How to run ABS code

In order to run programs written in abs, you can simply download the latest release of ABS from Github, and dump the ABS executable in your PATH. Windows, OSX and a few Linux flavors are supported.

We also provide a 1-command installer that should work across platforms:

bash <(curl https://www.abs-lang.org/installer.sh)

and will download the abs executable in your current directory -- again, we recommend to move it to your $PATH.

Afterwards, you can run ABS scripts with:

$ abs path/to/scripts.abs

You can also run an executable abs script directly from bash using a bash shebang line at the top of the script file.

In this example the abs executable is linked to /usr/local/bin/abs and the abs script ~/bin/remote.abs has its execute permissions set.

$ cat ~/bin/hello.abs
#! /usr/local/bin/abs
echo("Hello world!")
...

# the executable abs script above is in the PATH at ~/bin/hello.abs
$ hello.abs
Hello world!

Scripts do not have to have a specific extension, although it's recommended to use .abs as a convention: we may reserve some keywords in the future (such as abs version or abs install) so we recommend to attach an extension to the scripts you're trying to run.

A bit lost right now? We'd suggest to clone ABS' main repository (opens new window) as you can already start testing some code with the scripts in the examples (opens new window) directory.

REPL

If you want to get a more live feeling of ABS, you can also simply run the interpreter; without any argument. It will launch ABS' REPL, and you will be able to test code on the fly:

$ abs
Hello there, welcome to the ABS programming language!
Type 'quit' when you're done, 'help' if you get lost!
⧐  ip = `curl icanhazip.com`
⧐  ip.ok
true
⧐  ip()
ERROR: not a function: STRING
⧐  ip
94.204.178.37

Next

That's about it for this section!

You can now head over to try ABS directly in your browser, on the playground!