# albertodemichelis/squirrel

Official repository for the programming language Squirrel

Repository: https://github.com/albertodemichelis/squirrel
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/albertodemichelis-squirrel
Homepage: http://www.squirrel-lang.org
Language: C++
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-02-28T02:20:55+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 54/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 69, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3908, "days_push": 187, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1052, forks 193 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:23.309187+00:00)

## What it is
Squirrel is a high-level imperative, object-oriented scripting language implemented in C++, designed to be lightweight enough to embed in applications like video games. It includes both a compiler and virtual machine (~7k lines of C++) with an embedding API inspired by Lua, supporting classes, coroutines, generators, and automatic memory management.

## Use cases
- embed a scripting language in a game engine
- lightweight Lua alternative with C-like syntax
- script game logic with classes and coroutines
- embed a small interpreter in a C++ application
- run user-defined scripts with low memory overhead

## When to choose
- you need a tiny embeddable scripting VM (~100-150kb) for a game or C++ app
- you want Lua-like embedding with C/C++/Java-style syntax
- real-time constraints rule out heavier scripting runtimes

## When to avoid
- you need a large ecosystem of libraries and package management
- general-purpose application development outside embedding scenarios
- you need first-class community tooling, linters, or modern IDE support

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: interpreter, compiler, programming-language
- domain: programming-languages, embedded-systems
- platform: cpp, windows, cross-platform, embedded
- tags: scripting-language, virtual-machine, lua-alternative, embedding-api, lightweight, programming-language, game-development, linux

## Member repositories
- albertodemichelis/squirrel (main) score 54

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:23.309187+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T08:33:37.815888+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/albertodemichelis/squirrel (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:23.309187+00:00, sha 515eed3c1f98)
  - homepage: http://www.squirrel-lang.org (fetched 2026-08-29T13:00:58.546583+00:00, sha a0b2b639a11c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.