Working on the ArkScript package manager

[SuperFola]

At this point where modules are starting to be more numerous, we should (imo) consider having an ArkScript package manager.

Won't be for the 3.1.0, more like a 3.2.0 or even a 3.x.0

[BioTheWolff]

So a module could potentially be added through a site (i.e. pypi)?

The idea is interesting, it would allow to easily create ArkScript packages and allow people to use them easily.

Would all native packages still be in C++? Would they instead be written in ArkScript?
Would all the available packages be ArkScript or could they also be C++?

[SuperFola]

Yes, the basic idea would be to be able to do a [package manager command] install github.com/user/package<@version>, with a listing of the available packages on a website we would host.

We still need to discuss where it will be hosted, if we want to host a listing that only the dev team will update or if other developers could create an account and add their package, the TOS will need to be established long before putting this online (we don't want people to reserve package names, as some are doing on npm or crates). The version would be optional, and fetched from the the releases of a github/gitlab/git thing repository. The installation of a package should be in a folder named package<@version> to be able to have different versions of the same package, but again we don't know yet if we want that to be in a .arkpackages/ in the home directory of the user, or in a arkpackages/ in the user project folder (as node is doing for non global packages).

(the current name we have in mind is nuclear, as the lib file generated to embed ArkScript is named ArkReactor)

I don't know what you mean by "native packages", like packages operating on a system level (networking and stuff)?

I personnally thing it would be interesting to have both C++ packages (using the ArkScript API) and ArkScript packages handled by the package manager. Probably a file arkpackage.[toml/yaml/json/whatever] describing the module, author, type (C++ or ArkScript) and stuff would help

[SuperFola]

Bumping it, I started working on a proof of concept: https://github.com/ArkScript-lang/nuclear

[SuperFola]

The package manager is now nearly ready to be used in projects, you can find it here: https://github.com/ArkScript-lang/nuclear