# kevinlawler/kona

Open-source implementation of the K programming language

Repository: https://github.com/kevinlawler/kona
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/kona
Language: C
License: ISC
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2023-06-02T02:40:18+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5852, "days_push": 1188, "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 1414, forks 150 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:39.644609+00:00)

## What it is
Kona is an open-source C implementation of the K (k3) programming language, an APL/LISP-derived array language originally from Kx Systems. It provides a command-line interpreter for the k3 dialect, which is no longer commercially available.

## Use cases
- run k3 scripts without a proprietary Kx license
- learn the K array programming language
- analyze large datasets with vectorized array operations
- prototype trading and financial analytics in K
- study Arthur Whitney's terse C coding style
- experiment with APL-style list-based programming in ASCII

## When to choose
- you need a free, open-source k3 interpreter
- you want to learn or teach the K language
- you work with array/vector-style data analysis and prefer terse notation

## When to avoid
- you need production support or k4/q compatibility - use KDB+ from Kx
- you need a modern, actively developed language ecosystem
- you want multi-dimensional APL arrays rather than K's list-based model

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: interpreter, programming-language, cli
- domain: programming-languages, fintech, data-science
- platform: windows, cli, cross-platform
- tags: k-language, apl, array-programming, kdb-plus, vector-language, repl, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- kevinlawler/kona (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:39.644609+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 2026-08-30T04:38:12.979657+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/kevinlawler/kona (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:39.644609+00:00, sha e7c5370dcd77)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.