handle for the named callable of T.
attribute_of(T, name) — returns an attribute_handle for the named attribute on T.
has_attribute(T, name) — returns bool; true if T has the named attribute applied.
attribute_arg[T] — returns the T-typed argument of a resolved attribute handle.
fields_of(T) — returns array[field_handle, N] of all fields of struct T, in declaration order.
members_of(E) — returns array[member_handle, N] of all members of enum or variant E.
attributes_of(T) — returns array[attribute_handle, N] of all attributes on T.
attributes_of(T, name) — returns array[attribute_handle, N] of attributes whose kind matches name.

Handle types expose: field_handle has .name and .type; member_handle has .name and optionally .value; attribute_handle provides access to attribute arguments.

Standard library

Core modules in std/:

std.linear_algebra — extends native vector/matrix/quaternion types with dot, cross, length, normalized, lerp, identity, transpose, conjugate (pure Mt, no C dependency beyond std.math for sqrt)
std.graph.Graph[T] — adjacency-list graph with add_node, add_edge, has_edge, remove_edge, neighbors, bfs, dfs, toposort; directed or undirected; compile() converts to CSR-based DenseGraph[T] for O(degree) neighbor iteration
std.str — extends str with byte_at, equal, starts_with, ends_with, find_substring, is_valid_utf8, slice, to_cstr, hash, order
std.hash — extends primitive types (int, uint, bool, float, double, char) with canonical hash/equal/order hooks; import once to use primitives as Map/Set/BinaryHeap/OrderedMap keys. Also provides generic hash_struct[T], equal_struct[T], order_struct[T] using compile-time reflection.
std.cstring — C string helpers (cstr_len, cstr_as_str)
std.math — sqrt, sin, cos, abs, pow, etc. via C math
std.encoding — UTF-8 validation (is_valid_utf8, utf8_codepoint_count, decode_utf8_codepoint, utf8_overlong_check)
std.string.String — growable owned UTF-8 text
std.mem.heap, std.mem.arena, std.mem.pool, std.mem.stack — allocators
std.async — task runtime (sleep, work, completed, result, wait, run)
std.option.Option[T] — optional value with is_some, is_none, unwrap, expect, unwrap_or, unwrap_or_else (auto-imported via prelude)
std.result.Result[T, E] — fallible computation with is_success, is_failure, unwrap, unwrap_error, unwrap_or, unwrap_or_else, ok, error, map_error (auto-imported via prelude)

Collections: std.vec.Vec[T], std.deque.Deque[T], std.map.Map[K,V], std.set.Set[T], std.ordered_map.OrderedMap[K,V], std.ordered_set.OrderedSet[T], std.binary_heap.BinaryHeap[T], std.priority_queue.PriorityQueue[T], std.linked_map.LinkedMap[K,V], std.linked_set.LinkedSet[T], std.counter.Counter[T], std.multiset.MultiSet[T], std.queue.Queue[T], std.stack.Stack[T]

Serialization: std.json, std.toml, std.uri, std.serialize

System: std.time, std.fs, std.path, std.process, std.cli, std.stdio, std.terminal

Concurrency: std.sync, std.thread, std.jobs

AI/State: std.fsm (finite state machine), std.goap (goal-oriented action planning), std.behavior_tree

Networking: std.http, std.tls, std.net (see also std.net.manager, std.net.discovery)

Compression: std.gzip, std.tar

Other: std.bytes, std.ctype, std.asset_pack, std.cell

See module source for full method surface. Iterator forms:

Pointer-returning (next() -> nullable ptr[T]): Vec, Deque, BinaryHeap/PriorityQueue/OrderedSet (read-only), OrderedMap.keys/Map.keys/Set/LinkedMap.keys/LinkedSet/Counter.keys/MultiSet.values, Queue/Stack (mutable)
next() -> bool + current(): OrderedMap.entries/iter, Map.entries/iter, LinkedMap.entries/iter, Counter.counts/entries/iter, MultiSet.entries/iter, SnapshotValues/SnapshotEntries

12. Strings, Text, And Builders

Text categories:

str -> string view
cstr -> C ABI string
str_buffer[N] -> fixed-capacity mutable UTF-8 text buffer

str_buffer[N] methods:

clear()
assign(str)
append(str)
assign_format(str)
append_format(str)
len()
capacity()
as_str()
as_cstr()

Format strings:

f"count=#{count}" has type str.
Allowed interpolations: str, cstr, bool, numeric primitives, integer-backed enums and flags, plus types implementing format_len() -> ptr_uint and append_format(output: ref[std.string.String]) -> void.
f"..." is a borrowed temporary on the stack — it cannot be returned from a function as str. Use std.fmt.format(f"...") returning string.String when ownership must escape.
Float and double interpolations support :.N precision.
Integer primitive and integer-backed enum/flags interpolations support :x (lowercase hex) and :X (uppercase hex).
Integer primitive and integer-backed enum/flags interpolations support :o / :O (octal) and :b / :B (binary).
std.fmt.format(...) receives special lowering and returns string.String.
std.fmt.append_format(...) / std.fmt.assign_format(...) receive special lowering when passed a format string and write directly into an existing string.String sink.
string.String.append_format(...) / string.String.assign_format(...) receive the same direct-sink lowering when passed a format string.
str_buffer[N].append_format(...) / str_buffer[N].assign_format(...) receive the same direct-sink lowering for fixed-capacity buffers.
Custom interpolation hooks use the direct sink when formatting into string.String; plain f"..." expressions and str_buffer sinks pass a borrowed string.String view onto the destination slice, so those paths stay allocation-free as long as the hook writes exactly format_len() bytes.

Heredoc notes:

<<-TAG ... TAG -> str
c<<-TAG ... TAG -> cstr
f<<-TAG ... TAG -> str
Content is dedented by shared leading spaces of nonblank lines.
The trailing newline before the terminator is preserved.

13. Safety And Conversion Rules

Conditions must be bool.
No truthy or falsy coercion.
Outside external-call boundaries, enum and flags values do not implicitly coerce to their backing integer types.
Mixed signed and unsigned integer arithmetic requires an explicit cast.
% requires integer-compatible operands.
Bitwise operators require matching integer or flags types.
Shift operators require integer operands.
Safe array indexing requires an addressable array value.
Safe indexing (arr[i]) is bounds-checked and calls fatal on out-of-bounds access.
Use get(arr, i) for recoverable indexing that returns ptr[T]? (null on out-of-bounds) instead of aborting.
Pointer indexing requires unsafe.
read(ptr) requires unsafe.
Pointer casts require unsafe.
reinterpret[...] requires unsafe, non-array concrete sized types, and equal-size source and target types.

14. Async

Example:

async function child() -> int:
    return 41

async function parent() -> int:
    let v = await child()
    return v + 1

Rules:

async function lifts its declared return type to Task[T].
await is only allowed inside async functions.
async main is compiler-bootstrapped.
async main pre-lift return type must be int or void.
aio.wait(...) and aio.run(...) accept either zero-arg task roots or direct task expressions.

Supported await contexts include:

plain expression positions
call arguments (normalization hoists to let bindings)
binary operations (and, or, arithmetic, comparison)
if expressions
if / else if / else bodies and conditions
while bodies and conditions
single-form and parallel for bodies and iterables
match discriminants and arms
member access (a.b) and indexing (a[i])
let ... else: initializers and else bodies
unsafe blocks
short-circuit and / or
assignment targets
defer cleanup bodies inside async functions
format strings (f"#{await expr}")

15. Events

Event declarations provide a built-in typed publisher/subscriber surface with fixed-capacity listener storage.

Declaration forms:

event name[capacity]
event name[capacity](PayloadType)
public event name[capacity]
public event name[capacity](PayloadType)

Examples:

public event closed[4]
public event resized[8](ResizeEvent)

Rules:

The capacity expression must be a compile-time positive integer literal.
An event carries either no payload or exactly one payload value.
The payload type must be a storable type; ref[T] payloads are rejected.
Event declarations are valid at top level and as struct members.
emit is only callable from within the declaring module.

Built-in event operations:

event.subscribe(listener) -> Result[Subscription, EventError]
event.subscribe_once(listener) -> Result[Subscription, EventError]
event.subscribe(state: ptr[State], listener: fn(ptr[State], ...)) -> Result[Subscription, EventError] — stateful overload (detected by passing 2 positional arguments)
event.subscribe_once(state: ptr[State], listener: fn(ptr[State], ...)) -> Result[Subscription, EventError] — stateful one-shot (detected by passing 2 positional arguments)
event.unsubscribe(subscription) -> bool — returns true if the listener was active and removed
event.emit() or event.emit(payload) — only callable from the declaring module
event.wait() -> Task[Result[T, EventError]] — async wait for the next emission; for no-payload events the result type is Result[void, EventError]

EventError is a built-in enum with a single member full (value 0), returned when listener capacity is exhausted.

Subscription is a built-in opaque handle type returned by subscribe and subscribe_once, used to identify a listener for unsubscribe.

16. Language Limitations

Current compiler rejects:

Function and external restrictions

external function cannot be generic, async, or array-taking / array-returning
external function cannot take ref[...] or proc(...) parameters
external function parameters cannot use as, in, out, or inout
foreign function cannot be async and cannot take proc(...) parameters
a foreign function with consuming parameter(s) must return void
consuming foreign calls must appear as top-level expression statements
main cannot be generic
async main pre-lift return type must be int or void
a function's return type cannot be ref[T] or a non-owning struct (contains ref via auto-generated lifetime)
const function bodies follow the same restrictions as block-bodied const

Parameters and variables

module variables must have an explicit type; initializer must be static-storage-safe
ref[T] values are rejected in constants, module variables, and nested local storage such as arrays
proc(...) values that capture local state are rejected in constants and module variables; capture-free procs (body only references module-level functions, constants, and types) are allowed in module variables
ref[T] values are not capturable by proc
stored callable values (fn(...), proc(...)) may use ref[...] only in direct callable parameter positions, not in return types
bare interface names are not runtime storage types; use dyn[Interface]

Event restrictions

event declarations are not allowed in external files
event payload cannot be ref[T] in v1; the payload type must be storable
event payload cannot use event storage types or unsupported proc nesting
event storage types cannot be returned from functions or passed through non-pointer/non-ref parameters; locals cannot copy event storage
emit is only callable from within the declaring module
event methods (subscribe, subscribe_once, unsubscribe, emit, wait) do not support named arguments

Pointer and unsafe requirements

pointer indexing, raw pointer dereference, pointer arithmetic, and pointer casts require unsafe
reinterpret[T] requires unsafe and non-array concrete sized types
ptr_of, const_ptr_of, and ref_of require an addressable source expression
safe array indexing requires an addressable array value; get(arr, i) provides recoverable bounds-checked access
legacy call-site markers in, out, and inout are rejected; parameter modes are declared on foreign function
ptr_of / ref_of cannot target a ref value directly
pointer comparison is not treated as boolean truthiness

Type system restrictions

conditions must be bool; integers and pointers have no implicit truthy or falsy coercion
mixed signed and unsigned integer arithmetic requires an explicit cast
enum and flags values do not implicitly coerce to their backing integer types outside external-call boundaries
enum backing types must be integer primitives; flags members must be compile-time integer constants
variant arm payloads cannot use ref[T] in v1
struct field ref[T] auto-generates an implicit lifetime parameter; the struct becomes non-owning
null must be used instead of zero[ptr[T]] in typed nullable pointer-like contexts
bare interface names (Damageable) are not a valid field, local, parameter, or return type; use dyn[Interface]
dyn[Interface] for a generic interface must be fully specified: dyn[Mapper[int]], not dyn[Mapper]

Interface restrictions

interface method signatures cannot be async or generic
interface conformance must be declared on the nominal type, not on an extending block
a type implementing an interface must match method kinds, receiver editability, parameter types, return type, and asyncness exactly

Operator and expression restrictions

+ does not support str/cstr concatenation; use format strings or std.str helpers
== and != are not supported on struct types; use equal[T]. Variant types support ==/!= (generates per-variant comparison helper).
range expressions are restricted to for-loop iterables and range-index assignment targets
functions, methods, generic functions, and variant arms must be called — they are not usable as bare values
read(...) of a raw pointer requires unsafe

Control flow restrictions

break and continue must be inside loops
return is not allowed inside defer blocks
match on enum/variant must be exhaustive unless _ is present; match on integer requires _
let ... else: and var ... else: require T?, Option[T], or Result[T, E]; the else block must terminate control flow
? propagation is only allowed inside function and proc bodies, not in defer blocks
await is only allowed inside async functions

Format string restrictions

:.N precision is only valid on float and double interpolations
:x/:X, :o/:O, and :b/:B are only valid on integer primitives and integer-backed enums/flags

External file restrictions

external files cannot contain attribute, event, var, variant, interface, extending, foreign function, ordinary function, async function, or static_assert declarations
public is rejected in external files (declarations are implicitly exported)
import statements must appear before directives and declarations

Attribute restrictions

user-defined attribute declarations target struct, field, callable, const, event, enum, flags, union, or variant
@[...] attribute applications are only accepted on the above declaration kinds
attribute declarations are not allowed in external files
only built-in packed and align(...) struct attributes are allowed in external files

Concurrency restrictions

parallel for only supports range iteration (0..N); collection iteration is not supported
parallel for and bodies reject break, continue, return, defer, and nested parallel for
ref[T] captures are rejected at thread boundaries in both parallel for and parallel: blocks
parallel: blocks enforce single-writer-or-multiple-readers: a variable written in one statement cannot be accessed by another
atomic[T] requires T to be a primitive integer type or bool
atomic[T] methods (store, add, sub, exchange) require an editable (mutable) receiver
atomic[T].compare_exchange is accepted by the type checker but not yet implemented in the lowering; use std.sync.AtomicUint for compare-exchange operations

17. CLI Commands

The mtc CLI is the primary tool for checking, building, and running Milk Tea programs.

Essential commands:

mtc check  <path>             # Type-check + lint; reports all diagnostics sorted by line
mtc build  <path>             # Build only (emit C, compile, link, --no-cache to build without cache)
mtc run    <path>             # Build and execute (--no-cache to build and run without cache)
mtc debug  <file.mt>          # Print debug info (tokens, AST, facts, bindings, diagnostics)
mtc emit-c <path>             # Emit generated C to stdout
mtc format <path>             # Format sources in place (--check for dry-run)
mtc lint   <path>             # Run linter (--fix to apply fixes, --select/--ignore to filter)
mtc new    <name>             # Scaffold a new package (package.toml + src/main.mt)
mtc cache status              # Show build cache stats
mtc lex    <file.mt>          # Print lexer token stream
mtc parse  <path>             # Print parsed AST
mtc lower  <path>             # Print lowered IR

Package management:

mtc deps tree <path>          # Print the dependency graph
mtc deps lock <path>          # Write/refresh package.lock
mtc deps add <path> <name>    # Add a dependency
mtc deps remove <path> <name> # Remove a dependency
mtc deps update <path>        # Update dependencies
mtc deps publish <path>       # Publish a package to the local registry
mtc deps fetch <path>         # Materialize cache-backed sources

Run a pre-built module (no compilation):

mtc run-module <module>       # Run compiled module by name (e.g. std.fmt.bench)

Toolchain maintenance:

mtc toolchain bootstrap       # Bootstrap the native toolchain
mtc toolchain doctor          # Diagnose toolchain setup
mtc toolchain tools           # List available native tools

Build and run commands support --profile, --platform, --cc, --keep-c, --locked, --frozen, and -I include paths. Dependency-locked flows support --locked (use package.lock) and --frozen (require current package.lock).

Diagnostic output uses standard compiler format (file:line:column with source context, error codes, and caret highlighting):

[E0001] error: unknown type floa
  --> file.mt:1:16
   |
   1 | type Seconds = floa
     |                ^~~~
  note: did you mean 'float'?

error: could not check due to 1 previous error

mtc check surfaces both errors and linter warnings:

Severity	Label	Meaning
`error:`	red	semantic errors, linter errors
`warning:`	yellow	linter warnings (dead-assignment, etc.)
`hint:`	cyan	style suggestions (prefer-let, etc.)

Exit code is 0 on success, 1 when errors are present (warnings/hints alone do not fail).

18. Minimal Example

struct Counter:
    value: int

extending Counter:
    editable function bump() -> void:
        this.value += 1

    function read() -> int:
        return this.value

function main() -> int:
    var c = Counter(value = 0)

    for i in 0..3:
        c.bump()

    let text = f"count=#{c.read()}"
    return 0

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 922 Commits
bin		bin
bindings		bindings
docs		docs
examples		examples
lib		lib
projects		projects
std		std
test		test
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
.ruby-version		.ruby-version
Gemfile		Gemfile
Gemfile.lock		Gemfile.lock
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
Rakefile		Rakefile
milk_tea.gemspec		milk_tea.gemspec

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Milk Tea

1. File Kinds And Layout

2. Literals And Tokens

3. Top-Level Declarations

4. Variables And Guards

5. Data Declarations

7. Functions, Externals, And Foreign Functions

8. Statements And Control Flow

9. Expressions And Operators

10. Type System

11. Built-In Callable Surface

Standard library

12. Strings, Text, And Builders

13. Safety And Conversion Rules

14. Async

15. Events

16. Language Limitations

Function and external restrictions

Parameters and variables

Event restrictions

Pointer and unsafe requirements

Type system restrictions

Interface restrictions

Operator and expression restrictions

Control flow restrictions

Format string restrictions

External file restrictions

Attribute restrictions

Concurrency restrictions

17. CLI Commands

18. Minimal Example

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