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🚀 Welcome

Stof: Because 47 Data Formats Weren't Enough

{% hint style="success" %} Plot twist: This one actually unifies them all (even the complex ones, like PDF, 3D, etc.). {% endhint %}

Stop juggling YAML, JSON, TOML, and custom configs. Write once, use everywhere, with the power of a programming language built right in. Stof is the simplest way to combine and transform data in a singular interface.

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💡 Why Developers Need Lots of Stof

"Holy sh*t, my configs actually work now"

Configurations with logic and validation will give you a full night's sleep.

database: {
    const str host: env("DB_HOST") ?? "localhost" // logic & types!
    int max_connections: 100
    ms timeout: 3s                                // units!
    GiB storage: 2TiB
    
    // validation
    fn validate() -> bool {
        const connections = self.max_connections;
        connections > 0 && connections < 1_000 && self.timeout > 100ms
    }
    
    // fixes itself
    fn tune(load: int) {
        self.max_connections = min(load * 2, 500);
    }
}

#[main]
// deploy with confidence
fn deploy() {
    assert(self.database.validate());
    
    // ops team will thank you
}

"Wait, I can stop maintaining 17 different files?"

Before Stof, you probably had:

• docker-compose.yml (but different for each env)
• kubernetes/production.yaml (copy-pasted from dev)
• monitoring/alerts.json (never updated)
• so many more...

After Stof:

import "@docker"; // I/O any type of data (Stof, JSON, TOML, PDF, DOCX, PNG, etc.)
import "template.yml" as self.ComposeTemplate;

const app: {
    name: "my-service";  // optional comma or semi-colon (trailing too)
    version: 1.2.3-beta  // semantic versions as a base type
}

fn docker_compose(env: str = "staging") -> DockerCompose {
    /* generate compose using self.ComposeTemplate fields */
}
fn kubernetes_manifest(env: str = "staging") -> obj { /* generate k8s obj */ }
// ... anything else you need

// One source of truth, infinite possibilities

"My users can finally script safely"

With Stof's customizable sandbox, control every aspect of how users can interact:

#[handler]
// Untrusted user code, sent with the request
fn custom_endpoint_handler() -> Response {
    let c = fs.read("path"); // error - file sys not available inside sandbox
    
    new Response {
        user_id: data.user.id,
        timestamp: Time.now() as seconds,
        processed: true,
    }
}

// You sleep peacefully knowing:
// ❌ They can't access your filesystem  
// ❌ They can't make network calls
// ❌ They can't see other users' data
// ✅ They CAN solve their problems

🌎 Real-World Examples

• Data-Mesh/Orchestration glue-layer between systems
• Smart Configs with logic, units, and validation
• AI Model Configs that package ML models with preprocessing logic
• API request/response transformations and schemas
• Self-Describing Datasets that automatically tag and validate themselves
• Data pipelines with built-in processing and optimization
• Templates that generate other formats

🔮 The Magic: It's All Just Data

Unlike traditional programming languages, everything in Stof is data:

• Store it in databases
• Send it over APIs
• Version control it
• Merge, split, import, & export
• Convert to any format

const list users: [              // optional field type and const
    {
        name: "Joe Schmo",       // commas or semi-colons accepted, but optional
        cm height: 6ft + 1in     // unit types and declarations are expressions
        age: +32;                // trailing commas or semi-colons
    },                           // trailing commas in arrays
]

fn joe() -> obj {                // functions, fields, and complex data
    for (const user in self.users) {
        if (user.name.lower().contains("joe")) return user;
    }
    null
}

#[main]                          // func & field attributes for control
#[custom({'ex': true})]          // metadata values (funcs, maps, objs, etc.)
fn main() {
    const joe = self.joe();
    assert(this.attributes().get("custom").get("ex"));
    
    async {                                // async at the core (funcs & exprs too)
        let body = stringify("toml", joe); // format I/O (binary & parse too)
        body.push("stof = true\n");
        pln(body);
    }
}

> stof run example.stof
age = 32
height = 185.42
name = "Joe Schmo"
stof = true

{% hint style="success" %} JSON object & field syntax is also supported. {% endhint %}

Crates & Versions

{% hint style="info" %} Stof: v0.8.*

CLI: v0.11.* {% endhint %}