Rebol
Rebol (/ˈrɛbəl/ REB-əl; historically REBOL) is a cross-platform data exchange language and a multi-paradigm dynamic programming language designed by Carl Sassenrath for network communications and distributed computing. It introduces the concept of dialecting: small, optimized, domain-specific languages for code and data, which is also the most notable property of the language according to its designer Carl Sassenrath:
Although it can be used for programming, writing functions, and performing processes, its greatest strength is the ability to easily create domain-specific languages or dialects
— Carl Sassenrath
| Paradigm | language oriented programming, data exchange, functional, prototype-based, imperative |
|---|---|
| Designed by | Carl Sassenrath |
| Developer | REBOL Technologies |
| First appeared | 1997 |
| Stable release | 2.7.8
/ January 2011 |
| Preview release | 2.101.0
/ December 2012 |
| Typing discipline | dynamic, strong |
| OS | cross-platform |
| License | 2.7.8 is Freely redistributable software, 2.101.0 has Apache 2.0 license |
| Filename extensions | .r, .reb |
| Website | www |
| Influenced by | |
| Self, Forth, Lisp, Logo | |
| Influenced | |
| JSON, Red | |
| |
Douglas Crockford, known for his involvement in the development of JavaScript, has described Rebol as "a more modern language, but with some very similar ideas to Lisp, in that it's all built upon a representation of data which is then executable as programs" and as one of JSON's influences.
Originally, the language and its official implementation were proprietary and closed source, developed by REBOL Technologies. Following discussion with Lawrence Rosen, the Rebol version 3 interpreter was released under the Apache 2.0 license on December 12, 2012. Older versions are only available in binary form, and no source release for them is planned.
Rebol has been used to program Internet applications (both client- and server-side), database applications, utilities, and multimedia applications.