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🧪 Potion — A Tiny, Experimental, Self-Modifying Language from _Why the Lucky Stiff

#computerscience #programming #ruby

What is Potion?

Potion is a lightweight, minimal programming language created by the mysterious and iconic developer _why the lucky stiff (Why). It was designed to explore language design, meta-programming, and self-modifying behavior — all packaged in a tiny virtual machine and syntax inspired loosely by Ruby and functional languages.

Potion emphasizes simplicity and expressiveness. The entire VM, compiler, and standard library were intentionally small, making Potion easy to study, modify, and experiment with — ideal for language design enthusiasts and system tinkerers.

Specs

Language Type: Experimental / Lightweight scripting

Creator: _why the lucky stiff

Typing: Dynamic

Execution Model: Bytecode VM with meta-programming

Primary Use: Language design research & playful experimentation

Example Code (Hello World) 

print("Hello, Potion!")
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Or idiomatic style:

"Hello, Potion!" print
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Potion’s syntax keeps parentheses optional when they become noise.

How It Works

  • Potion has a tiny compiler that translates high-level code to bytecode.
  • The virtual machine executes compact instructions similar to Lua or smalltalk-like interpreters.
  • Built-in features include:
    • Prototypes instead of classical inheritance
    • Closures and first-class functions
    • Meta-object access and runtime code manipulation
    • A compact standard library
  • The language supports runtime rewriting — code can modify its own behavior.

Potion is as much a sandbox for language theory as it is a programming tool.

Strengths

  • Extremely small — easy to understand and modify.
  • Clean Ruby-influenced syntax with functional elegance.
  • Supports meta-programming and self-modifying techniques.
  • Great for researchers, hobby compiler builders, and curious programmers.

Weaknesses

  • Unfinished — the project was abandoned after _why disappeared.
  • Limited ecosystem, tooling, and documentation.
  • Not suitable for production or large projects.
  • Missing many modern language conveniences.

Where to Run

Potion can be run via:

  • GitHub forks maintained by community members
  • Experimental language toolchains
  • TIO.run (partial implementations)
  • Custom VM builds for Unix-like systems

Many forks add debugging tools or missing language features.

Should You Learn It?

For general programming: No

For exploring language implementation: Yes

For appreciating esoteric programming culture: Absolutely

For writing maintainable real-world applications: Not realistic

Summary

Potion is a small, elegant, and experimental language that embodies curiosity and creativity in programming. While unfinished and niche, it remains a fascinating artifact of alternative language design — simple, hackable, and expressive. Potion isn’t about practicality — it’s about experimentation, learning, and celebrating the weird corner of programming culture left behind by one of its most legendary figures.

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