Huawei Unveils Cangjie (.cj) – A New Programming Language for HarmonyOS NEXT

Language Overview

Cangjie is a new programming language announced by Huawei for HarmonyOS NEXT. Source files use the .cj extension. The first program prints “你好，仓颉”.

Development Background

The project began in 2019 and underwent five years of research and optimization. It integrates modern language features, provides full compilation and runtime optimizations, and includes an out‑of‑the‑box IDE toolchain for a streamlined development experience.

Core Language Features

Hello, Cangjie – basic output.

Identifiers – naming rules.

Variables – declaration and assignment.

Types – primitive and composite types.

Expressions – arithmetic and logical expressions.

Program Structure – organization of source files.

Function Definitions – syntax for defining functions.

Enums – enumeration types.

Structs – composite data structures.

Classes – object‑oriented constructs.

Interfaces and Extensions – defining contracts and extending functionality.

Exception Handling – error detection and recovery.

Concurrent Programming – primitives for parallel execution.

Cross‑Language Interoperability – calling and being called from other languages.

Macros – compile‑time code generation.

Example

// hello.cj
print("你好，仓颉");

References

Official Cangjie page: https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/cn/cangjie/

Getting‑started tutorial: https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/cn/training/course/slightMooc/C101718903607800132

Whitepaper: https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/cn/doc/openharmony-cangjie/cj-wp-abstract