The ucode language is a small, general-purpose scripting language that resembles ECMAScript syntax. It can be used as a standalone interpreter or embedded into host applications. Ucode supports template mode with control flow and expression logic statements embedded in Jinja-like markup blocks.
The development of ucode was motivated by the need to rewrite the OpenWrt firewall framework using nftables. Initially intended as a template processor, ucode evolved into a versatile scripting language for various system scripting tasks. Its design goals include easy integration with C applications, efficient handling of JSON data and complex data structures, support for OpenWrt's ubus message bus system, and a comprehensive set of built-in functions inspired by Perl 5.
Ucode provides the ability to embed code logic into plain text templates, supports JSON parsing and serialization, has distinct array and object types, includes built-in support for bit operations and regular expressions, and offers bindings for relevant Linux and OpenWrt APIs. It follows ECMAScript syntax for familiarity and reusability of existing tooling, emphasizes synchronous programming flow, aims for a small executable size, and can be embedded into C host applications.
In summary, ucode is a synchronous scripting language resembling ECMAScript, designed for template processing, system scripting tasks, and integration into C applications, with features such as JSON support, comprehensive built-in functions, and bindings for relevant APIs.
The ucode package should be already preinstalled on modern OpenWrt releases.
To learn how to install it on other systems, refer to the Installation Section in the documentation.
The most up-to-date documentation is hosted at the ucode documentation portal.
You can build the documentation yourself by running npm install followed by
npm run doc in the cloned repository. The generated documentation will be
placed in the docs/ directory.
Examples for embedding ucode into C applications can be found in the
examples/ directory.
Notable OpenWrt programs embedding ucode are the OpenWrt ubus rpc daemon and the Tiny uhttpd web server.
Some ucode scripting examples can be found in the ucode testcase sources.
Projects using ucode scripting include the OpenWrt LuCI web interface and the OpenWrt firewall4 framework.