io ☆

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Description:
Small prototype-based programming language

Type: Formula | Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Developer tools

Tags: programming-language prototype-based scripting development

Install: brew install io

About:
Io is a dynamic, prototype-based programming language in the same family as Smalltalk and Self. It is distinguished by its minimalist design, featuring a small, fast virtual machine and a simple, uniform syntax where everything is an object and messages are used to invoke behavior.

Key Features:

Prototype-based object model
Small and fast virtual machine
Simple, uniform syntax
Concurrent programming support via actors
Extensible via C bindings

Use Cases:

Embedded scripting in applications
Exploring prototype-based programming concepts
Concurrent and distributed system modeling
Language research and experimentation

Alternatives:

Lua – Lua is a more widely adopted embeddable scripting language with a focus on performance and simplicity, but uses a different data model.
Smalltalk – Smalltalk is the canonical prototype-based language, but Io aims for a much smaller core and simpler syntax.
JavaScript – JavaScript shares the prototype-based model but is primarily designed for web browsers and has a much larger, more complex standard library.

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 26, 2025 2:38am		1	VERSION_BUMP	1b873725
Nov 26, 2022 7:49pm		1	VERSION_BUMP	3ca96be4