What is new in Ring 1.26

In this chapter we will learn about the changes and new features in Ring 1.26 release.

List of changes and new features

Ring 1.26 comes with the next features!

• Tank3D Game

• DaveTheFighter Game

• LineDrawing3D Game

• CodeRooms3D Game

• RingSlint Package

• Archive Package

• Proc Package

• Closure Package

• Rust Bindings for Ring

• Prompt Driven Development

• Better RingQt

• Better RingRayLib

• More Improvements

Tank3D Game

Folder: ring/applications/tank3d

The Tank3D Game (12 Levels)

DaveTheFighter Game

Folder: ring/applications/davethefighter

LineDrawing3D Game

Folder: ring/applications/linedrawing3d

CodeRooms3D Game

Folder: ring/applications/coderooms3d

The player is trapped in a world of rooms separated by closed doors.

To open each door, you must push code blocks into the correct order on the assembly line to form a valid program.

RingSlint Package

Build Beautiful, Native Applications for Desktop and Mobile

Install:

ringpm install ring-slint

Archive Package

Archive manipulation library

• Multiple Formats: TAR, ZIP, 7-Zip, CPIO, ISO9660, RAR (read-only)

• Multiple Compressions: GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, LZMA, ZSTD, LZ4

• Encryption Support: AES-256, AES-128, ZipCrypt for ZIP archives

• Cross-Platform: Works on Windows, Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD

• High-Level API: Simple archive_extract(), archive_create(), archive_list()

• OOP Interface: Clean ArchiveReader, ArchiveWriter, Archive, ArchiveEntry classes

• Static Linking: All dependencies built-in, no external libraries needed

Install:

ringpm install archive

Example:

load "archive.ring"

// OOP Interface - Reading

reader = new ArchiveReader("myarchive.tar.gz")

while reader.nextEntry()
        ? "File: " + reader.entryPath()
        ? "Size: " + reader.entrySize()
        if reader.entryIsFile()
                ? "Content: " + reader.readAll()
        ok
end

reader.close()

// OOP Interface - Writing

writer = new ArchiveWriter(ARCHIVE_FORMAT_ZIP, ARCHIVE_COMPRESSION_NONE)

writer.open("output.zip")
writer.addFile("hello.txt", "Hello World!")
writer.addFile("data.json", '{"key": "value"}')
writer.addDirectory("subdir/")

writer.close()

Proc Package

Subprocess management library

• Create Subprocesses: Spawn child processes with full control over I/O

• I/O Redirection: Read/write to subprocess stdin, stdout, stderr

• Environment Control: Pass custom environment variables

• Cross-Platform: Works on Windows, Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD

• High-Level API: Simple proc_shell() and proc_run() for common use cases

• OOP Interface: Clean object-oriented Process and Shell classes

Install:

ringpm install proc

Example:

load "proc.ring"

// Using Process class
proc = new Process(["cat"], PROC_SEARCH_USER_PATH)
proc.writeLine("Hello from Ring!")
proc.closeStdin()
proc.join()
? proc.stdout()
proc.destroy()

// Using Shell class
shell = new Shell
? shell.capture("pwd")              // Get output
? shell.success("test -f file.txt") // Check if command succeeded

Closure Package

We can create an anonymous function that capture specific variables.

Install:

ringpm install closure

Using closure() capture variables by value.

For lists/objects we can change this behaviour (optional) using the Ref() function.

The first parameter to closure() is a list of variables to capture we can type

• :variable_name

• :variable_name = value

• :variable_name = ref(list/object)

The second parameter is an anonymous function that could use the captured variables

Example:

load "closure.ring"

func main

        inc = increment()

        ? isClosure(inc) # Prints 1

        ? invoke(inc) # Prints 11
        ? invoke(inc) # Prints 12

        for m = 1 to 1000
                invoke(inc)
        next

        ? invoke(inc)

        dec = decrement()
        ? invoke(dec)
        ? invoke(inc)
        ? invoke(dec)

func increment

        x = 10

        return closure([:x], func {
                x++
                return x
        })

func decrement

        x = 100

        return closure([:x], func {
                x--
                return x
        })

Output:

1
11
12
1013
99
1014
98

Rust Bindings for Ring

URL: https://github.com/ysdragon/ring-lang-rs

• Write Ring extensions in Rust (Native extensions with Rust’s safety and performance)

• Embed Ring in Rust applications (Run Ring scripts from your Rust programs)

• Wrap Rust crates for Ring (Expose any Rust library to Ring applications)

Prompt Driven Development

Prompt Driven Development with Claude Code: Building a Complete TUI Framework for the Ring Programming Language

URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.17584

This study presents an empirical analysis of developing a 7420 line Terminal User Interface framework for the Ring programming language, completed in roughly ten hours of active work spread across three days using a purely prompt driven workflow with Claude Code, Opus 4.5.

The framework was produced through 107 prompts: 21 feature requests, 72 bug fix prompts, 9 prompts sharing information from Ring documentation, 4 prompts providing architectural guidance, and 1 prompt dedicated to generating documentation.

The resulting framework includes a complete windowing subsystem, event driven architecture, interactive widgets, hierarchical menus, grid and tree components, tab controls, and a multi window desktop environment.

Note

The framework is developed for MS‑Windows using the RingRogueUtil library. With a few updates, it could be fully ported to Linux and macOS.

ringpm install TUIFrameworkUsingClaudeCode
ringpm run TUIFrameworkUsingClaudeCode

Better RingQt

1. The next classes are added

Class	Class	Class	Class
QFormLayout	QElapsedTimer	QSizeF	QMargins
QRadialGradient	QConicalGradient	QDoubleSpinBox	QDialogButtonBox
QSpacerItem	QToolTip	QMarginsF	QSettings
QDataStream	QStandardItemModel	QStandardItem	QSortFilterProxyModel
QItemSelectionModel	QPalette	QKeyEvent	QMouseEvent
QWheelEvent	QPolygon	QPolygonF	QTextBlockFormat
QTextListFormat	QTextTableFormat	QTextFrameFormat	QTextTable
QTextTableCell	QTextFrame	QTextList	QStaticText
QPageSize	QPageLayout	QShortcut	QProgressDialog
QToolBox	QWizard	QWizardPage	QUndoCommand
QSizePolicy	QErrorMessage	QCommandLinkButton	QRubberBand
QSplitterHandle	QSizeGrip	QSqlQueryModel	QSqlTableModel
QSqlRelation	QSqlRelationalTableModel	QSqlRelationalDelegate	QUndoStack
QStackedLayout	QFileSystemWatcher	QTemporaryFile	QSaveFile
QDataWidgetMapper	QStyledItemDelegate	QKeySequenceEdit	QUndoView
QColumnView	QNetworkConfigurationManager	QNetworkCookie	QNetworkCookieJar
QNetworkInterface	QSslCertificate	QSslConfiguration	QSslKey
QSslSocket	QUdpSocket	QAudioDeviceInfo	QAudioFormat
QAudioInput	QAudioProbe	QAudioRecorder	QMediaRecorder
QSoundEffect	QVideoProbe

2. Added: setPlaceholderText() method to QTextEdit/QPlainTextEdit classes

3. Added: toString() method to QUrl class

4. Enum support is revised in all classes

5. The macOS version of RingQt does not use Qt WebEngine

6. No warning message when loading lightguilib.ring after guilib.ring is already loaded

Better RingRayLib

Added more functions to deliver full support for RayLib 5.0

Function	Function	Function	Function
IsWindowFullscreen	IsWindowMaximized	IsWindowFocused	IsWindowState
SetWindowState	ClearWindowState	ToggleBorderlessWindowed	MaximizeWindow
MinimizeWindow	RestoreWindow	SetWindowMaxSize	SetWindowOpacity
SetWindowFocused	GetRenderWidth	GetRenderHeight	GetCurrentMonitor
GetMonitorRefreshRate	EnableEventWaiting	DisableEventWaiting	SetWindowIcons
GetMonitorPosition	GetWindowPosition	GetWindowScaleDPI	IsCursorOnScreen
GetCameraMatrix2D	GetScreenToWorld2D	GetWorldToScreenEx	GetWorldToScreen2D
IsKeyPressedRepeat	GetCharPressed	SetGamepadMappings	GetMouseDelta
GetMouseWheelMoveV	SetMouseCursor	GetTouchPointId	GetTouchPointCount
UpdateCameraPro	DrawCircleLinesV	DrawEllipse	DrawEllipseLines
DrawTriangleStrip	DrawPolyLines	DrawPolyLinesEx	DrawSplineLinear
DrawSplineBasis	DrawSplineCatmullRom	DrawSplineBezierQuadratic	DrawSplineBezierCubic
DrawSplineSegmentLinear	DrawSplineSegmentBasis	DrawSplineSegmentCatmullRom	DrawSplineSegmentBezierQuadratic
DrawSplineSegmentBezierCubic	GetSplinePointLinear	GetSplinePointBasis	GetSplinePointCatmullRom
GetSplinePointBezierQuad	GetSplinePointBezierCubic	CheckCollisionPointPoly	CheckCollisionLines
CheckCollisionPointLine	DrawPoint3D	DrawTriangle3D	DrawTriangleStrip3D
DrawCylinderEx	DrawCylinderWiresEx	DrawCapsule	DrawCapsuleWires
LoadImageRaw	LoadImageSvg	LoadImageAnim	LoadImageFromMemory
LoadImageFromTexture	LoadImageFromScreen	IsImageReady	ExportImageToMemory
ImageFromImage	ImageBlurGaussian	ImageRotate	LoadImagePalette
UnloadImageColors	UnloadImagePalette	GetImageAlphaBorder	GetImageColor
ImageClearBackground	ImageDrawPixel	ImageDrawPixelV	ImageDrawLine
ImageDrawLineV	ImageDrawCircle	ImageDrawCircleV	ImageDrawCircleLines
ImageDrawCircleLinesV	ImageDrawRectangle	ImageDrawRectangleV	ImageDrawRectangleRec
ImageDrawRectangleLines	ImageDrawText	IsTextureReady	IsRenderTextureReady
UpdateTextureRec	ColorFromNormalized	ColorTint	ColorBrightness
ColorContrast	ColorAlpha	ColorAlphaBlend	GetPixelColor
SetPixelColor	LoadFontFromMemory	IsFontReady	LoadFontData
UnloadFontData	GetGlyphAtlasRec	DrawTextPro	DrawTextCodepoint
DrawTextCodepoints	SetTextLineSpacing	GetGlyphInfo	LoadUTF8
UnloadUTF8	LoadCodepoints	UnloadCodepoints	GetCodepointCount
GetCodepoint	GetCodepointNext	GetCodepointPrevious	CodepointToUTF8
IsModelReady	GetModelBoundingBox	DrawBillboardPro	UploadMesh
UpdateMeshBuffer	DrawMesh	DrawMeshInstanced	GenMeshTangents
GenMeshCone	IsMaterialReady	GetRayCollisionSphere	GetRayCollisionMesh
GetRayCollisionTriangle	GetRayCollisionQuad	LoadShaderFromMemory	IsShaderReady
GetShaderLocationAttrib	IsWaveReady	IsSoundReady	SetSoundPan
LoadWaveSamples	UnloadWaveSamples	LoadMusicStreamFromMemory	IsMusicReady
SeekMusicStream	SetMusicPan	LoadAudioStream	IsAudioStreamReady
UnloadAudioStream	IsAudioStreamProcessed	SetAudioStreamPan	LoadVrStereoConfig
UnloadVrStereoConfig	BeginVrStereoMode	EndVrStereoMode	LoadFileData
UnloadFileData	SaveFileData	ExportDataAsCode	LoadFileText
UnloadFileText	SaveFileText	DirectoryExists	GetFileLength
GetFileExtension	GetPrevDirectoryPath	GetApplicationDirectory	IsPathFile
CompressData	DecompressData	EncodeDataBase64	DecodeDataBase64
SetTraceLogLevel	SetRandomSeed	LoadRandomSequence	UnloadRandomSequence
MemAlloc	MemRealloc	MemFree	GetMasterVolume
WaitTime	GenImageText	ExportFontAsCode	LoadWaveFromMemory
LoadSoundAlias	UnloadSoundAlias	IsMusicStreamPlaying	TextCopy
PollInputEvents	SwapScreenBuffer	SetAudioStreamBufferSizeDefault	UnloadModelAnimations

More Improvements

• Added Sample - ring/samples/UsingQt/Layouts/qformlayout.ring

• Building - build/buildgcc.sh - improve POSIX compliance

• Building - language/CMakeLists.txt - Explicitly set project language to C

• NaturalLib - Improved implementation for supporting shared keywords across commands

• NaturalLib - Support callerSetVar()/callerGetVar() in commands that uses Expressions

• RingStbImage - The stb_image.h file is updated from v2.28 to v2.30

• RingStbImage - Improved Implementation of Image‑Loading Functions

• RingStbImage - Use a binary string as the output for zlib functions

• Left(cStr,nCount) - Return cStr when the requested size exceeds the string length

• Right(cStr,nCount) - Return cStr when the requested size exceeds the string length

• SubStr(cStr,nPos,nCount) - Return cStr when the requested size exceeds the string length

• Ring Lists - ring_list_deleteitem_gc() - Better implementation (order of operations)

• Ring VM - Using Ref() - Collecting Cycles - Better Performance

• Ring Notepad - Using QtWebView on macOS instead of Qt WebEngine