Getting Started with Carbon Language: Write and Run Your First Program

Hello, aspiring Carbon Language enthusiasts! In this blog post, Write First Program i

n Carbon Language – we’ll dive into the basics of Carbon Language, a promising programming language designed to be a successor to C++. Carbon aims to provide a modern, user-friendly approach while maintaining compatibility with existing C++ codebases. We’ll cover the essentials of writing and running your very first program in Carbon, guiding you step by step through the process. Along the way, you’ll learn about its syntax, key features, and why it’s gaining attention in the developer community. By the end of this post, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to set up Carbon and write a simple program to get started. Let’s explore this exciting language together!

Introduction to Writing and Running Your First Program in Carbon Language

Welcome, budding Carbon Language developers! In this post, we’ll take our first steps into the world of Carbon, an innovative programming language designed to modernize and simplify C++ development. Carbon aims to enhance productivity with cleaner syntax, better safety, and improved developer experience while ensuring seamless interoperability with C++. We’ll guide you through setting up your development environment, writing a basic program, and executing it successfully. Along the way, you’ll gain insights into why Carbon is being heralded as the future of system programming. By the end of this post, you’ll be equipped to write and run your very first Carbon program with confidence. Let’s get started on this exciting journey!

What Does It Mean to Write and Run Your First Program in Carbon Language?

Carbon Language is an exciting new project designed to address the limitations of C++ while ensuring compatibility with existing C++ codebases. Whether you’re a seasoned C++ developer or just starting your programming journey, Carbon offers a more modern and user-friendly approach. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps of writing and running your first program in Carbon Language.

Step 1: What is Carbon Language?

Carbon Language is an open-source programming language created by Google to modernize C++ development. Its primary goals are:

• Simplifying code syntax and readability.
• Offering better safety features.
• Improving performance without sacrificing compatibility with existing C++ code.

It is still in its experimental phase but holds great promise for system-level programming.

Step 2: Setting Up the Environment

To write and execute Carbon programs, you’ll need the following:

• A Development Environment: Carbon currently doesn’t have standalone compilers. It uses LLVM as its backend, so you’ll need to set up LLVM on your system.
• Install Bazel: Bazel is Google’s build tool, which is essential for building and running Carbon Language programs. You can install Bazel by following the official instructions: Bazel Installation Guide
• Clone the Carbon Repository:
  • Open a terminal or command prompt.
  • Run the following command to clone the Carbon GitHub repository:bashCopy code

git clone https://github.com/carbon-language/carbon-lang.git
cd carbon-lang

• Build the Carbon Toolchain: Use Bazel to build the Carbon toolchain:

bazel build //explorer

• Verify Installation: After building, you can run the following command to confirm that the Carbon toolchain is working:

./bazel-bin/explorer/explorer --help

Step 3: Writing Your First Carbon Program

Carbon programs use a syntax that is clean and familiar to C++ developers. Below is a simple “Hello, World!” program in Carbon:

// hello.carbon
package HelloWorld api;

fn Main() -> i32 {
  Print("Hello, Carbon!");
  return 0;
}

• package HelloWorld api;: Declares a package and an API entry point for the program.
• fn Main() -> i32: The Main function serves as the entry point for the program and returns an integer (i32).
• Print("Hello, Carbon!");: Prints the message to the console.

Step 4: Running Your Carbon Program

• Save the Program: Save the code as hello.carbon in the carbon-lang directory.
• Execute the Program: Use the Carbon Explorer to run your program:

./bazel-bin/explorer/explorer path/to/hello.carbon

Replace path/to/hello.carbon with the actual path to your file.

• View the Output: If everything is set up correctly, you should see the output:

Hello, Carbon!

Step 5: Moving Forward

Now that you’ve successfully written and executed your first Carbon program, here are some next steps to explore:

• Learn Carbon Syntax: Dive deeper into its functions, variables, loops, and conditionals.
• Experiment with Features: Explore Carbon’s interoperability with C++ by integrating it with existing C++ code.
• Contribute to Carbon: Since it’s an open-source project, you can contribute by submitting bug reports, suggesting features, or even writing code.