Sometimes known as Hylang, Hy is a multi-paradigm general-purpose programming language in the Lisp family.
Often described as a dialect of the Lisp programming language, Hy is designed to interact with Python by translating s-expressions into Python's abstract syntax tree (AST). As Lisp allows operating on code as data (metaprogramming), Hy can be used to write domain-specific languages.
While Hy is similar to Lisp in many ways, it uses square brackets rather than parenthesis for list literals. Hy also supports the setv function instead of the = operator to assign values to variables. Hy supports both dynamic and static typing, and programs are able to choose which to use depending on the need.
Designed by Paul Tagliamonte, Hi was first released in 2013 and is still under active development by a core team. The language was influenced by Common Lisp, Clojure, and Kawa.
Mark Watson, a Lisp programmer and author of a book on the subject, "A Lisp Programmer Living in Python-Land: The Hy Programming Language," describes the Hy programming language as "Python, but with a Lisp syntax."
The Hy programming language is a Lisp language that interoperates smoothly with Python. Importing Python code and libraries and calling out to Python is said to be simple.
Hy is open-source software under the MIT License.
The focus of this portion of our guide is on the Hy (Hylang) programming language. Topics related to the programming language itself, or any IDEs, editors, or utilities closely connected to the language, are appropriate for this category.
Recommended Resources
A Lisp Programmer Living in Python-Land: The Hy Programming Language
Written by Mark Watson, the full text of his book on the subject of the Hy programming language is presented here under the Creative Commons "share and share alike, no modifications, no commercial reuse" license. The book covers several programming topics using Hy, which compiles to Python AST, including relational and graph databases, web app development, web scraping, deep learning, natural language processing (NLP), and accessing semantic web and linked data sources.
https://markwatson.com/books/hy-lisp-python-site/
The official repository for the Hy programming language is where the language is being developed by the Hi community, known as the Hy Society. Active members are identified, and links to their GitHub profiles are provided. The repository includes the source code for Hy, along with documentation, tests, and other related files. The latest release of Hy can be installed and, once installed, a Hy program can be run. Repositories may be browsed or found via search.
https://github.com/hylang
The official GitHub website for the Hy (Hylang) programming language provides information about the language, its syntax, and how to use it. The site also includes a tutorial section that can help new Hy programmers get started with the language. Through the site, a shell script can be added for packaging Hy, Hyrule can be provided for Try Hy, and Pyodide can be updated. The MIT license, which governs the use and distribution of the language, is provided, and contributors are acknowledged.
https://github.com/hylang/hyhomepage
The official website for the Hy (Hylang) programming language, a multi-paradigm general-purpose language in the Lisp family, includes an introduction to the language, example codes, full documentation for the language, a tutorial, and a link to its GitHub repository. Other resources include a large section on why to use Hy versus Python or other forms of Lisp, an argument for considering Hy to be its own language rather than merely a reimplementation of an older Lisp, and a Playground.
https://hylang.org/
Hyrule is a utility library for the Hy programming language. It has been described as the Hy equivalent (or addition) to Python's standard library. While intended primarily for Hy programs, its functions and classes can be used in Python as with any other Python library, although its macros are usable only in Hy. All of Hyrule's contents can be imported or required directly from the top-level module hyrule. References and examples are provided, and information on contributing is given.
https://hyrule.readthedocs.io/
The Programming Language DataBase (PLDB) is a database of programming languages and their features. PLDB content is in the public domain. Its section on the Hy (Hylang) programming language, a Lisp dialect, provides a brief introduction to the language, its syntax, and examples of its usage. Included language features include multiline comments, integers, floats, hexadecimals, octals, strings, comments, line comments, and semantic indentation. Links to other online Hy resources are included.
https://pldb.pub/concepts/hy.html
