STRling

The Universal Regular Expression Compiler. STRling is a next-generation production-grade syntax designed to make Regex readable, maintainable, and robust. It abstracts the cryptic nature of raw regex strings into a clean, object-oriented, and strictly typed interface that compiles to standard PCRE2 (or native) patterns.

Regular Expressions are powerful but notorious for being "write-only" code. STRling solves this by treating Regex as Software, not a string.

• 🧩 Composability: Regex strings are hard to merge. STRling lets you build reusable components (e.g., ip_address, email) and safely compose them into larger patterns without breaking operator precedence or capturing groups.
• 🛡️ Type Safety: Catch syntax errors, invalid ranges, and incompatible flags at compile time inside your IDE, not at runtime when your app crashes.
• 🧠 IntelliSense & Autocomplete: Stop memorizing cryptic codes like (?<=...). Use fluent, self-documenting methods like simply.lookBehind(...) with full IDE discovery.
• 📖 Readability First: Code is read far more often than it is written. STRling patterns describe intent, making them understandable to junior developers and future maintainers instantly.
• 🌍 Polyglot Engine: One mental model, 17 languages. Whether you are writing Rust, Python, or TypeScript, the syntax and behavior remain identical.

STRling follows a strict compiler pipeline architecture to ensure consistency across all ecosystems:

1. Parse: DSL -> AST (Abstract Syntax Tree)
   • Converts the human-readable STRling syntax into a structured tree.
2. Compile: AST -> IR (Intermediate Representation)
   • Transforms the AST into a target-agnostic intermediate representation, optimizing structures like literal sequences.
3. Emit: IR -> Target Regex
   • Generates the final, optimized regex string for the specific target engine (e.g., PCRE2, JS, Python re).

Use the root CLI as the canonical setup and test entry point:

# Discover available bindings and current tool availability
./strling list

# Bootstrap every binding end-to-end
./strling bootstrap all

# Or target a single binding
./strling bootstrap python

# Re-run tests without reinstalling dependencies
./strling test all

The CLI will create the Python binding virtual environment automatically and will attempt best-effort prerequisite installation for missing language toolchains when the current package manager is supported.

STRling supports multiple integration paths depending on the binding and ecosystem:

• Registry-Distributed: Python on PyPI and TypeScript on npm.
• Git/Module-Delivered: Go via go get github.com/strling-lang/strling/bindings/go.
• Source-Integrated / Manual Build: C++, C, Rust, and Swift for teams integrating directly from repository source or binding-local build tooling.

• Developer Documentation Hub: Architecture, testing standards, and contribution guidelines.
• Specification: The core grammar and semantic specifications.

If you find STRling useful, consider starring the repository and contributing!