“a language for competitive programming that knows its purpose.”
Current status · Grammar · Version goals · Quick start · Tests
TPPL is a programming language built specifically for competitive programming. Its compact syntax feeds a real compiler frontend and semantic pipeline, then lowers to C++20 so contest code stays focused on the problem rather than boilerplate.
TPPL is a working but deliberately small alpha. It can compile a useful typed subset end to end, but it does not yet cover every kind of competitive-programming problem.
| Status | Current support |
|---|---|
| Available end to end | int, bool, char, string, recursive vector<T>, top-level functions and recursion, initialized locals, expressions and assignments, if/else, while, ranges, for-each, checked indexing, and runtime I/O |
| Frontend only | Globals, nested functions, and uninitialized locals are parsed and semantically checked, but the C++ backend deliberately rejects them |
| Not implemented | Structs, records or classes; enums or sum types; fixed-size arrays; maps and sets; and a broader standard algorithm library |
vector<T> is currently TPPL's only composite container, and user-defined data types are not available yet. The Version 0.01 goals describe the target design, not a guarantee that every item is already supported end to end.
int square(int x) {
return x * x;
}
int main() {
vector<int> answers = vector<int>(5, 0);
for i in 0..5 {
answers[i] = square(i + 1);
}
for answer in answers {
print(answer);
}
return 0;
}- Contest-first. Every design choice starts from the constraints of competitive programming.
- C++20-backed. Keep the familiar contest toolchain while writing less ceremony.
- Compiler-built. Syntax, names, types, and control flow are checked before code generation.
.tpp → Lexer → Parser → Declaration Collection → Name Resolution
→ Type Checking → Control-Flow Checking → Lowering → C++20 → g++ → executable
Build from source with CMake and a C++20 toolchain:
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --parallel
./build/pseudo --emit-cpp solution.tpp > solution.cpp
g++ -std=c++20 -Iruntime/include solution.cpp -o solution
./solutionpseudo --emit-cpp writes C++ source. Invoking g++ and running the resulting executable are separate steps in the current CLI.
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure
Debug · Release · ASan + UBSan · strict warnings · generated C++ · g++ E2E
The suite covers the frontend, semantic passes, lowering, code generation, runtime behavior, recovery, determinism, and toolchain integration.
TPPL is fully open source. Built by competitors, for competitors—contributions, experiments, and ideas are welcome.
Read the contribution guide, follow the Code of Conduct, and report vulnerabilities through the security policy.
The Pseudo Programming Language was created by Nicklas Plugin before his 16th birthday.
Released under the MIT License.