zipperbasic

zipperbasic is a small, educational programming language and runtime designed to teach data structure navigation through the zipper concept. The language combines a simple BASIC-like syntax with built-in support for editing structured data.

Design and syntax: zipperbasic borrows familiar elements from classic BASIC, including straightforward statements and linear sequencing, but it is dynamically typed and interpreted. The language aims for readability and gradual learning, with clear error messages and a minimal core library.

Zipper data structure: The defining feature is a built-in Zipper type that represents a focused location inside a hierarchical structure, such as a tree or nested lists. The standard library exposes operations such as up, down, left, right to move the focus, and edit operations such as insert, delete, and set to modify the focused node. Zippers enable functional-style, persistent edits and easy traversal without mutating the entire structure.

Runtime and ecosystem: zipperbasic is implemented as an interpreter with a small virtual machine and an interactive Read-Eval-Print Loop. It runs on major desktops and supports script execution, module loading, and simple I/O. The language ships with a standard library for data I/O, printing, and basic data types, along with examples and tutorials.

Applications and reception: zipperbasic is primarily used in education and hobbyist projects to demonstrate the zipper concept and tree editing techniques. It has a modest open-source community and a Git repository that hosts language specifications, implementation details, and teaching materials.