Launch status
What Hew can do today, and where it is headed
Hew is usable now for compiling and running real programs with actors, supervision, state machines, wire types, and native LLVM output. This page keeps the boundary clear: current release, next hardening work, and longer-horizon direction.
v0.9.3 Release versions and HEW-SPEC revisions are tracked separately. A Hew release may implement a language-spec level whose syntax history uses a different version number. HEW-SPEC →
Browser examples compile and run locally. Choose Run remotely to send source to the hosted compiler service. Install Hew → Report a bug →
Current release
Next hardening
Longer direction
Compiler and native binaries
Current release
v0.9.3 builds Hew programs through the Rust frontend and Rust LLVM backend into native binaries.Next hardening
Keep build and install paths uniform across macOS, Linux, and Windows.Longer direction
A smoother package/project workflow around the compiler and the Hew CLI.Actors and supervision
Current release
Local actors, typed message passing, supervisors, restart budgets, and time windows are available.Next hardening
Tighten runtime edges, examples, and diagnostics around long-running services.Longer direction
Extend the supervision model uniformly across distributed and service-oriented code.Structured concurrency
Current release
Task scopes, cooperative cancellation, select/join patterns, and state machines are documented and usable.Next hardening
Clarify cancellation and cleanup paths in examples and docs.Longer direction
Broader runtime guarantees around cancellation-sensitive resources.Wire types and protocols
Current release
Wire types, field tags, MessagePack encoders, and compatibility checks are available for versioned schemas.Next hardening
Make protocol examples easier to run and compare.Longer direction
Broader protocol-safety guarantees across more distributed paths.Distributed actors
Current release
Actor calls return Result<R, ActorError>, so callers handle failures explicitly. Wire-safe message types are in place.Next hardening
Define sharper behavior and failure boundaries for cluster membership and remote operations.Longer direction
Native cross-node placement, cluster behavior, remote ask/send semantics, and deployment ergonomics.Playground and learning
Current release
The browser playground runs single-file examples against the released compiler service, with docs, Learn, and Ask AI available.Next hardening
Add more guided examples, share links, and explicit sandbox limits.Longer direction
A stronger examples gallery and launch-post learning path.Resource cleanup
Current release
Ordinary owned values release recursively; <code>#[resource]</code> values close at scope exit, while <code>#[linear]</code> values must be explicitly consumed.Next hardening
Keep ownership and teardown contracts visible beside resource APIs.Longer direction
Broader checked ownership contracts for external and runtime-managed resources.Keep going
Run an example, install the compiler, or join the community discussion around the current release.