Getting started

To try the language immediately, open the browser playground. Its controls guide explains Run, Debug, and token help. For the local interpreter and REPL, build Kata from a source checkout with Rust and Cargo installed. The commands below run from the repository root.

git clone https://github.com/alkemdotdev/kata.git
cd kata
cargo build

The executable is target/debug/kata. You can also run it through Cargo; the -- separates Cargo’s arguments from Kata’s arguments.

Write a script

Save this as hello.ks:

let name = "world"
print("hello, {name}")

func double(n: Int): Int {
    ret n * 2
}

print(double(21))

Run it:

cargo run -- ks hello.ks

The program prints:

hello, world
42

let introduces a binding. Double-quoted strings evaluate expressions inside braces. func defines a function, and ret returns its result. The Int annotations are checked when the program runs.

Explore interactively

cargo run -- repl

Try entering these lines one at a time:

let score = 20
score = score + 1
score * 2

The REPL retains bindings between submissions and displays expression results. Tab opens completion; Ctrl+C cancels the current input; Ctrl+D exits. For longer experiments, a .ks file makes the program easy to rerun. See the REPL caveats if input or error recovery behaves unexpectedly.

Run a complete example

The documentation’s examples live in the same checkout:

cargo run -- ks site/examples/fibonacci.ks

Read the Fibonacci walkthrough, then continue with syntax and values.

The standard library is embedded when Kata is built. Changes to std/ need a rebuild; you do not need a separate library installation to run the executable.