Getting Started with Unison: A Beginner's Guide

Are you tired of using programming languages that are difficult to learn and use? Do you want to try something new that is easy to use and understand? If so, then Unison is the perfect programming language for you!

Unison is a functional programming language that is designed to be easy to use and understand. It is a modern programming language that is designed to be scalable, efficient, and easy to learn. In this beginner's guide, we will show you how to get started with Unison and start writing your own programs.

What is Unison?

Unison is a functional programming language that is designed to be easy to use and understand. It is a modern programming language that is designed to be scalable, efficient, and easy to learn. Unison is a statically typed language, which means that the type of a variable is known at compile time. This makes it easier to catch errors before the program is run.

Unison is also a pure functional programming language, which means that it does not have side effects. This makes it easier to reason about the behavior of a program and to write correct code.

Installing Unison

Before you can start writing programs in Unison, you need to install it on your computer. Unison is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. You can download the latest version of Unison from the official website.

Once you have downloaded the installer, you can run it to install Unison on your computer. The installer will guide you through the installation process and install all the necessary files.

Writing Your First Program

Now that you have installed Unison on your computer, you can start writing your first program. Open your favorite text editor and create a new file called hello.u. In this file, type the following code:

hello = "Hello, world!"

This code defines a variable called hello that contains the string "Hello, world!".

To run this program, open a terminal window and navigate to the directory where you saved the hello.u file. Then, type the following command:

$ unison run hello.u

This will run the hello.u program and print the string "Hello, world!" to the console.

Variables and Types

In Unison, variables are defined using the = operator. For example, the following code defines a variable called x that contains the integer value 42:

x = 42

Unison is a statically typed language, which means that the type of a variable is known at compile time. To specify the type of a variable, you can use the : operator. For example, the following code defines a variable called y that contains the boolean value true:

y: Bool = true

Unison supports the following basic types:

• Bool: boolean values (true or false)
• Int: integer values
• Float: floating-point values
• Text: text values (strings)
• Char: character values

Functions

Functions are a fundamental concept in Unison. A function is a block of code that performs a specific task. In Unison, functions are defined using the -> operator. For example, the following code defines a function called add that takes two integer arguments and returns their sum:

add: Int -> Int -> Int
add x y = x + y

This code defines a function called add that takes two integer arguments (x and y) and returns their sum. The -> operator is used to specify the types of the arguments and the return value.

To call a function, you can simply provide the arguments separated by spaces. For example, the following code calls the add function with the arguments 2 and 3:

result = add 2 3

This code calls the add function with the arguments 2 and 3 and assigns the result to a variable called result.

Lists

Lists are a common data structure in programming. In Unison, lists are defined using square brackets ([]). For example, the following code defines a list of integers:

numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

You can access individual elements of a list using the ! operator. For example, the following code accesses the third element of the numbers list:

third = numbers ! 2

This code accesses the third element of the numbers list (which has an index of 2) and assigns it to a variable called third.

Conclusion

Unison is a modern programming language that is designed to be easy to use and understand. It is a pure functional programming language that is statically typed, which makes it easier to catch errors before the program is run. Unison supports functions, variables, types, and lists, which are all fundamental concepts in programming.

In this beginner's guide, we have shown you how to get started with Unison and start writing your own programs. We have covered the basics of variables, types, functions, and lists, which are all essential concepts in Unison. With this knowledge, you can start exploring the full power of Unison and start writing your own programs.

Additional Resources