# tomhrr/dale

Lisp-flavoured C

Repository: https://github.com/tomhrr/dale
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/dale
Language: C++
License: BSD-3-Clause
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2025-04-20T21:30:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 30/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 17, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4849, "days_push": 500, "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 1045, forks 51 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:21.557883+00:00)

## What it is
Dale is a system-level programming language with Lisp-style S-expression syntax that compiles via LLVM, similar to C but with macros, type deduction, overloading, and other higher-level features. It has no garbage collector and produces native binaries on Linux, macOS, and BSD systems.

## Use cases
- write systems code with lisp syntax
- compile a lisp-flavoured language to native binaries
- use syntactic macros in a c-like language
- learn how a compiler and macro system work
- write c-like programs with type deduction and overloading
- experiment with a garbage-collection-free lisp

## When to choose
- you want c-level performance with lisp syntax and macros
- you need a no-GC systems language with compiler introspection
- you want to study or hack on a small self-contained language implementation

## When to avoid
- you need a mature ecosystem with libraries and package management
- you need windows support or broad platform coverage
- you want a production-ready language for a team project

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: compiler, programming-language, interpreter
- domain: programming-languages, compilers, developer-tools
- platform: bsd, cpp
- tags: lisp, s-expressions, syntactic-macros, llvm, systems-programming, no-gc, type-deduction, macro-system, linux, macos, docker

## Member repositories
- tomhrr/dale (main) score 30

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:21.557883+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 2026-08-30T07:02:09.228543+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/tomhrr/dale (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:21.557883+00:00, sha 0a7c27a5039b)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.