Core-0 Edition

Status: normative target edition; implementation is partial

Core-0 defines one C-family, object/message-oriented language with explicit ownership, effects, contracts, and a target-independent checked module. Only ordered algorithm messages execute in this edition. workflow, compute, state, and optimize are reserved and rejected with the stable deferred- domain diagnostic.

Normative documents

• lexical-and-syntax.md — C0-LEX and C0-SYN
• modules-packages-and-authority.md — C0-MOD, C0-PKG, C0-AUTH, and C0-IFACE
• objects-types-and-messages.md — C0-OBJ, C0-TYPE, C0-MSG, C0-GEN, and C0-NUM
• ownership-effects-errors-and-contracts.md — C0-OWN, C0-INIT, C0-DROP, C0-EFF, C0-ERR, and C0-CONTRACT
• checked-artifacts-and-execution.md — C0-ART, C0-EXEC, C0-REFL, and C0-DET
• core-0.ebnf — complete generated .zl/.zli surface grammar
• diagnostics.md — C0-DIAG structured diagnostic contract
• semantic-reference.md — detailed normative elaboration inherited from the initial Core-0 specification

Each stable clause has the form C0-FAMILY-NNN. Lettered items within a clause are cited as, for example, C0-CONTRACT-002(b). Clause identifiers are semantic API identifiers, not document section numbers.

Conformance boundary

A conforming Core-0 implementation must accept and reject according to all active clauses, produce structured diagnostics, and emit executable output only from checked portable semantics. Interpreter and native materializers must not maintain independent language front ends or silently choose different ownership, effect, contract, dispatch, or numeric behavior.

Conformance is all-or-nothing for a claimed feature set. A partial bootstrap must expose its implementation profile and reject unsupported syntax; parsing a construct is not a claim that its semantics are implemented.