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CLI

NumFu provides a command-line interface for running programs, interactive development, and debugging. This reference covers all available commands and options.

Basic Usage​

Running Programs​

The most common use case is running NumFu source files:

numfu myprogram.nfu

This executes the NumFu program in myprogram.nfu and displays the results.

Commands​

numfu <file> (Default Command)​

Description: Parse and run a NumFu source file

Usage: numfu [OPTIONS] SOURCE

Arguments:

  • SOURCE: Path to the NumFu source file (.nfu extension recommended, parsed binary .nfut files can also be run)

Options:

  • -p, --precision INTEGER: Floating point precision for calculations (default: 15)
  • -r, --rec-depth INTEGER: Maximum recursion depth during evaluation (default: 10000)
  • --iter-depth INTEGER: Maximum iteration depth for tail-call optimization (default: infinite)

Examples:

# Run a program with default settings
numfu fibonacci.nfu

# Run with higher precision for mathematical computing
numfu -p 100 scientific_calculation.nfu

# Run with custom recursion limit
numfu -r 5000 recursive_algorithm.nfu

# Combine options
numfu -p 30 -r 15000 complex_program.nfu

numfu parse​

Description: Parse and serialize input file or display its Abstract Syntax Tree

Usage: numfu parse [OPTIONS] SOURCE

Arguments:

  • SOURCE: Path to the NumFu source file to parse

Options:

  • -p: Pretty print the Abstract Syntax Tree (AST)
  • -o, --output PATH: File name for the serialized source file (default: "SOURCE.nfut")
  • -m, --max-depth INTEGER: Maximum AST depth to display (default: 10)
  • -n, --indent INTEGER: Indentation size for pretty printing (default: 2)

Examples:

# Parse file and save to binary myprogram.nfut
numfu parse myprogram.nfu

# Save to custom file name
numfu parse -o source.nfut myprogram.nfu

# Customize display formatting
numfu parse -p -m 15 -n 4 myprogram.nfu

AST Output Format: The AST is displayed as a hierarchical tree structure showing the parsed program structure:

[
  Call(
    func=Variable(name='println'),
    args=["Hello, World!"]
  )
]

numfu repl​

Description: Start an interactive Read-Eval-Print Loop Usage: numfu repl [OPTIONS]

Options:

  • -p, --precision INTEGER: Floating point precision (default: 15)
  • -r, --rec-depth INTEGER: Maximum recursion depth (default: 10000)
  • --iter-depth INTEGER: Maximum iteration depth for tail-call optimization (default: infinite)

Examples:

# Start REPL with default settings
numfu repl

# Start with higher precision
numfu repl -p 50

# Start with custom recursion limit
numfu repl -r 5000

REPL Features:

  • Interactive expression evaluation
  • Persistent history (saved to ~/.numfu_history)
  • Multi-line input support (use \ at end of line)
  • Rich output formatting

REPL Usage:

NumFu REPL. Type 'exit' or press Ctrl+D to exit.
>>> 2 + 3 * 4
14
>>> let square = {x -> x * x} in \
... square(7)
49
>>> exit

numfu repl ast​

Description: Start interactive AST exploration REPL — essentially interactive numfu parse -p

Usage: numfu repl ast [OPTIONS]

Options:

  • -m, --max-depth INTEGER: Maximum AST depth to display (default: 10)
  • -n, --indent INTEGER: Indentation size (default: 2)

Examples:

# Start AST REPL with default settings
numfu repl ast

# Customize AST display
numfu repl ast -m 15 -n 4

AST REPL Usage:

NumFu AST REPL. Type 'exit' or press Ctrl+D to exit.
>>> 2 + 3
[Import(name='builtins'), Call(func=Variable(name='+'), args=[2, 3])]
>>> {x -> x * x}
[
  Lambda(
    arg_names=['x'],
    body=Call(
      func=Variable(name='*'),
      args=[
        Variable(name='x'),
        Variable(name='x')
      ]
    )
  )
]

Global Options​

--version​

Display NumFu version information.

--help​

Display help information for commands.

File Handling​

File Extensions​

The .nfu extension should be used for standard NumFu source files and is supported by the module resolver.

The interpreter also recognizes binary, pre-parsed NumFu files, usually with the extension .nfut, which are generated by the numfu parse command. However, they cannot be imported as modules (though support is planned for future releases).

Error Handling​

NumFu provides detailed error messages with file context:

$ numfu broken_program.nfu
[at broken_program.nfu:5:15]
[5]   let l = [1,2,3 in f(...l)
                    ^
SyntaxError: Expected one of ',', ']'