Students write simple commands — UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT — and the ant walks across the table, pushing the letters in its way until they spell the word. That is how they learn what an algorithm, a loop and a procedure are.
.ant programs from the original Furnica (Ant v2.00, 1999) open and run without any changes.
Version 3.0.5 · free · open source
Drag the ant to move it, click it to turn it. Type letters straight onto the table, as in a text, and move or erase them with the mouse. The table can be anything from 3 × 3 to 20 × 20 cells.
The program is checked on every edit, before it runs: misspelled words, unclosed blocks, missing or unused procedures, loops that never move the ant. For a misspelled word, the Fix button puts in the right one.
The ant walks smoothly and its path stays drawn on the table. The editor highlights the line being executed. Run it step by step, pause it, slow it down or finish instantly.
Old examples and programs work the same. Furnica 3 adds:
| Furnica (1999) | Furnica 3 | |
|---|---|---|
.ant files from the original program | unchanged | |
| Checking the program as you type, with fixes | ||
| Syntax highlighting and line numbers | ||
Blocks inside blocks (REPEAT in REPEAT, WHILE in WHILE) | ||
| The table edited directly with the mouse, from 3 × 3 to 20 × 20 | ||
| The running line highlighted, the ant's path drawn | ||
| Light and dark theme | ||
| Linux and macOS, besides Windows |
.dmg contains only the app and the *Applications* shortcut; the licenses are inside the app and the examples in the Examples menu..msi installer: the install folder can be changed, and a checkbox (ticked by default) creates a Furnica shortcut on the desktop. Unattended: msiexec /i furnica-*.msi /qn INSTALLFOLDER="D:\Furnica" DESKTOPSHORTCUT=""..msi installer windows are in Romanian, without the license page.Free, no sign-up. Furnica 3.0.5, released on October 24, 2026.
Installer
choose the folder and a desktop shortcut; .ant files open with a double click
Portable, no install
AppImage: any distribution. .deb: Ubuntu, Debian, Mint.
Apple Silicon and Intel. On first launch: right-click Furnica.app → Open (on macOS 15+: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway).
Silent install on many computers:
msiexec /i furnica-3.0.5-windows-x64.msi /qn INSTALLFOLDER="D:\Furnica" DESKTOPSHORTCUT=""INSTALLFOLDER changes the folder, DESKTOPSHORTCUT="" skips the desktop shortcut.