Mica Language Support for Visual Studio Code

Compiler release 4.5 · Language support for Visual Studio Code

🔗 Homepage · 📥 Download Compiler · 📚 Tutorials · 🎬 YouTube

◈ What This Extension Provides

This extension adds Mica language support to Visual Studio Code: syntax highlighting, code snippets, and editor integration for .mica source files. It targets Mica 4.5 — the first public release of the compiler.

◈ Extension Features

Syntax Highlighting

Full syntax highlighting for Mica 4.5, including:

All compilation unit keywords — program, object, library
All scalar types — int8, int16, int32, int64, uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64, float32, float64, bool, string, unicode
Control flow — if, then, else, for, to, downto, while, do, repeat, until, case, of, leave
Declarations — var, type, const, procedure, function, record, packed, array, set, file
Import declarations — imp with source identifiers
Pointer operators — pointer, address, value, const
Boolean and arithmetic operators — and, or, not, mod, odd
Type cast — as
String literals with escape sequences, UTF-32 wide strings
Unicode character literals
Line comments (//) and block comments ({ })
Integer literals — decimal, hexadecimal (0x...), and binary (0b...)
Floating-point literals with optional scientific notation

Code Snippets

Prefix	Description
`program`	Complete program template
`object`	Object compilation unit template
`library`	Library compilation unit template
`procedure`	Procedure declaration
`function`	Function declaration
`functionconstptr`	Function with `const pointer` parameter
`impstd`	Import standard library I/O symbols
`impalias`	Import symbol with alias
`typerecord`	Record type declaration
`typepackedrecord`	Packed record type declaration
`typearray`	Array type declaration
`typepackedarray`	Packed array type declaration
`typeenum`	Enumeration type declaration
`typesubrange`	Subrange type declaration
`typeset`	Set type declaration
`typefile`	File type declaration
`if`	`if...then` block
`ifelse`	`if...then...else` block
`case`	`case` statement with `else` branch
`while`	`while...do` loop
`repeat`	`repeat...until` loop
`for`	Ascending `for...to` loop
`fordownto`	Descending `for...downto` loop
`begin`	`begin...end` block
`set`	Set constructor
`in`	Membership test expression
`address`	`address` expression
`value`	`value` dereference expression
`cast`	Explicit type cast with type picker
`writeln`	`WriteLn` call
`readln`	`ReadLn` call
`comment`	Line comment
`commentblock`	Block comment

Editor Integration

Auto-indentation — block-structured indentation aligned to begin/end pairs
Auto-closing pairs — parentheses, brackets, quotes, and begin/end blocks
Comment toggling — line and block comment toggle via standard keyboard shortcuts
Code folding — fold procedures, functions, and begin/end blocks
Breakpoint support — set breakpoints on .mica source lines for GDB-based debugging

◈ Getting Started

Install the extension — from the VS Code Marketplace
Install the compiler — Ubuntu latest AMD64; download and install the .deb package:
```
sudo apt install ./mica_latest_amd64.deb
mica --version
```
Clone the tutorials — working examples with a pre-configured launch.json for debugging:
```
git clone https://gitlab.com/mica-lang/mica-tutorials.git
code mica-tutorials
```
Start coding — type a snippet prefix (e.g. program, for, procedure) in a .mica file and press Tab to expand it.

◈ A Mica 4.5 Program

The following program defines a subrange type for years, a record type for release data, and an array of that record indexed over the subrange. It then populates the table and iterates over it with a for loop — a feature introduced in Mica 4.5.

program MicaReleases;

imp
    WriteLn : std;

type
    Year        = 2023..2026;
    ReleaseInfo = record
        Major    : int32;
        Features : int32;
    end;
    ReleaseTable = array[Year] of ReleaseInfo;

var
    releases : ReleaseTable;
    y        : int32;

begin
    releases[2023].Major    := 1;
    releases[2023].Features := 12;
    releases[2024].Major    := 2;
    releases[2024].Features := 31;
    releases[2025].Major    := 3;
    releases[2025].Features := 47;
    releases[2026].Major    := 4;
    releases[2026].Features := 68;

    WriteLn("Year  Major  Features");
    for y := 2023 to 2026 do
        WriteLn("  %d  v%d     %d", y, releases[y].Major, releases[y].Features);
end.

Type program and press Tab to expand the program template. Type typesubrange, typerecord, typearray, and for to expand the corresponding snippets. The tutorials repository contains thirteen complete examples covering the full 4.5 language surface.

◈ Release Notes

2.4.2 — March 2026

Removed issue-reporting links and wording from the published extension metadata and README

2.4.1 — March 2026

README correction for the release example: ReleaseTable now uses array[Year] of ReleaseInfo

2.4.0 — March 2026

Mica 4.5 support — syntax highlighting and snippets for for/downto, repeat...until, case, and leave
New snippets — for, fordownto, repeat, case, functionconstptr, typerecord, typepackedrecord, typearray, typepackedarray, typeenum, typesubrange, typeset, impstd, impalias, set, in, address, value, begin, comment, commentblock
Updated description — aligned to compiler release 4.5

2.3.3 — January 2026

Hyperlink corrections for Mica compiler release 4 to latest release

2.3.2 — December 2025

Hyperlink corrections and wording improvements

2.3.0 — December 2025

Repository migrated to GitLab; all links updated

2.2.0 — December 2025

Improved README; added YouTube channel and compiler download links

2.1.0 — December 2025

New extension icon; snippet improvements and bug fixes

2.0.0 — November 2025

Complete rewrite with comprehensive language support: all primitive types, logical operators, type casting, string and Unicode literals, escape sequences, code snippets, smart indentation, and auto-closing pairs

1.0.0 — Initial Release

Basic syntax highlighting and language configuration

◈ License

This extension is released under the MIT License. The Mica compiler uses a separate license — see mica-dev.com for details.

Mica

Mica Development UG