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Introduction

Osprey is a functional programming language designed for safety, performance, and expressiveness.

Core Features

  • Named arguments for multi-parameter functions
  • Hindley-Milner type inference with strong static typing
  • Pattern matching for all conditional logic
  • Immutable-by-default with explicit mutability
  • Algebraic effects with compile-time safety
  • Result types for all error cases (no exceptions or panics)
  • Built-in HTTP/WebSocket support with streaming
  • Lightweight fiber-based concurrency

Design Principles

  • Safety: Make illegal states unrepresentable through static verification
  • Simplicity: One idiomatic way to accomplish each task
  • Performance: LLVM compilation with Rust interop for performance-critical code
  • Functional: Referential transparency, immutable data structures, pure functions
  • Type Safety: Strong static typing with Hindley-Milner inference; any type requires explicit declaration, and accessing values on any requires pattern matching
  • No Exceptions: All error cases return Result types, enforced at compile time
  • ML Heritage: Syntax and semantics inspired by ML family languages

Development Status

This specification is the authoritative source for Osprey syntax and behavior. The language and compiler are under active development; implementation status is noted where relevant.