The Catala language is special because its logical structure mimics
the logical structure of the law. Indeed, the core concept of
"definition-under-conditions" that builds on default logic has been formalized by Professor of Law Sarah Lawsky in her article [A Logic for Statutes](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3088206). The Catala language is the only
programming language to our knowledge that embeds default logic
as a first-class feature, which is why it is the only language
perfectly adapted to literate legislative programming.
## Catala motivating example : French "allocations familiales"
In the `example/allocations_familiales` folder, you will find the
`allocations_familiales.catala` file which contains the
algorithm computing French family benefits. The algorithm consists of annotations to the legislative
texts that define the family benetifs, using the literate programming paradigm. The Catala
compiler can extract from the `.catala` file a lawyer-readable version of the annotated text.
Currently, this lawyer-readable version comes in the form of a LaTeX document.
You will need to have a standard LaTeX distribution installed as well as the
`latexmk` build tool in order to enjoy the automated document generation process.
To get that lawyer-readable version (which is a LaTeX-created) PDF, simply use
The Catala language should be adapted to any legislative text that follows a general-to-specifics statutes order. Therefore, there exists multiple versions of the Catala surface syntax, adapted to the language of the lefislative text.
