Current Version: Alpha 3
1/1/04 - Alpha Version 3 is now available! This release now uses a dedicated file extension, (*.chq). This should make it easier to differentiate between source code and documentation. The major change though was the inclusion of several new string processing functions: Len, Left, Right, Mid. These will allow developers to analyse data and develop more complex programs. I updated the documentation, also including the FlashWindow function which has been present since version 2, but was undocumented. I also split the tutorial and language A-Z into two separate files. I updated the example files so that they take advantage of the whitespacing support from version 2 (no more cramped program code). Finally I have updated the website, specifically the example program and about sections.
31/12/03 - I've added an example program to the section below. This should help you understand better how easy Chaqo is.
29/12/03 - The Chaqo project is open, and this is the temporary website. I'll be updating this page soon, so check back for more info.
Chaqo is a simple programming language. A core executable file written by the development team serves as an interpreter for script files. Using an easy to read, comma-separated style and basic instructions, it's very easy and quick to write programs. As Chaqo has a definite rule structure, the ambiguity present in many other languages is removed. See the example program below for a demonstration of these rules.
The fundamental aim of the project is to create a powerful, useful programming language. It supports the open source movement because all the programs are open source in themselves - just simple text files. All release editions of the software come with the Visual Basic source code included, so anyone can contribute to the project or use the code as the basis for another program.
A secondary aim of the project is to remove the cumbersome aspects of other programming languages. The interpreter is very small in size, yet retains many of the functions other interpreters have. The download is just 20kb! Nowhere else is there another programming language that is so undemanding. The interpreter is very quick. It resides in under 5mb of memory, and is almost instantaneous even on older computers.
#,This program accepts data and formats it for the screen display
Program, "About Me"
Question, "What is your name?", name
Question, "What is your age?", age
Question, "What is your house number?", house
Question, "What is your street?", street
Question, "What is your town?", town
Question, "What is your county?", county
Question, "What is your postcode?", postcode
Write, "Your name is "
WriteVar, name
Write, "."
WriteLine, "You are "
WriteVar, age
Write, " years old."
WriteLine, "Your address is:"
WriteVarLine, house
Write," "
WriteVar, street
WriteVarLine, town
WriteVarLine, county
WriteVarLine, postcode
End
The documentation included in the zip file you download explains fully what these commands do.