Language reference

xcc is a small, statically-typed language with C-family syntax, ObjC-like classes and protocols, and a focus on producing dense code for machines with little memory. Every page below has a worked example that compiles and runs. The programs live in the repository and a script builds them, so the code blocks match what the compiler does.

Where to start

To read the reference in order:

1. Lexical structure: comments, identifiers, numeric and string literals, reserved words.
2. Preprocessor: #include / #import, #define, conditional compilation.
3. Types: the fixed-width scalars including i64/u64, structs, enums, pointers, arrays, inference, casting.
4. Operators: the full precedence table, including the rotate (<: :>) and byte-extract (< > >> >>>) operators.
5. Statements & control flow: declaration modifiers, if, switch, the two for loops, while, defer, :unroll.
6. Functions: declarations, multiple return values, varargs, overloading, function annotations.
7. Classes: heap and stack allocation, methods, properties, init / dealloc.
8. Inheritance & protocols: single inheritance, virtual dispatch, downcasts ((Dog*)a and the failable (Dog* ?)a), protocols and optional methods.
9. Bound methods & callbacks: callback, target/action, and why a callback needs no context pointer.
10. Blocks: { … } closures that capture their surrounding scope, and how they pair with bound methods.
11. Errors: the throws effect, throw, typed and untyped catch arms, the Error protocol.
12. Heap, ARC & weak refs: new / delete, automatic reference counting, weak: references, manual -farc=off mode.
13. Collections & strings: Array<T>, Map<V>, Set<T>, String, and how element types are checked then erased.
14. Threading: Thread, Mutex, Atomic, Pool, and the automatic atomic-refcount decision. Native targets only.
15. Modules & shared libraries: --emit-lib, #import <Lib>, what crosses a library boundary, and extern globals.
16. Inline assembly: asm { … } blocks, byte-extract operators, reaching xcc variables, the clobbers annotation.

For day-to-day reference, open the page you need from the sidebar.

Things that differ from C

• The pointer sigil binds to the type. u8* a, b; declares two pointers, not a pointer and an integer.
• No promotion to int. Same-width arithmetic stays at that width, so u8 + u8 wraps at 8 bits. Only mixed-width operands widen.
• printf widths are explicit. %d is 16-bit, %ld is 32-bit and %lld is 64-bit. All three are signed, so use the %u family (%u, %lu, %llu) for unsigned. The compiler checks the format string against the argument types, and widens a conversion whose argument is statically wider, so %d on an i64 prints the whole value instead of truncating.
• Source files are .xc.

What’s not on these pages

• Compiler flags, optimisation levels, memory-model selection are in Compiler usage. They shape the output but are not part of the language. Start with Install.
• Standard library classes (Stdio, Math, Heap, Assert, …) are in the Standard library reference.
• Memory-model internals (the two bank windows, the hardware stack) are summarised where they affect semantics. The full map is in Compiler usage → Memory models.