Notch Language

Full language support for the Notch programming language (.notch files), including syntax highlighting, error detection, IntelliSense, and more.

Features

Syntax Highlighting

Keywords, types, identifiers, numbers, operators, and comments are all coloured automatically when you open a .notch file.

Error Detection

Errors appear as red underlines with a message as you type. Three phases are checked:

Lexical — unrecognised characters that are not part of the language.

Syntax — structural mistakes:

• Missing nt at the end of a statement
• Missing { or } around a block
• Missing ) or ( around a condition or parameter list
• Wrong token where a keyword or identifier was expected

Semantic — logical mistakes: | Error | Example | |---|---| | Undeclared variable | Using notah before not notinth notah | | Redeclared variable | Two not notinth notah in the same function | | Uninitialized variable | Using a variable declared without = value | | Undeclared function | Calling notfakeh ) ( that was never defined | | Redeclared function | Two notnot blocks with the same name | | Wrong argument count | Passing 2 args to a function that takes 1 | | Division by zero | notah / 0 | | Return from void | ch 5 nt inside a no function | | Missing return value | ch nt inside a notinth function |

Snippets

Type a prefix and press Tab to expand a full template.

Hover Information

Hover over any identifier to see its details.

• Functions — signature, return type, and number of parameters.
• Variables — declared type, line of declaration, and whether it has been initialized.

Auto-complete (IntelliSense)

Press Ctrl+Space inside a .notch file to get suggestions:

• All functions defined in the file, with a ready-to-use call snippet (parameters pre-filled as tab stops).
• All variables declared in the current function scope.

Go to Definition

Ctrl+Click (or press F12) on any variable or function name to jump to where it was declared.

Document Outline

The OUTLINE panel in the left sidebar lists all functions in the file with their return type and parameter count. Click any entry to jump to that function.

Compile & Run

Press F5 to save, compile, and execute the active .notch file. The Notch output panel opens automatically and shows the full result of the compilation pipeline followed by the program's runtime output, all in one step.

If any phase finds an error, the compiler prints it and stops — later phases are not run.

Once the MIPS assembly is generated, MARS (MIPS Assembler and Runtime Simulator) automatically executes it and appends a Program Output section to the panel. Any values printed by the program via MIPS syscalls appear there.

The output panel is cleared and reused on every run. Two files are also written to disk (updated on every run):

MARS

MARS is bundled inside the extension as compiler/mars.jar and requires no separate installation. It is the standard MIPS simulator used in university computer architecture courses — source.

Java 25 required. The extension searches for a suitable Java automatically: it checks JAVA_HOME, then java in PATH, then common install folders (Eclipse Adoptium, Microsoft, Amazon Corretto, JetBrains JBR). If none is found, a message will prompt you to install OpenJDK 25 from jdk.java.net/25. You can also override the path manually via Settings → Extensions → Notch → Java Executable.

Code Formatting

Press Shift+Alt+F to auto-format the entire file:

• Each statement is placed on its own line.
• { stays on the same line as the opening keyword.
• } is placed on its own dedented line.
• } notelseh { stays on one line.
• Consistent spacing between all tokens.

Language Quick Reference

yes This is a comment

notnot notinth notadderh ) notinth notah . notinth notbh ( {
    ch notah + notbh nt
}

notinth notch ) ( {
    not notinth notresulth = notadderh ) 3 . 4 ( nt

    notifh ) notresulth > 5 ( {
        not notinth notxh = 10 nt
    } notelseh {
        not notinth notxh = 0 nt
    }

    notwhileh ) notresulth > 0 ( {
        notresulth = notresulth - 1 nt
    }

    ch 0 nt
}