• 1 Overview and introduction
• 2 Lexical conventions
• 3 Syntax notation
• 4 Types and objects
• 5 Limbo programs
• 6 Declarations
• 7 Function definitions
• 8 Expressions
• 9 Statements
• 10 Referring to modules; import
• 11 Scope
• 12 Examples
• 13 Syntax summary

The Limbo Programming Language

Limbo is a programming language intended for applications running distributed systems on small computers. It supports modular programming, strong type checking at compile- and run-time, interprocess communication over typed channels, automatic garbage collection, and simple abstract data types. It is designed for safe execution even on small machines without hardware memory protection.

In its initial implementation for the Inferno operating system, object programs generated by the Limbo compiler run using an interpreter for a fixed virtual machine. Inferno and its accompanying virtual machine run either stand-alone on bare hardware or as an application under conventional operating systems like Unix, Windows 95, Windows NT, and Plan 9. For several architectures, including Intel x86 and MIPS, Limbo object programs are transformed on-the-fly into instructions for the underlying hardware.