Input and Output

lil keeps I/O simpler than Python. No file objects, no context managers, no close() calls. Just read, write, and a few file library functions.

Write

The write() function outputs text:

write("hello world")

Write multiple values separated by commas:

name = "alice"
write("hello", name)

x = 42
write("the answer is", x)

Read

The read() function reads a line from stdin and returns it as a string:

name = read()
write("hello", name)

Show a prompt string:

name = read("enter your name: ")
write("hello", name)

In Python, you’d write name = input("enter your name: "). In lil, read() is a function that returns a string.

s = read("type something: ")
len = len@string(s)
write("you typed", len, "characters")

File I/O

lil uses the file library for file operations:

data = read@file("config.txt")

In Python that’s with open("config.txt") as f: data = f.read(). lil does it in one call.

text = read@file("notes.txt")
if text == "" {
  write("file is empty or missing")
}

Writing a file:

write@file("output.txt", "hello world")

You can write the result of an expression directly:

today = standart@date
write@file("date.txt", today)

Appending to a file:

append@file("log.txt", "new entry")

Check if a file exists:

if exists@file("data.txt") == 1 {
  data = read@file("data.txt")
  write(data)
}

List directory contents:

files = list@file("/home/user")
write(files)

See the Built-in Libraries page for the full file library reference.