[usl]

Hey HN,

I built something I wish I had years ago.

USL (Universal Scripting Language) is a symbolic syntax system that lets you write logic once, and output that logic into 111+ real programming languages — Python, Rust, C++, JS, Java, Go, etc.

Upload a .usl file into the hosted app → choose any language(s) → download a .zip of the real code.

It supports:

Symbolic logic for print, assign, function, loop, if, etc.

Custom syntax templates for each language

A web app with multiselect UI + ZIP bundling

Gumroad option to support or unlock everything ($5)

App + Source: https://townsendatomics.gumroad.com/l/usl

I’d love your thoughts on:

How it could be more useful for devs/teachers

Any language you'd want added

Whether this belongs as a CLI tool, VS Code plugin, or playground next

Happy to answer anything or collab. Thanks for reading!

[danpalmer]

Hey, congrats on the launch. I'm interested in what use-case led you to create this? What problem does it solve?

I've had a little experience translating code between languages (ObjC/Swift, Javascript/Python), and it has been frustrating, not because of re-stating the logic, but due to different availability of libraries, different execution semantics (e.g. async/await), different type systems, etc.

Also, it looks like USL is a new language? Did you consider something like CEL instead (Common Expression Language, https://cel.dev/), which seems to be doing something similar for the expression of basic logic.

[usl]

It's a new language. I haven't tried cel, but USL transpiles all of the logic--I'll keep working on it and make sure it works as you've mentioned.

I was curious to see if I could do something like this for fun. It currently works with 111 languages from the 40/50s-today.

[kej]

I think the landing page would be a lot more convincing with more examples. Show some simple scripts and a few of the generated outputs so people can get an idea of what your app is capable of.

[crancher]

Absolutely. Huge claim with zero examples is hmm.

[TylerE]

I find it impossible to take a $5 product seriously. It’s either a complete toy or the company will disappear inside of a year, or both. That isn’t a sustainable business model.

Edit: Aldo the very first line of the very first example has. Basic syntax error (missing. Terminal quote in string constant).

[usl]

Can you post it so I can see please? Which languages did you try?

It's the first release--early bird pricing to raise funds for development.