Syntax & Symbols

How It Works

NoShift.js uses ^ (caret) as a prefix to represent shifted symbols. The mapping is based on a Japanese JIS keyboard layout.

Symbol Map

Template expression: ^4^[ → ${

Capitalize Modifier

^6 capitalizes the next character. Useful for class names, constants, etc.:

class ^6animal ^[
  constructor^8name^9 ^[
    this.name ^- name;
  ^]
^]

Compiles to:

class Animal {
  constructor(name) {
    this.name = name;
  }
}

Comments

Line comments use // as usual. Block comments use /^: to open and ^:/ to close:

// line comment

/^: block comment ^:/

/^:
  multi-line
  block comment
^:/

Compiles to:

// line comment

/* block comment */

/*
  multi-line
  block comment
*/

Escaping in Strings

Inside string literals (^2...^2, ^7...^7, ^@...^@), ^ sequences are not converted to shifted symbols. This allows you to include literal ^ characters:

^2^5^2
^7^5^7
^@^5^@

Compiles to:

"^5"
'^5'
`^5`

Template Literals

Template literals use ^@ (backtick) and template expressions use ^4^[ (${) to start and ^] (}) to end:

^@^5^4^[^2Hello World!^2^]^@

Compiles to:

`^5${"Hello World!"}`

Shebang

Use #^1 instead of #! for shebangs on the first line. The ^1 maps to ! as usual:

#^1/usr/bin/env node
console.log^8^2^6hello^2^9;

Compiles to:

#!/usr/bin/env node
console.log("Hello");

Bitwise & Shift Operations

JavaScript's bitwise operators work in NoShift.js using existing ^ sequences. The XOR operator (^) uses ^0 since the caret character is the NoShift.js prefix:

// XOR: ^0 --> ^
const a ^- 5 ^0 3;

// XOR assignment: ^0^- --> ^=
let b ^- 7;
b ^0^- 3;

// AND: @and, OR: @or, NOT: ^^
const c ^- 5 @and 3;
const d ^- 5 @or 3;
const e ^- ^^5;

// Left shift: ^,^,  Right shift: ^.^.
const f ^- 1 ^,^, 3;
const g ^- 8 ^.^. 1;
const h ^- -1 ^.^.^. 0;

Compiles to:

// XOR: ^0 --> ^
const a = 5 ^ 3;

// XOR assignment: ^0^- --> ^=
let b = 7;
b ^= 3;

// AND: @and, OR: @or, NOT: ^^
const c = 5 & 3;
const d = 5 | 3;
const e = ~5;

// Left shift: ^,^,  Right shift: ^.^.
const f = 1 << 3;
const g = 8 >> 1;
const h = -1 >>> 0;

Hello World

Input:

console.log^8^2^6hello ^6world!^2^9;

Output:

console.log("Hello World!");

Keyword Aliases

NoShift.js provides keyword aliases for logical and bitwise operators. These keywords are only replaced in code (not inside strings or comments):

Compound Assignment

Compound assignment operators are also available as keyword aliases:

const a ^- true or false;\nconst b ^- 5 @and 3;\nlet c ^- null;\nc or^- ^2default^2;

const a = true || false;\nconst b = 5 & 3;\nlet c = null;\nc ||= "default";