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The jank Programming Language [book]

The jank programming language book provides documentation and reference material for jank, a new programming language designed to be a pragmatic, functional-first language that compiles to native code and leverages Clojure-inspired syntax with C++ performance.

Background

- **jank** is a new, experimental programming language that aims to combine the performance of C++ with the expressive power and interactive development workflow of Clojure (a modern Lisp dialect that runs on the JVM, JavaScript, and other platforms). It is being built from scratch by a small open-source team led by Jeaye Wilkerson. - Unlike most Lisps, jank is compiled ahead-of-time (AOT) to native machine code via LLVM (the same compiler infrastructure behind languages like Rust and Swift), rather than running on a virtual machine or interpreter. This is intended to give it startup times and runtime speed comparable to C or C++. - The project is currently in early development (pre-1.0) and does not yet have a stable release. Its "book" serves as both documentation and a reference for its unique design choices. - jank matters because it represents a bet that a Lisp syntax (known for metaprogramming and live coding) can be practical for systems-level work — an area long dominated by statically typed, low-ceremony languages like C, C++, and Rust. If successful, it could offer a middle ground between developer ergonomics and machine efficiency.

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