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Amber: Programming language compiled to Bash

amber-lang.com

11–20 of 330 posts

Re: Amber: Programming language compiled to Bash

#11
I don't love the $...$ syntax for executing commands. Using $ as a string delimiter is very strange to my bash-accustomed eyes.

It's a shame that they provided such weird syntax for the most important thing you tend to do in a bash script, while providing fairly nice syntax for everything else.

Re: Amber: Programming language compiled to Bash

#12
This looks very promising! I've been wanting something like this for years, a nicer shell scripting language which compiles to Bash so I can run it almost everywhere. I don't think Amber is not quite there yet, missing some pretty essential shell features, but is off to great start. I'll be keeping an eye on this.

Maybe this is still early in development, but I don't see anything for pipes or redirection. Is this a planned feature? That's an essential feature of any shell and I can't see myself getting much done in Amber without it, especially pipes.

I suggest adding more examples to the home page, especially side by side comparisons with Bash. The home page is somewhat lacking in content right now.

Re: Amber: Programming language compiled to Bash

#13

I don't love the $...$ syntax for executing commands. Using $ as a string delimiter is very strange to my bash-accustomed eyes. It's a shame that they provided such weird syntax for the most important thing you tend to do in a bash script, while providing fairly nice syntax for everything else.

and i dont like how it's inconsistent that echo is not using the $ syntax (which makes sense internally, as it's a built-in, rather than executing the $echo command).

Overall, it is cute and neat, but i find that if you are looking to write bash scripts that require this level of programming, you'd be better off writing it in python, or perl. Only in very austere environments can this be utilized, but the requirement of having `bc` installed means you must also have the ability to run package installation, so might as well run the package installation for a full on programming language!

Re: Amber: Programming language compiled to Bash

#15
Quick note to the creators: the website looks almost exactly like every other "here try this cool command-line utility so we can hook you and start charging a service fee for it" startup website and I instantly distrusted it. The design communicates that you're selling a product, not providing an open-source utility.

That said, very interesting syntax. I agree with others about the $...$ being kind of odd, but other than that this is really cool.

Re: Amber: Programming language compiled to Bash

#16
post #13

I don't love the $...$ syntax for executing commands. Using $ as a string delimiter is very strange to my bash-accustomed eyes. It's a shame that they provided such weird syntax for the most important thing you tend to do in a bash script, while providing fairly nice syntax for everything else.

and i dont like how it's inconsistent that echo is not using the $ syntax (which makes sense internally, as it's a built-in, rather than executing the $echo command). Overall, it is cute and neat, but i find that if you are looking to write bash scripts that require this level of programming, you'd be better off writing it in python, or perl. Only in very austere environments can this be utilized, but the requirement…

I think that this does fill a niche. You can still compile to bash outside of this austere environment, and run the scripts within it. And python isn't very ergonomic for running external shell commands (or, say accessing environment variables), the syntax for doing so in amber looks much neater.

Re: Amber: Programming language compiled to Bash

#18

Quick note to the creators: the website looks almost exactly like every other "here try this cool command-line utility so we can hook you and start charging a service fee for it" startup website and I instantly distrusted it. The design communicates that you're selling a product , not providing an open-source utility. That said, very interesting syntax. I agree with others about the $...$ being kind of odd, but other…

I agree. I think that these fancy visuals are not the right way to appeal to the target user base. I just want to read some text.

Re: Amber: Programming language compiled to Bash

#19

I was confused by Amber Smalltalk's pivot. Turns out it is just a newer language deciding to use the same name as an existing one. The domain is almost exactly the same as well. https://amber-lang.net/

Same for me. There's still plenty of unused gemstones as programming languages so perhaps the authors may still decide to change their name.

Re: Amber: Programming language compiled to Bash

#20

Odd that (on desktop) the actual install URL is obscured by a gradient.

You mean this text below "Download for $OS"?

curl -s "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Ph0enixKM/AmberNative/mast..." | $(echo /bin/bash)

I guess it would be too long to fit (aesthetically) on the page. The "copy" icon off to the left copies that line to your clipboard.

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