Get Started

1. Installation

Mist is currently distributed as a Cargo crate. To get started, you'll need to have the Rust toolchain installed.

Run the following command to install the Mist compiler:

cargo install mist-lang@0.0.1-alpha2

Once the installation finishes, verify it by checking the version:

mist version

2. Setting Up Your Project

Mist works alongside Cargo to handle the heavy lifting. Follow these steps to prepare your environment for your first "Hello World" program.

Initialize a New Project

If you haven't already, create a new Cargo project and navigate into the directory:

cargo new my-mist-app
cd my-mist-app

Configure Mist

Create a mist.json file in your root directory. This tells the compiler where to look for your source code and where to place the generated Rust files.

{
  "src": "src",
  "output": "build"
}

Link Cargo to Mist

Since Mist compiles down to Rust, you need to point Cargo to the generated output. Update your Cargo.toml to include the following:

[[bin]]
name = "main"
path = "build/main.rs"

Pro Tip: You’ll probably want to add /build to your .gitignore file to keep your repository clean!

3. Your First Program

Now for the fun part! Create a new file at src/main.mist and add the following code:

void main() {
    println!("Hello World!");
}

Build and Run

To turn your Mist code into an executable, use the build command:

mist build

Once the build is successful, you can run your program using standard Cargo commands:

cargo run

Pro Tip: If you encounter any rust errors, head to the build directory and analyze the output, if you see anything unusual in the output, report the issue at https://github.com/mist-go/mist

Command Reference