Beef is a high-performance multi-paradigm open source programming language with a focus on developer productivity.

Tier 1 Platforms (IDE + Binaries)

Windows 64 bit & 32 bit

Tier 2 Platforms (Build from source)

Linux, macOS, Wasm

Tier 3 Platforms (Experimental)

Android, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X

Beef for Windows View Documentation

Build from source
View example source code
Play Space Game wasm example

Language Features

  • C/C++ interop with static and dynamic libs
  • Custom allocators
  • Batched allocations
  • Compile-time function evaluation
  • Compile-time code generation
  • Tagged unions
  • Generics
  • Tuples
  • Reflection
  • Properties
  • Lambdas
  • Valueless method references
  • Defer statements
  • SIMD support
  • Type aliases
  • Type extensions
  • Pattern matching
  • Ranges
  • String interpolation
  • Argument cascades
  • Mixin methods
  • Interfaces
  • Custom attributes
  • Immutable values
  • Operator overloading
  • Namespaces
  • Bitsets
  • Atomics
  • Checked arithmetic
  • Value boxing
  • Dynamic FFI
  • Local methods
  • Preprocessor
  • Guaranteed inlining
  • Incremental compilation
  • Built-in testing
using System;

class Program
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Hello, World!");
    }
}
// Try! propagates file and parsing errors down the call stack
static Result<void> Parse(StringView filePath, List<float> outValues)
{
    var fs = scope FileStream();
    Try!(fs.Open(filePath));
    for (var lineResult in scope StreamReader(fs).Lines)
    {
        for (let elem in Try!(lineResult).Split(','))
            outValues.Add(Try!(float.Parse(elem)));
    }
    return .Ok;
}
// Method returning a tuple
(float x, float y) GetCoords => (X, Y);

var tup = GetCoords;
if (tup != (0, 0))
    Draw(tup.x, tup.y);

// Decompose tuple
var (x, y) = GetCoords;
Draw(x, y);
for (let i in 10...20)
    Console.WriteLine($"Value: {i}");

let range = 1..<10;
Debug.Assert(range.Contains(3));

Span<int> GetLast10(List<int> list) => list[...^10];
// Allocate a string with a 4096-byte internal UTF8 buffer, all on the stack
var str = scope String(4096);

// String interpolation, formatting in 'x' and 'y' values
var str2 = scope $"x:{x} y:{y}";

// Create a view into str2 without the first and last character
StringView sv = str2[1...^1];

// Get a pointer to a null-terminated C string
char8* strPtr = str2;
enum Shape
{
    case None;
    case Square(int x, int y, int width, int height);
    case Circle(int x, int y, int radius);
}

Shape drawShape = .Circle(10, 20, 5);

switch (drawShape)
{
case .Circle(0, 0, ?):
    HandleCircleAtOrigin();
case .Circle(let x, let y, let radius):
    HandleCircle(x, y, radius);
default:
}

if (drawShape case .Square)
    HandleSquare();
void Draw(List<Variant> values)
{
    int idx = 0;
    float NextFloat()
    {
        return values[idx++].Get<float>();
    }
    DrawCircle(NextFloat(), NextFloat(), NextFloat());
}
// This class uses 'append' allocations, which allows a single "batch" 
//  allocation which can accomodate the size of the 'Record' object, the 
//  'mName' String (including character data), and the 'mList' list, 
//  including storage for up to 'count' number of ints
class Record
{
    public String mName;
    public List<int> mList;

    [AllowAppend]
    public this(StringView name, int count)
    {
        var nameStr = append String(name);
        var list = append List<int>(count);

        mName = nameStr;
        mList = list;
    }
}

// The following line results in a single allocation of 80080 bytes
var record = new Record("Record name", 10000);
[CRepr]
struct FileInfo
{
    c_short version;
    c_long size;
    c_char[256] path;
}

/* Link to external C++ library method */
[CallingConvention(.Cdecl), LinkName(.CPP)]
extern c_long GetFileHash(FileInfo fileInfo);

/* Import optional dynamic method - may be null */
[Import("Optional.dll"), LinkName("Optional_GetVersion")]
static function int32 (char8* args) GetOptionalVersion;
void Serialize(SerializeContext ctx, Object obj)
{
    for (let field in obj.GetType().GetFields())
    {
        Variant v = field.GetValue(obj);
        ctx.Serialize(field.Name, v);
        if (let attr = field.GetCustomAttribute<OnSerializeAttribute>())
        {
            var m = attr.mSerializeType.GetMethod("SerializeField").Value;
            m.Invoke(null, obj, field);
        }
    }
}
static mixin Inc(var val)
{
    if (val == null)
        return false;
    (*val)++;
}

static bool Inc3(int* a, int* b, int* c)
{
    // "return false" from mixin is injected into the Inc3 callsite
    Inc!(a);
    Inc!(b);
    Inc!(c);
    return true;
}
// Declare List<T>.DisposeAll() for all disposable types
namespace System.Collections
{
    extension List<T> where T : IDisposable
    {
        public void DiposeAll()
        {
            for (var val in this)
                val.Dispose();
        }
    }
}
static int32 Factorial(int32 n) => n <= 1 ? 1 : (n * Factorial(n - 1));
const int fac = Factorial(8); // Evaluates to 40320 at compile-time

public static Span<int32> GetSorted(String numList)
{
    List<int32> list = scope .();
    for (var sv in numList.Split(','))
        list.Add(int32.Parse(sv..Trim()));      
    return list..Sort();
}
const int32[?] iArr = GetSorted("8, 1, 3, 7"); // Results in int32[4](1, 3, 7, 8)
// Create serialization method at compile-time on types with [Serialize]
// No runtime reflection required
[AttributeUsage(.Types)]
struct SerializableAttribute : Attribute, IComptimeTypeApply
{
    [Comptime]
    public void ApplyToType(Type type)
    {
        let code = scope String();
        code.Append("void ISerializable.Serialize(SerializationContext ctx)\n{");
        for (let field in type.GetFields())
            code.AppendF($"\n\tctx.Serialize(\"{field.Name}\", {field.Name});");
        code.Append($"\n}");
        Compiler.EmitAddInterface(type, typeof(ISerializable));
        Compiler.EmitTypeBody(type, code);
    }
}

Custom IDE

The Beef Development Tools include an IDE with a general-purpose debugger capable of debugging native applications written in any language.


Productivity Features

The IDE supports productivity features such as autocomplete, fixits, reformatting, refactoring tools, type inspection, hot compilation, and a built-in profiler.


Mixed Builds

Beef allows for safely mixing different optimization levels on a per-type or per-method level, allowing for performance-critical code to be executed at maximum speed without affecting debuggability of the rest of the application.


Real-time Leak Detection

Beef can detect memory leaks in real-time. As with most safety features in Beef, this can be turned off in Release builds for performance-critical applications.


Releases

Version 0.43.4

September 7, 2022
Release Notes
Windows Installer - 175.7MB
GitHub Tag

Nightly

Nightly releases are available if you need access to the latest features.
Latest Nightly Release for Windows
Older Nightly Releases

Community

Reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/beeflang/

Discord
https://discord.gg/rnsc9YP

Community-managed list of Beef frameworks, libraries, and resources
https://github.com/Jonathan-Racaud/awesome-beef