Cangurul

The kangaroo sits on a grid field. The student writes a program with simple commands — STEP, JUMP, ROTATE, loops, conditions, and procedures — and the kangaroo runs it, drawing lines on the field. A handful of commands is enough for letters, squares, spirals, and even the kangaroo's own name. Cangurul 3 is a Rust rewrite of the “Cangurul” program (version 2), and old .cng files open and run unchanged. Cangurul is Romanian for “the kangaroo”.

Download Cangurul · Program website · Source code on GitHub

Download and install¶

On the Releases page, pick the right file:

• Windows: the .msi installer adds Cangurul to the Start menu, and .cng files open with a double click. The .zip needs no installation: unzip it and run Cangurul.exe.
• macOS: open the .dmg and drag Cangurul.app onto Applications. The app is not signed with an Apple certificate, so on first launch: right click → Open (on macOS 15+: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway).
• Linux: sudo apt install ./cangurul-*.deb or chmod +x cangurul-*.AppImage && ./cangurul-*.AppImage.

The language¶

Conditions: IS_BORDER (the kangaroo is facing the edge of the field) and IS_LINE (there is already a line, or the edge, in front of it). The kangaroo starts in the top-left corner, facing right.

First program: a square¶

Four sides of 5 steps each, with a turn after each one:

// A square with a side of 5 steps
[
repeat 4 times
    repeat 5 times
        step
    end repeat
    rotate
end repeat
]

Conditional loops: the spiral¶

The original “Spirala” example: the kangaroo walks forward until it hits a line (or the edge), then turns. Since each lap stops in front of the line from the previous lap, the drawing winds in toward the center. Here it is in Romanian, as it ships with the program:

// Acest program prezinta
//  modul de a desena o
//       Spirala
[
cit nu e_linie
    cit nu e_linie
        pas
    sfirsitul ciclului
    rotire
sfirsitul ciclului
]

Keywords in three languages¶

They can be written in any of the languages, with or without diacritics, in upper or lower case.

Code analyzer¶

The program is checked on every change, and the analyzer finds all the mistakes, not just the first one:

• misspelled words get a wavy underline (red = error, yellow = warning); hovering shows the explanation;
• the Problems list below the editor shows every error, and a click takes the cursor to the word;
• misspelled words get a suggested fix (“Did you mean JUMP?”) that the Fix button applies;
• a program with errors won't run; warnings (unused procedures, empty blocks, WHILE loops that don't move the kangaroo) don't block it.

Keyboard shortcuts¶

What's new compared to the original¶