Monogram

🚨 Beta Status: This specification is currently in beta. Features are being refined and are not fully tested. Use at your own risk. 🚨

Monogram is a "no batteries" notation for writing domain-specific programs and configuration files. It is easy for humans to read and write. It is easy for machines to parse and generate. It deliberately borrows from many programming languages but feels familiar to Python and Ruby programmers.

If you just want to try it out, follow this link to get started. This covers installing both the reference implementation of the monogram tool and the API library. There is also a complete example program calc that illustrates how you can use the library to read in and process complex expressions. A full list of implementations is available too.

"It's source code, Jim. But not as we know it!"

Here's an initial example to help explain what we mean by 'batteries not included'. To experienced programmers, the following code looks a lot like the definition of the factorial function:

def f(n):
    if n <= 1:
        1
    else:
        n * f(n - 1)
    endif
enddef

However, the twist is that Monogram has no idea what def or if might mean! Nor does it have a clue about * or - either. And it definitely cannot execute this program.

And yet Monogram can easily translate this example into neatly structured XML (shown below). Or it can translate to JSON or YAML.

<form syntax="surround">
  <part keyword="def">
    <apply kind="parentheses" separator="undefined">
      <identifier name="f" />
      <arguments>
        <identifier name="n" />
      </arguments>
    </apply>
  </part>
  <part keyword="_">
    <form syntax="surround">
      <part keyword="if">
        <operator syntax="infix" name="&lt;=">
          <identifier name="n" />
          <number value="1" />
        </operator>
      </part>
      <part keyword="_">
        <number value="1" />
      </part>
      <part keyword="else">
        <operator syntax="infix" name="*">
          <identifier name="n" />
          <apply kind="parentheses" separator="undefined">
            <identifier name="f" />
            <arguments>
              <operator syntax="infix" name="-">
                <identifier name="n" />
                <number value="1" />
              </operator>
            </arguments>
          </apply>
        </operator>
      </part>
    </form>
  </part>
</form>

Alternatively it can render the code as a diagram using Mermaid (below) or Graphviz. Here's the same structure visualised as a graph.

graph TD
  133213536224576["form: surround"]:::custom_form;
  133213536224656["part: def"]:::custom_part;
  133213536224576 --> 133213536224656;
  133213536224736["apply"]:::custom_apply;
  133213536224656 --> 133213536224736;
  133213536224816["identifier: f"]:::custom_identifier;
  133213536224736 --> 133213536224816;
  133213536224896["arguments"]:::custom_arguments;
  133213536224736 --> 133213536224896;
  133213536224976["identifier: n"]:::custom_identifier;
  133213536224896 --> 133213536224976;
  133213536225056["part: _"]:::custom_part;
  133213536224576 --> 133213536225056;
  133213536225136["form: surround"]:::custom_form;
  133213536225056 --> 133213536225136;
  133213536225216["part: if"]:::custom_part;
  133213536225136 --> 133213536225216;
  133213536225296["operator: <="]:::custom_operator;
  133213536225216 --> 133213536225296;
  133213536225376["identifier: n"]:::custom_identifier;
  133213536225296 --> 133213536225376;
  133213536225456["number: 1"]:::custom_number;
  133213536225296 --> 133213536225456;
  133213536225536["part: _"]:::custom_part;
  133213536225136 --> 133213536225536;
  133213536225616["number: 1"]:::custom_number;
  133213536225536 --> 133213536225616;
  133213536225696["part: else"]:::custom_part;
  133213536225136 --> 133213536225696;
  133213536225776["operator: *"]:::custom_operator;
  133213536225696 --> 133213536225776;
  133213536225856["identifier: n"]:::custom_identifier;
  133213536225776 --> 133213536225856;
  133213536225936["apply"]:::custom_apply;
  133213536225776 --> 133213536225936;
  133213536226016["identifier: f"]:::custom_identifier;
  133213536225936 --> 133213536226016;
  133213536226096["arguments"]:::custom_arguments;
  133213536225936 --> 133213536226096;
  133213536226176["operator: -"]:::custom_operator;
  133213536226096 --> 133213536226176;
  133213536226256["identifier: n"]:::custom_identifier;
  133213536226176 --> 133213536226256;
  133213536226336["number: 1"]:::custom_number;
  133213536226176 --> 133213536226336;

classDef custom_form fill:lightpink,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
classDef custom_part fill:#FFD8E1,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
classDef custom_apply fill:lightgreen,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
classDef custom_identifier fill:Honeydew,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
classDef custom_arguments fill:PaleTurquoise,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
classDef custom_operator fill:#C0FFC0,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
classDef custom_number fill:lightgoldenrodyellow,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;

In other words, Monogram is just a notation for writing program-like "code" but comes without any built-in meanings. Although it is not infinitely flexible, it can often save you the effort of designing the syntax and implementing a parser when you want an application/domain-specific language.

For more examples and more output formats (like JSON, YAML, PNG) see the examples page.

Monogram grammar

Overview of tokens

The basic building blocks of a Monogram document are tokens - that is to say numbers (123, -0.12), strings ("hello, world"), symbols ({, }), signs (:, ++) and various kinds of identifiers (true, x, while). These will be largely familiar to anyone used to working with JSON or any mainstream programming language.

Full details of tokenisation are given on this page but because these are generally so familiar to most programmers we highlight just a few aspects that will be less familiar here:

• Numbers include integers, decimal fractions and decimal fractions with exponents, as JSON does.

  • It also includes hex (0x), binary (0b) and octal (0o) notation.
  • In addition it includes literals in any base from 2-36.
  • For example an octal number can be written as 0o777 or 8r777.
  • And a base 36 number could be written as 36r16 = 42.
  • It is also possible to write fractional values in other bases e.g. 0b0.11 = 0.75.

• Strings support all three quote characters: single , double and back quotes.

  • All three are completely symmetrical in their design.
  • And support escape sequences, string interpolation, and raw and multiline versions.
  • \_ is an escape sequence that expands into no characters. This helps with escaped identifiers and also inserting visual breaks into long strings e.g. phone numbers "0765\_432\_1098"

• Symbols include parentheses, brackets and braces as well as punctuation such as , and ; (but not .)

  • The three different brackets are treated symmetrically
  • So these are all valid expressions, for instance: m.f(x), m.f[x], m.f{x}.

• Operators are runs of sign-characters. In addition to familiar single-character operators such as +, *, ^, Monogram allows for arbitrary combinations such as :=, --> or even ++^=!$$.

  • These primarily play the role of infix operators.
  • Operator precedence is decided on the first character of the sign and follows the precedence rules of the C-programming language. As a consequence, we can use sequences such as s = x + y * z and get expected results.
  • N.B. If the first character is repeated then the precedence is slightly adjusted so it binds slightly more tightly. Which is why p = a == b binds the expected way.

• Identifiers

  • Support arbitrary identifiers via escape sequences e.g. hello\,\sworld
  • The empty-escape sequence is the neat way to handle reserved words e.g. \_if
  • Identifiers starting end are key to the way the grammar works as they mark reserved words.

Overview of the grammar

In the next section we give the formal grammar in railroad diagram format. But first we explain the main elements of it.

Operators

Firstly, Monogram's infix operators provide the basic operator precedence syntax. This allows you to build up the familar alternating pattern of expressions and operators. e.g. alpha + beta * gamma. Any sequence of 'sign' characters can be used as an infix operator. This will turn into (say) XML that looks like:

<operator name="+" syntax="infix">
    <identifier name="alpha"/>
    <operator name="*" syntax="infix">
        <identifier name="beta"/>
        <identifier name="gamma"/>
    </operator>
</operator>

Brackets

Secondly, all three brackets (), [] and {} can be used to enclose a sequence of comma-or-semicolon separated expression. You can use either commas or semicolons but not both. e.g. [alpha, beta, gamma] and (alpha; beta; gamma). These turn into the following XML respectively.

<delimited kind="brackets" separator="comma">
    <identifier name="alpha"/>
    <identifier name="beta"/>
    <identifier name="gamma"/>
</delimited>

<!-- and -->

<delimited kind="parentheses" separator="semicomma">
    <identifier name="alpha"/>
    <identifier name="beta"/>
    <identifier name="gamma"/>
</delimited>

Function/Method calls

Two of the three brackets, {} and [], also support function and method call syntax. These look like table[key] and table.lookup(key). These respectively turn into these:

<apply kind="brackets" separator="undefined">
    <identifier name="table"/>
    <arguments>
        <identifier name="key"/>
    </arguments>
</apply>

<!-- and -->

<invoke kind="parentheses" name="lookup" separator="undefined">
    <identifier name="table"/>
    <arguments>
        <identifier name="key"/>
    </arguments>
</invoke>

Note that this is not supported for {} brackets. This is so that it is possible to use prefix forms to imitate C-style syntax: see more below.

Property/Field accesses

And since we have touched on method-like syntax, this is a good place to mention property-like syntax e.g. table.length. That turns into:

<get name="length">
    <identifier name="table"/>
</get>

Forms

Next we have forms, which are characterised by an enclosing pair of distinctive identifiers, where the closing identifer is the same as the opener but prefixed by "end". e.g. if ... endif or whoop ... endwhoop. Almost any identifier will do for the opening keyboard (although it may not start or end with an underscore).

The idea behind forms is that they allow us to mimick the multi-line syntax of (say) if, while and foreach constructs from languages such as Javascript or C#. As a consequence the expressions enclosed within a form are separated by semi-colons and not commas.

Forms typically have multiple interior sections, called "parts" which are separated by "labelled part separators" or simply "labels" for short. The basic type of label is an identifier followed by a colon (:). The syntax is chosen to echo the look-and-feel of Python whilst avoiding the need for any reserved words. e.g.

while test() do:
    x += 1 
endwhile

The above example has two parts. The first part lies between while and do: and the second part is sandwiched between do: and endwhile. This example would turn into:

<form syntax="surround">
    <part keyword="while">
        <apply kind="parentheses" separator="undefined">
            <identifier name="test"/>
            <arguments/>
        </apply>
    </part>
    <part keyword="do">
        <operator name="+=" syntax="infix">
            <identifier name="x"/>
            <number value="1"/>
        </operator>
    </part>
</form>

Note how the first part of the form takes the opening identifier as its "keyword". The second part of the form takes the name-part of the label.

Today's programming languages have tended to veer away from using intermediate keywords such as then or do. To help make Monogram feel more familiar, we have followed Python in allowing the label-name to be omitted immediately after the opening keyword. So we could have written this example like this, very similar to Python's syntax if you can overlook the endwhile 😄.

while test(): 
    x += 1 
endwhile

Furthermore many programming languages 'cascade' of conditions via an intermediate keyword such as elif. Here it is in Python:

# In Python syntax
if test():
    statements
elif other_test():      # Cascaded if
    other_statements
else:
    catch_all_statements

Monogram allows us to get quite close to this pattern of named and anonymous sections by utilizing compound labels. Compound labels are a hypenated pair of identifiers e.g. else-if or and-while, where the second identifier reuses the enclosing form-start. And immediately after a compound label we are allowed another colon-only, anonymous label.

Here's the equivalent of the above Python snippet in Monogram.

if test():              # Anonymous label
    statements
else-if other_test():   # A second anonymous label
    other_statements
else:
    catch_all_statements
endif

Labels give their names to the parts they introduce. But anonymous labels do not have a name. To handle this, any parts introduced by an anonymous label are treated as if they were named _ by default.

Hence the above example would turn into this XML:

<form syntax="surround">
    <part keyword="if">
        <apply kind="parentheses" separator="undefined">
            <identifier name="test"/>
            <arguments/>
        </apply>
    </part>
    <part keyword="_">
        <identifier name="statements"/>
    </part>
    <part keyword="else-if">
        <apply kind="parentheses" separator="undefined">
            <identifier name="other_test"/>
            <arguments/>
        </apply>
    </part>
    <part keyword="_">
        <identifier name="other_statements"/>
    </part>
    <part keyword="else">
        <identifier name="catch_all_statements"/>
    </part>
</form>

Prefix forms

Last but not least we have prefix forms. Most programming languages utilize simple prefix forms such as return or pass. Monogram imitates these like this:

if t:
    return! 99
else:
    pass!
endif

By placing an ! after an ordinary identifier, the need for a matching endXXX keyword is avoided. So the above example turns into the following XML, where the prefix forms are treated as forms with a single part:

<form syntax="surround">
    <part keyword="if">
        <identifier name="t"/>
    </part>
    <part keyword="_">
        <form syntax="prefix">
            <part keyword="return">
                <number value="99"/>
            </part>
        </form>
    </part>
    <part keyword="else">
        <form syntax="prefix">
            <part keyword="pass"/>
        </form>
    </part>
</form>

With care, prefix forms can approximate some of the core syntax of C-derived languages. They take a series of expressions up to a line-break (or semi-colon) at the end of an expression. Monogram is a lot less structured than a typical programming language, so the line-break rule is there to prevent runaway consumption of the rest of the file.

Of course you can use line-breaks inside expressions, similarly to Python. Here's an example showing how to imitate a C-style while loop, with a suitably positioned line-break.

while! (x > 0) {
    x -= 1
}

Which becomes:

<unit>
  <form syntax="prefix">
    <part keyword="while">
      <delimited kind="parentheses" separator="undefined">
        <identifier name="x" />
      </delimited>
    </part>
    <part keyword="_">
      <delimited kind="braces" separator="undefined">
        <operator name="-=" syntax="infix">
          <identifier name="x" />
          <number value="1" />
        </operator>
      </delimited>
    </part>
  </form>
</unit>

But laying it out in Allman-style as below will not have the desired effect. The newline at the end of (x > 0) will stop it reading any further and you end up with two expressions!

while! (x > 0)
{
    x -= 1
}

Prefix-forms can also work with intermediate keywords, as in this example:

if (condition1) {
    statements1
} else-if (condition2) {
    statements2
} else: {
    fallback
}

Which becomes:

<unit>
  <form syntax="prefix">
    <part keyword="if">
      <delimited kind="parentheses" separator="undefined">
        <identifier name="condition1" />
      </delimited>
    </part>
    <part keyword="_">
      <delimited kind="braces" separator="undefined">
        <identifier name="statements1" />
      </delimited>
    </part>
    <part keyword="else-if">
      <delimited kind="parentheses" separator="undefined">
        <identifier name="condition2" />
      </delimited>
    </part>
    <part keyword="_">
      <delimited kind="braces" separator="undefined">
        <identifier name="statements2" />
      </delimited>
    </part>
    <part keyword="else">
      <delimited kind="braces" separator="undefined">
        <identifier name="fallback" />
      </delimited>
    </part>
  </form>
</unit>

Railroad diagrams

Here's the grammar for Monogram as a railroad diagram; also available in HTML, PDF and PNG.

Contributing

Contributions, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome. If you’d like to help improve Monogram, feel free to fork this repository and submit a pull request.