Quick Start

Let's build your first Droe program! This guide will walk you through creating a simple project that demonstrates the key features of the language.

Create Your First Project

Start by creating a new Droe project:

# Create and enter project directory
mkdir hello-droelang
cd hello-droelang

# Initialize the project
droe init

This creates the basic project structure:

hello-droelang/
├── droeconfig.json
├── src/
│   └── main.droe
└── build/

Your First Program

Open src/main.droe and replace the contents with:

// Welcome to Droe! 🦌
display "=== Hello Droe Demo ==="
display ""

// Variables with strong typing
set programmer_name which is text to "Alice"
set years_experience which is int to 3
set loves_coding which is flag to true
set hourly_rate which is decimal to 75.50

// String interpolation
display "Programmer: [programmer_name]"
display "Experience: [years_experience] years"
display "Loves coding: [loves_coding]"
display "Rate: $[hourly_rate] per hour"
display ""

// String concatenation
set greeting to "Hello, " + programmer_name + "!"
display greeting
display "Welcome to the world of Droe development! 🚀"

Run Your Program

Execute your program with:

droe run src/main.droe

You should see output like:

=== Hello Droe Demo ===

Programmer: Alice
Experience: 3 years
Loves coding: true
Rate: $75.50 per hour

Hello, Alice!
Welcome to the world of Droe development! 🚀

Understanding the Code

Let's break down what happened:

1. Comments

// Single-line comments start with //
/* Multi-line comments
   work like this */

2. Display Statements

display "Hello, World!"

The display command outputs text to the console.

3. Typed Variables

set programmer_name which is text to "Alice"
set years_experience which is int to 3
set loves_coding which is flag to true
set hourly_rate which is decimal to 75.50

Droe uses strong typing with clear, readable syntax:

text - strings
int - integers
flag - booleans
decimal - floating-point numbers

4. String Interpolation

display "Programmer: [programmer_name]"

Use square brackets [variable] to embed variables in strings.

5. String Concatenation

set greeting to "Hello, " + programmer_name + "!"

Join strings with the + operator.

Working with Collections

Let's expand our program to work with collections. Add this to your main.droe:

display ""
display "=== Collections Demo ==="

// Arrays (lists)
set programming_languages which are list of text to ["Python", "JavaScript", "Droe"]
set project_scores which are list of int to [85, 92, 78, 95]

display "Languages I know:"
for each language in programming_languages
  display "- " + language
end for

display ""
display "Project scores:"
for each score in project_scores
  display "Score: [score]"
  
  when score is greater than or equal to 90 then
    display "  Excellent work! ⭐"
  end when
  
  when score is less than 80 then
    display "  Needs improvement 📚"
  end when
end for

Run it again:

droe run src/main.droe

Adding Logic with Conditionals

Droe supports conditional logic with natural language syntax:

display ""
display "=== Conditional Logic ==="

set current_hour which is int to 14

when current_hour is less than 12 then
  display "Good morning! ☀️"
end when

when current_hour is greater than or equal to 12 and current_hour is less than 18 then
  display "Good afternoon! 🌤️"
end when

when current_hour is greater than or equal to 18 then
  display "Good evening! 🌙"
end when

// Calculate project status
set completed_projects which is int to 8
set total_projects which is int to 10
set completion_rate which is decimal to completed_projects * 100 / total_projects

display "Project completion: [completion_rate]%"

when completion_rate is greater than or equal to 80 then
  display "Great progress! Keep it up! 💪"
otherwise
  display "Let's pick up the pace! 🏃‍♀️"
end when

Using Modules and Actions

Create reusable code with modules and actions. Add this to your file:

display ""
display "=== Modules and Actions ==="

module calculator
  action add with num1 which is int, num2 which is int gives int
    give num1 + num2
  end action
  
  action multiply with num1 which is int, num2 which is int gives int
    give num1 * num2
  end action
  
  action calculate_percentage with part which is int, total which is int gives decimal
    give (part * 100) / total
  end action
end module

// Use the module actions
set sum from run calculator.add with 15, 25
set product from run calculator.multiply with 6, 7
set percentage from run calculator.calculate_percentage with 75, 100

display "15 + 25 = [sum]"
display "6 × 7 = [product]"
display "75 out of 100 = [percentage]%"

Building and Running

You can also compile your program without running it:

# Compile to WebAssembly
droe compile src/main.droe

# Check the build directory
ls build/
# main.wat  main.wasm

# Run the compiled WebAssembly
node ~/.droelang/run.js build/main.wasm

Project Configuration

Your droeconfig.json controls project settings:

{
  "name": "hello-droelang",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "srcDir": "src",
  "buildDir": "build",
  "main": "main.droe",
  "description": "My first Droe project"
}

Complete Example

Here's the complete main.droe file with all examples:

::: details View complete example

// Welcome to Droe! 🦌
display "=== Hello Droe Demo ==="
display ""

// Variables with strong typing
set programmer_name which is text to "Alice"
set years_experience which is int to 3
set loves_coding which is flag to true
set hourly_rate which is decimal to 75.50

// String interpolation
display "Programmer: [programmer_name]"
display "Experience: [years_experience] years"
display "Loves coding: [loves_coding]"
display "Rate: $[hourly_rate] per hour"
display ""

// String concatenation
set greeting to "Hello, " + programmer_name + "!"
display greeting
display "Welcome to the world of Droe development! 🚀"

display ""
display "=== Collections Demo ==="

// Arrays (lists)
set programming_languages which are list of text to ["Python", "JavaScript", "Droe"]
set project_scores which are list of int to [85, 92, 78, 95]

display "Languages I know:"
for each language in programming_languages
  display "- " + language
end for

display ""
display "Project scores:"
for each score in project_scores
  display "Score: [score]"
  
  when score is greater than or equal to 90 then
    display "  Excellent work! ⭐"
  end when
  
  when score is less than 80 then
    display "  Needs improvement 📚"
  end when
end for

display ""
display "=== Conditional Logic ==="

set current_hour which is int to 14

when current_hour is less than 12 then
  display "Good morning! ☀️"
end when

when current_hour is greater than or equal to 12 and current_hour is less than 18 then
  display "Good afternoon! 🌤️"
end when

when current_hour is greater than or equal to 18 then
  display "Good evening! 🌙"
end when

// Calculate project status
set completed_projects which is int to 8
set total_projects which is int to 10
set completion_rate which is decimal to completed_projects * 100 / total_projects

display "Project completion: [completion_rate]%"

when completion_rate is greater than or equal to 80 then
  display "Great progress! Keep it up! 💪"
otherwise
  display "Let's pick up the pace! 🏃‍♀️"
end when

display ""
display "=== Modules and Actions ==="

module calculator
  action add with num1 which is int, num2 which is int gives int
    give num1 + num2
  end action
  
  action multiply with num1 which is int, num2 which is int gives int
    give num1 * num2
  end action
  
  action calculate_percentage with part which is int, total which is int gives decimal
    give (part * 100) / total
  end action
end module

// Use the module actions
set sum from run calculator.add with 15, 25
set product from run calculator.multiply with 6, 7
set percentage from run calculator.calculate_percentage with 75, 100

display "15 + 25 = [sum]"
display "6 × 7 = [product]"
display "75 out of 100 = [percentage]%"

display ""
display "🎉 Demo complete! Welcome to Droe!"

:::

What You've Learned

In this quick start, you've learned:

✅ Project setup with droe init
✅ Variable declaration with strong typing
✅ String interpolation and concatenation
✅ Collections (lists and arrays)
✅ Conditional logic with natural syntax
✅ Loops with for each
✅ Modules and actions for reusable code
✅ Compilation to WebAssembly

Next Steps

Ready to dive deeper? Continue with:

Basic Syntax - Complete syntax reference
Type System - Understanding Droe's types
Variables - Variable declaration and scope
Collections - Working with arrays and lists
Modules - Organizing code with modules

Or explore practical examples:

Examples - Real-world Droe programs
CLI Reference - Complete command reference

Happy coding with Droe! 🦌✨