lpp (lowlevelplusplus)

A small, memory-safe systems language and web framework for Linux, built so that software stops wasting memory and CPU.

No libc, no runtime, no allocator, no GC. Programs are static ELF binaries that call the kernel directly.
Memory safe. Every index and slice is bounds-checked, memory starts zeroed, and slices cannot outlive the stack frame that owns them. The only unchecked code is about 20 lines of syscall wrappers in std/sys.lpp.
Runs like Python. Run lpp app.lpp with no separate build step. It compiles in milliseconds and caches the result.

$ lpp examples/web.lpp
listening on http://127.0.0.1:8001

$ curl localhost:8001/hello/world
Hello, world!

The example web app is a 17 KB binary. With four workers the whole server uses 80 KB of memory (PSS, measured with make bench).

Quick start

make            # build the compiler (needs cargo)
make test       # 54 checks: examples, traps, rejected programs, HTTP edge cases
make bench      # record size, memory and throughput baselines
make web        # serve examples/web.lpp on :8001
make install    # optional: lpp -> ~/.local/bin, std -> ~/.local/share/lpp

CLI

Command	What it does
`lpp app.lpp` / `lpp run app.lpp`	compile and run
`lpp build app.lpp [-o out]`	write a static binary
`lpp check app.lpp`	type-check every function, write nothing
`lpp version`	print the version

A web app

use io;
use http;

fn handle(conn: int, method: str, path: str) -> int {
    if str_eq(path, "/") { return http_respond(conn, 200, "text/plain", "Hello!\n"); }
    return http_respond(conn, 404, "text/plain", "not found\n");
}

fn main() -> int { return http_serve(8001); }

Layout

compiler/   the lpp compiler and CLI (Rust, no dependencies)
std/        standard library: sys (trusted), io, net, http
examples/   exit, hello, bounds (safety demo), web
tests/      run.sh: run/, reject/, web.sh
bench/      bench.py and recorded results
site/       lpp.olibuijr.com: server.lpp and the docs builder
docs/       language reference, design and roadmap

Docs and progress: https://lpp.olibuijr.com. See docs/language.md, docs/design.md and docs/roadmap.md, docs/progress.md and docs/deploy.md.

Status: 0.2.0. HTTP only for now; HTTPS (TLS 1.3 written in lpp) is on the roadmap.