Raven Programming language for .NET

Getting started

Install and run Raven

Go from an installed SDK to your first running program. You do not need to clone Raven or build the compiler from source.

Want to try it first? Open the Playground.

Prerequisites

  • A .NET 11 SDK. The distributed Raven toolchain itself runs on .NET 11 and can also build net10.0 applications when the .NET 10 targeting packs are installed.
  • curl on macOS/Linux or PowerShell on Windows.
  • VS Code and its code command if you want editor support.

Use a project-local global.json when a repository needs to pin the exact .NET SDK feature band used by dotnet and MSBuild.

1. Install Raven

curl -fsSL https://github.com/marinasundstrom/raven/releases/download/v0.1.16/install-raven.sh \
  | sh -s -- 0.1.16
export PATH="$HOME/.raven/bin:$PATH"

Add the export line to your shell profile to make rvn available in future terminals.

Both installers select the correct operating-system and CPU archive, verify its SHA-256 checksum, and install it under ~/.raven/sdk/<version>.

Verify the installation

Open a new terminal after making the PATH change, then run:

rvn sdk path
rvn doctor

rvn doctor checks the .NET SDK, compiler, language server, core library, macro library, and MSBuild assets. rvn is the project and developer frontend; rvnc is the lower-level compiler driver.

2. Create your first file

Create a file named hello.rvn in any working directory:

import System.Console.*

func greeting(name: string) -> string => "Hello, $name!"

WriteLine(greeting("Raven"))

Run it from that directory:

rvn run hello.rvn

You should see:

Hello, Raven!

func declares a function, and imports make .NET types and members available. A single file is enough for a small program; create a project when you need several files or package dependencies.

3. Create a project

mkdir hello-raven
cd hello-raven
rvn init --type console --name HelloRaven
rvn run HelloRaven.rvnproj

The scaffold creates src/Main.rvn and a project file. Edit Main.rvn and run the same command to compile and execute your changes. Use rvn build when you only want to build.

Console projects default to net11.0. To target .NET 10, set <TargetFramework>net10.0</TargetFramework> in the project and install the .NET 10 targeting packs. The Raven toolchain itself still requires .NET 11.

See Project system for dependencies and build configuration, or run rvn init --list for the available scaffolds.

4. Open in VS Code

Download the VS Code extension for 0.1.16. From the directory containing the downloaded file, run:

code --install-extension raven-vscode.vsix --force

You can also use Extensions: Install from VSIX… in the VS Code Command Palette.

If a GUI-launched VS Code cannot find rvn on its PATH, set raven.sdkPath to the absolute directory printed by rvn sdk path.

Open the project directory:

code .

The extension provides syntax highlighting, diagnostics, completion, hover, navigation, and refactorings. See the VS Code guide for configuration and troubleshooting.

Next steps

To work on Raven itself, follow the contributor guide. It covers source builds and isolated development environments.