Installation & Setup

Toolchain Requirements

Supported Platforms

Platform	Architecture	Status
Linux	x86_64, aarch64	✅ Full Support
macOS	x86_64, Apple Silicon	✅ Full Support
Windows	x86_64	✅ Full Support
FreeBSD	x86_64	✅ Full Support

Dependencies

• LLVM 21.1.8 - backend code generation used by the main toolchain
• Clang / platform C toolchain - runtime and native linking support
• Rust toolchain - required to build the compiler and tools from source today

Building from Source

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/meftunca/vex_lang.git
cd vex_lang

2. Build the Compiler

# Debug build
cargo build

# Release build
cargo build --release

3. Verify Installation

# Compiler binary
~/.cargo/target/debug/vex --version

# Run a sample program
~/.cargo/target/debug/vex run examples/hello.vx

# Run the repo test suite
./test_all.sh

The debug binary path above is the canonical development path used throughout the repository.

Editor/IDE Setup

VS Code (Recommended)

1. Install the Vex Language extension from the marketplace
2. The extension provides:
   • Syntax highlighting
   • LSP integration (diagnostics, completion, go-to-definition)
   • Code formatting
   • Snippets

Manual LSP Setup

For other editors that support LSP:

# Build the LSP server
cargo build --release -p vex-lsp

# Binary path
~/.cargo/target/release/vex-lsp

Configure your editor to use vex-lsp as the language server for .vx files.

Typical Workspace Layout

A typical Vex project looks like:

my_project/
├── vex.json          # Project manifest
├── src/
│   ├── main.vx       # Entry point
│   └── lib/          # Library modules
├── tests/            # Test files
└── examples/         # Example code

First Program

Create a file hello.vx:

fn main(): i32 {
    $println("Hello, Vex!")
    return 0;
}

Run it:

~/.cargo/target/debug/vex run hello.vx

Common Commands

Command	Description
vex run <file>	Compile and run
vex compile <file>	Compile and link
vex test	Discover and run tests

Useful Development Notes

• vex run may use JIT or no-JIT execution depending on runtime/native-linking constraints.
• vex compile is the right entry point when you want persistent artifacts or LLVM output.
• Examples in this repository often use ~/.cargo/target/debug/vex directly during compiler development.

Troubleshooting

LLVM Not Found

# macOS
brew install llvm

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install llvm-dev libclang-dev

# Fedora
sudo dnf install llvm-devel clang-devel

Linker Errors

LLD is recommended when available.

# macOS
brew install lld

Next Steps

• Syntax Overview - Learn Vex syntax
• Functions - Understand declarations and receivers
• Testing - Learn the test runner