O Language/Getting Started

Getting Started

This section is for a new O Language user. It explains the language's purpose, the first program, and the small set of ideas needed before reading the advanced or reference pages.

What is O Language?

O Language is a system-oriented functional language. Values and functions are central, while system operations such as processes, files, networking, and databases are available from the same runtime.

The official source repository is gitlab.com/olanguage/olang. This documentation assumes that the olang executable is already available on PATH.

Your first program

Create hello.ola:

output("Hello, World!")

Run it:

olang hello.ola

Run olang without a file to open the interactive REPL.

Learn the core ideas

• Language Basics introduces values, definitions, functions, conditions, loops, and collections.
• Project Files explains .ola, .olm, .olp, and .ops files.
• Web Programming shows how the same language concepts are used in an HTTP application.

When these ideas are familiar, continue to Advanced Topics or use the API Reference.