SharpForge

This project is under active development.

SharpForge is a C# scripting toolchain for Warcraft III: Reforged map development. It lets map authors write selected systems in strongly typed C#, emit plain Lua, bundle that Lua with existing Lua projects, and inject the result into a .w3x map.

Philosophy

• Do one thing and do it well. Each tool has a narrow job: transpile C# to Lua, bundle Lua, inject maps, generate JASS bindings, or orchestrate those tools in the GUI.
• Integrate with your current toolchain. World Editor still owns terrain, object data, and placed units. SharpForge fits beside your editor, source tree, Lua modules, and map build process.
• Do not reinvent the JASS API. SharpForge does not translate platform calls into a fantasy object model. KillUnit(unit) stays KillUnit(unit), not unit.Kill().
• Migrate incrementally. Existing Lua modules keep working. New C# code can call into Lua, Lua can call generated output, and projects can move one subsystem at a time.
• Emit performant Lua. Generated code is direct Lua with a small helper surface. Collections like List<T> and Dictionary<K,V> are transpiled as regular classes via an external C# library over the Lua API.
• Keep the runtime small. SharpForge provides only the helpers needed by emitted code and interop stubs. It does not ship a broad standard-library translation layer.

Discussion

https://www.hiveworkshop.com/threads/wip-introducing-sharpforge-a-c-to-lua-toolchain.371979

Sample Projects

• https://github.com/yatyricky/lua-maps

Documentation

• CLI - man page for sf-transpile, sf-build, and sf-jassgen.
• GUI - GUI wrapper behavior and fields.
• Generated Lua - emitted Lua shape, lowering stack vocabulary, root table contract, runtime bias, and build notes.

Language Features

Each lowering feature is documented by its test file in tests/Transpiler.Tests/. Tests contain C# source input and expected Lua output, serving as the language specification:

TypesTests, OperatorsTests, StringsTests, ControlFlowTests, ClassesTests, InheritanceTests, StructsTests, EnumsTests, ExceptionsTests, DelegatesTests, CastingTests, AsyncTests, RegexTests, ArraysTests, ConditionalTests, LuaInteropTests, PipelineTests

Repository Layout

SharpForge/
  src/
    Transpiler/   sf-transpile.exe - C# to Lua
    Builder/      sf-build.exe     - Lua bundler and map injector
    JassGen/      sf-jassgen.exe   - JASS to C# binding stubs
    Gui/          sf-gui.exe       - wrapper UI for the tools
  tests/
    Transpiler.Tests/
  assets/
    jass/         checked-in common.j/blizzard.j sources
    libs/         bundled C# stubs copied into user projects

Build

Requires .NET 10 SDK. The SDK version is pinned by global.json.

dotnet build SharpForge.sln
dotnet test tests\Transpiler.Tests\Transpiler.Tests.csproj

Publish framework-dependent single-file executables:

.\publish-all.ps1

License

MIT © 2026 SharpForge contributors.

AI Assistance

Significant portions of this codebase were drafted, refactored, and reviewed with AI pair programming in VS Code with GitHub Copilot Chat. All AI-generated changes are reviewed, compiled, and tested by a human before commit. Project conventions, design decisions, and acceptance criteria are owned by the maintainers, not the model.