Workshopnodal
Nodal
A graph-native programming language where programs define relation graphs, and explicit observations force the values they need.
- state
- active
- when
- 2026 —
- made with
- Python, C11, WebAssembly
- links
- Source
Nodal is a programming language built around graphs instead of instructions. A program describes how values relate to each other; nothing is computed until something is observed, and then only what that observation demands. Call-by-need, lazy by default, pure by default.
The repository holds the alpha reference implementation, end to end:
- a lexer, parser, formatter and syntax diagnostics, with structured AST output
- module and name resolution, lowering to a Core IR, and alpha type and effect checking
- a demand-graph runtime with observation-driven evaluation, runtime graph snapshots, and
spawn/await - packages with
nodal.toml, a dependency graph, lockfiles and package tests - an FFI, native builds through generated C11, and WebAssembly components with WIT generation
- an interactive REPL
https://jafarian.world/projects/nodal
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