Equis

A systems programming language for building verifiable accounting systems.

Equis is a self-hosted, domain-specific systems language for economic and accounting software. It integrates the Resource-Event-Agent (REA) accounting model into its core semantics, providing automated verification for balanced transactions.

Why Equis?

Feature	Description
REA Duality	Mandatory runtime balance verification for all economic events
RBAC Enforcement	Role-based access control enforced at agent execution entry points
Immutable Audit Trail	Append-only JSON ledger (`ledger.ev`) for tamper-proof transaction history
Transactional Reversal	Automated compensating flows for event-level rollback
Self-Hosted Compiler	The Equis compiler is written in Equis
LLVM Backend	Compiles to optimized native machine code
ARC Memory Model	Hybrid automatic reference counting with deterministic arena allocation

Project Structure

equis/
├── assets/
│   ├── logo.png
│   └── logo.svg
├── compiler/
│   ├── analyzer.equis          # Symbol table & scope management
│   ├── borrow_checker.equis    # Ownership & lifetime analysis
│   ├── codegen.equis           # LLVM IR code generation
│   ├── constants.equis         # AST node & token index definitions
│   ├── lexer.equis             # Tokenizer
│   ├── lsp.equis               # Language Server Protocol handler
│   ├── main.equis              # Compiler entry point
│   ├── main.ll                 # Pre-compiled LLVM IR (bootstrap artifact)
│   ├── parser.equis            # Recursive descent parser
│   ├── runtime.c               # C runtime support (ARC, I/O, syscalls)
│   └── semantics.equis         # Semantic analysis & REA enforcement
├── 
│   ├── architecture.md         # Compiler pipeline design
│   ├── benchmarks.md           # Performance measurements
│   ├── grammar.ebnf            # Formal EBNF grammar
│   ├── grammar.md              # Human-readable grammar guide
│   ├── integration_guide.md    # CLI setup & global installation
│   ├── operational_semantics.md# Formal duality & ARC proofs
│   ├── specification.md        # Language specification
│   └── stdlib_reference.md     # Standard library API reference
├── examples/
│   ├── benchmarks/
│   │   └── speed_test.equis      # Performance & stress test suite
│   ├── main.equis              # Integrated REA accounting workflow
│   └── preempt_test.equis      # Multitasking & scheduler verification
├── scripts/
│   └── verify_ddc.sh           # Diverse Double-Compilation verifier
├── std/
│   ├── accounting.equis        # ERP accounting logic
│   ├── arena.equis             # Arena allocator
│   ├── chan.equis               # Thread-safe channels
│   ├── collections.equis       # Vectors & hash maps
│   ├── compliance.equis        # ESG & regulatory checks
│   ├── db.equis                # PostgreSQL connector (libpq)
│   ├── dual_net.equis          # Distributed duality verification
│   ├── ffi.equis               # Foreign function interface
│   ├── fiber.equis             # Preemptive fiber scheduler
│   ├── fixed.equis             # Fixed-point arithmetic
│   ├── http.equis              # HTTP server
│   ├── intern.equis            # String interning
│   ├── io.equis                # File I/O utilities
│   ├── json.equis              # JSON parser & serializer
│   ├── ledger.equis            # Double-entry ledger
│   ├── net.equis               # Socket networking
│   ├── record.equis            # Record utilities
│   ├── rpc.equis               # Remote procedure calls
│   ├── string.equis            # String manipulation
│   └── sys.equis               # System primitives & runtime bindings
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       ├── build.yml           # Release build pipeline
│       ├── ci.yml              # Continuous integration
│       └── docs.yml            # Documentation deployment
├── bootstrap.c                 # ANSI C bootstrap compiler
├── Makefile                    # Linux/macOS build system
├── bootstrap.ps1               # Windows bootstrap script
├── eq                          # Linux/macOS runner script
├── eq.ps1                      # PowerShell runner script
├── eq.bat                      # Windows batch runner shim
├── epm                         # Package manager (Linux/macOS)
├── epm.ps1                     # PowerShell package manager
├── epm.bat                     # Windows package manager shim
├── install.sh                  # Linux/macOS installer
├── install.ps1                 # Windows installer
├── EQUIS.md                    # Programmer's language reference
├── CHANGELOG.md                # Release history
├── LICENSE                     # Apache 2.0
└── NOTICE

Language Primitives

Equis incorporates accounting semantics directly into the language design:

// Define transacting entities with role-based access
Agent Buyer roles { "CONSUMER" } { id: "B1"; status: "active"; }
Agent Seller roles { "VENDOR" } { id: "S1"; status: "active"; }

// Define trackable assets
Resource Cash { unit: USD; decimals: 2; }
Resource Item { unit: PCS; }

// Binding promise for future execution
Commitment Order_01 evaluated_by MarketRate {
    flow {
        out 5 Item from Seller to Buyer;
        in 50 Cash from Buyer to Seller;
    }
}

// Atomic state transition with balanced flows
Event Purchase fulfills Order_01 roles { "CONSUMER" } {
    logic { assert(1 > 0); }
    flow {
        in 5 Item from Seller to Buyer;
        out 50 Cash from Buyer to Seller;
    }
}

Systems Programming

Beyond REA, Equis supports full systems-level programming:

Pointers & Mutability — Explicit mut constraints and raw pointer indexing
Concurrency — Thread-safe channels (chan_send, chan_recv) and checkpoint-based preemptive fibers
Networking — Sockets support for distributed duality verification
Database — PostgreSQL connectivity via libpq
Atomic I/O — File operations with crash-safe semantics

Quick Start

Install

Linux/macOS:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/equis-lang/equis/main/install.sh | bash

Windows:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/equis-lang/equis/main/install.ps1 | iex

Build from Source

Linux / macOS

git clone https://github.com/equis-lang/equis.git
cd equis
make && sudo make install

Windows (PowerShell)

git clone https://github.com/equis-lang/equis.git
cd equis
.\bootstrap.ps1

Manual Bootstrap

The compiler requires only a C compiler (GCC/Clang), Make, and LLVM/Clang.

make bootstrap   # Build the compiler from the C bootstrap
make clean       # Clean build artifacts
sudo make install

Run a Program

eq run examples/main.equis

Documentation

Document	Description
Programmer's Guide	Complete language tutorial and reference
Language Specification	Formal semantics and logic rules
Grammar (EBNF)	Formal language syntax specification
Operational Semantics	Proof sketches for duality and ARC
Architecture	Compiler pipeline and IR design
Standard Library	Full stdlib API reference
Integration Guide	Global CLI setup

Ecosystem

Tool	Description
VS Code Extension	Syntax highlighting, LSP, and file icons
Package Manager (`epm`)	Dependency management for Equis projects