What Is AHA! Lang?

Welcome to the course Writing Code with AHA! Lang! In this course you'll learn to program from scratch — just like learning Python — but with a language designed to be easy to read and to produce programs that run very fast.

Getting to Know AHA! Lang

AHA! Lang is an open source programming language that is:

• Easy to read — its syntax is minimal and clear ("Easy to read").
• Powerful — compiled to machine code via LLVM and executed with JIT ("Powerful to wield").
• Type-disciplined — type errors like adding a number and text are caught at compile time, not while the program is running.
• Written in Rust — the compiler itself is built with Rust and is open source on GitHub.

Because it's compiled (not interpreted line by line), AHA! Lang programs run fast — close to the speed of C — while the syntax stays friendly like a modern language.

What Do You Need?

This course doesn't require any prior programming experience. You'll need:

1. Rust (stable toolchain) and LLVM 14 — a complete guide is at Getting Started.
2. A text editor — VS Code, Neovim, or anything you like.
3. Curiosity — the most important thing! 🚀

The First Program You'll Write

By the end of this lesson you'll be able to write a program like this:

fn sapa(nama) {
    "Halo, " + nama + "!"
}

let nama = "dunia";
print_str(sapa(nama));

Even if some parts don't make sense yet — relax, everything will be explained step by step.

How to Build and Run

Clone the compiler from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/qwetls/aha-lang
cd aha-lang
cargo build --release

Run a .aha program file:

cargo run --release -- --file program.aha

The compiler runs the entire pipeline — lexing, parsing, LLVM codegen, then JIT execution — and displays the result.

Roadmap of This Course

Ready? On to Hello, World!