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Adesh Quick Start

● STABLE(CLI toolchain, REPL, test harness, and build pipeline)

This guide gets you up and running with Adesh in under 5 minutes. You will install the toolchain, verify your environment, create a project, write your first script, and run tests.

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1. Verify Your Installation & Toolchain Health​

Once Adesh is installed, test your environment using the built-in diagnostic utilities:

# Check compiler version
adesh --version

# Run system health diagnostics
adesh doctor

# Inspect active environment paths
adesh env

If adesh doctor detects missing dependencies or environment configuration issues, repair them automatically:

adesh repair

2. Initialize a New Project​

Create a new Adesh project directory using adesh init:

adesh init my_first_app
cd my_first_app

adesh init scaffolds a clean project structure:

my_first_app/
├── main.adesh       # Project entry point
└── utils.adesh      # Module export example

3. Write Your First Program​

Open main.adesh and inspect the starter code:

import "./utils.adesh" as u;

// 1. Constants and Variables
export let PI = 3.14159;

// 2. Class Definition
class Counter {
  Counter(n) {
    this.n = n;
  }

  fn inc() {
    this.n = this.n + 1;
  }

  fn value() {
    return this.n;
  }
}

// 3. Main Logic Execution
let counter = new Counter(10);
counter.inc();
print("Counter value:", counter.value()); // Output: Counter value: 11

// 4. Higher-Order Array Operations
let numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4];
let doubled = numbers.map(fn(x) { return x * 2; });
print("Doubled numbers:", doubled);      // Output: Doubled numbers: [2, 4, 6, 8]

// 5. Error Handling
try {
  throw Error("Sample error handled safely");
} catch(e) {
  print("Caught expected exception:", e);
}

print("Sum via module helper:", u.utilAdd(15, 27)); // Output: 42

4. Run Your Program​

Run your script instantly using the default interpreter:

adesh run main.adesh

Try the JIT Compiler​

To execute with native machine-code generation at runtime, pass the --njit flag:

adesh run --njit main.adesh

5. Compile to Standalone Native Executable (AOT)​

Build a standalone native binary directly with adesh build without requiring LLVM, Clang, or any external toolchain:

adesh build main.adesh -o my_app.exe
./my_app.exe

6. Run Unit Tests​

Adesh includes a built-in test runner. To execute embedded tests:

adesh run --test main.adesh

Useful Testing Flags​

# Run a specific test by name
adesh run --test --test-name test_counter main.adesh

# Stop execution on the first failure
adesh run --test --fail-fast main.adesh

# Benchmark across backends (Interpreter vs JIT Compiler vs AOT Native)
adesh run --test --backend-check main.adesh

What's Next?​