diff --git a/src/bong/lexer.rs b/src/bong/lexer.rs
index ed12127..5119103 100644
--- a/src/bong/lexer.rs
+++ b/src/bong/lexer.rs
@@ -1,17 +1,15 @@
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)]
-pub enum ErrorType {
-    UnexpectedToken(char),
-    InvalidConstructor,
+#![allow(dead_code)]
+
+use std::iter::Peekable;
+
+#[derive(PartialEq, Eq, Debug)]
+pub struct TokenError {
+    error: String,
+    line: usize,
+    col: usize,
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)]
-pub struct Error {
-    error: ErrorType,
-    line: isize,
-    col: isize,
-}
-
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)]
+#[derive(PartialEq, Eq, Debug)]
 pub enum Token {
     Name(String),
     Id(String),
@@ -19,326 +17,252 @@ pub enum Token {
     SlWhitespace(String),
     MlWhitespace(String),
     SlComment(String),
-    MlComment(String), // not implemented
-    Int(String),       // not implemented
-    Float(String),     // not implemented
+    MlComment(String),
+    Int(String),
+    Float(String),
     String(String),
-    Null(String),  // not implemented
-    True(String),  // not implemented
-    False(String), // not implemented
+    Null(String),
+    True(String),
+    False(String),
     LBrace(String),
     RBrace(String),
     LBracket(String),
     RBracket(String),
-    Equal(String),     // not implemented
-    Colon(String),     // not implemented
-    SemiColon(String), // not implemented
-    Comma(String),     // not implemented
+    Equal(String),
+    Colon(String),
+    SemiColon(String),
+    Comma(String),
+    Error(TokenError),
 }
 
-#[derive(PartialEq)]
-enum Mode {
-    Name,
-    Class,
-    Id,
-    String,
-    EscapedString,
-    SlWhitespace,
-    MlWhitespace,
-    SlComment,
-}
-
-impl Mode {
-    fn token_constructor(&self) -> Result<Box<dyn Fn(String) -> Token>, ErrorType> {
-        match self {
-            Mode::Name => Ok(Box::new(Token::Name)),
-            Mode::Class => Ok(Box::new(Token::Class)),
-            Mode::String => Ok(Box::new(Token::String)),
-            Mode::SlWhitespace => Ok(Box::new(Token::SlWhitespace)),
-            Mode::MlWhitespace => Ok(Box::new(Token::MlWhitespace)),
-            Mode::SlComment => Ok(Box::new(Token::SlComment)),
-            Mode::Id => Ok(Box::new(Token::Id)),
-            Mode::EscapedString => Err(ErrorType::InvalidConstructor),
+fn make_keyword_or_name<T: Iterator<Item = char>>(
+    iter: &mut Peekable<T>,
+    line: &mut usize,
+) -> Token {
+    let mut result: Vec<char> = Vec::new();
+    loop {
+        match iter.peek() {
+            Some('A'..='Z' | 'a'..='z') => {
+                *line += 1;
+                let c = iter
+                    .next()
+                    .expect("iterator should not be mutated between peek & next");
+                result.push(c);
+            }
+            Some('0'..='9') => {
+                // we assert instead of returning an error because this means the lexer is written incorrectly
+                assert_ne!(result.len(), 0);
+                *line += 1;
+                let c = iter
+                    .next()
+                    .expect("iterator should not be mutated between peek & next");
+                result.push(c);
+            }
+            _ => {
+                break match String::from_iter(result).as_str() {
+                    s @ "null" => Token::Null(s.to_string()),
+                    s @ "true" => Token::True(s.to_string()),
+                    s @ "false" => Token::False(s.to_string()),
+                    name => Token::Name(name.to_string()),
+                }
+            }
         }
     }
 }
 
-fn collect_into_token_and_push(
-    constructor: &dyn Fn(String) -> Token,
-    tokens: &mut Vec<Token>,
-    value: &mut Vec<char>,
-) {
-    let token = constructor(value.iter().collect());
-    tokens.push(token);
-    value.clear();
-}
-
-#[allow(dead_code)]
-pub fn lexer(code_to_lex: &str) -> Result<Vec<Token>, Error> {
-    let mut tokens = Vec::new();
-    let mut value = Vec::new();
-    let mut mode = Mode::SlWhitespace;
-    let mut line = 0;
-    let mut col = 0;
-    let position_map = move |error: ErrorType| Error { error, line, col };
-    for current_char in code_to_lex.chars() {
-        match current_char {
-            v @ ('.' | '#') => {
-                match mode {
-                    m @ (Mode::Name
-                    | Mode::Class
-                    | Mode::Id
-                    | Mode::SlWhitespace
-                    | Mode::MlWhitespace) => {
-                        collect_into_token_and_push(
-                            &m.token_constructor().map_err(position_map)?,
-                            &mut tokens,
-                            &mut value,
-                        );
-                        mode = match v {
-                            '.' => Mode::Class,
-                            '#' => Mode::Id,
-                            _ => panic!("race condition"),
-                        };
-                    }
-                    Mode::String | Mode::SlComment => {}
-                    Mode::EscapedString => {
-                        return Err(Error {
-                            line,
-                            col,
-                            error: ErrorType::UnexpectedToken('.'),
-                        })
-                    }
-                };
-                value.push(v);
+fn make_number<T: Iterator<Item = char>>(
+    iter: &mut Peekable<T>,
+    line: &mut usize,
+    col: &mut usize,
+) -> Result<Token, TokenError> {
+    let mut result: Vec<char> = Vec::new();
+    loop {
+        let next = iter.peek();
+        match next {
+            Some('0'..='9') => {
+                *line += 1;
+                let c = iter
+                    .next()
+                    .expect("iterator should not be mutated between peek & next");
+                result.push(c);
             }
-            '\\' => match mode {
-                Mode::String => {
-                    value.push('\\');
-                    mode = Mode::EscapedString;
-                }
-                _ => {
-                    return Err(Error {
-                        line,
-                        col,
-                        error: ErrorType::UnexpectedToken('\\'),
-                    })
-                }
-            },
-            '"' => {
-                match mode {
-                    m @ Mode::String => {
-                        mode = Mode::SlWhitespace;
-                        value.push('"');
-
-                        collect_into_token_and_push(
-                            &m.token_constructor().map_err(position_map)?,
-                            &mut tokens,
-                            &mut value,
-                        );
-                    }
-                    m @ (Mode::SlWhitespace | Mode::MlWhitespace) => {
-                        mode = Mode::String;
-                        collect_into_token_and_push(
-                            &m.token_constructor().map_err(position_map)?,
-                            &mut tokens,
-                            &mut value,
-                        );
-                        value.push('"');
-                    }
-                    Mode::EscapedString => {
-                        value.push('"');
-                        mode = Mode::String;
-                    }
-                    Mode::SlComment => {
-                        value.push('"');
-                    }
-                    _ => {
-                        return Err(Error {
-                            line,
-                            col,
-                            error: ErrorType::UnexpectedToken('"'),
-                        })
-                    }
-                };
-            }
-
-            v @ ('{' | '}' | '[' | ']') => match mode {
-                m @ (Mode::Name
-                | Mode::Class
-                | Mode::Id
-                | Mode::MlWhitespace
-                | Mode::SlWhitespace) => {
-                    collect_into_token_and_push(
-                        &m.token_constructor().map_err(position_map)?,
-                        &mut tokens,
-                        &mut value,
-                    );
-                    mode = Mode::SlWhitespace;
-                    let constructor = match v {
-                        '{' => Token::LBrace,
-                        '}' => Token::RBrace,
-                        '[' => Token::LBracket,
-                        ']' => Token::RBracket,
-                        _ => panic!("race condition"),
-                    };
-                    tokens.push(constructor(String::from(v)));
-                }
-                Mode::EscapedString => {
-                    return Err(Error {
-                        line,
-                        col,
-                        error: ErrorType::UnexpectedToken(v),
-                    })
-                }
-                Mode::String | Mode::SlComment => {
-                    value.push(v);
-                }
-            },
-            c @ (' ' | '\r') => {
-                match mode {
-                    m @ (Mode::Name | Mode::Class | Mode::Id) => {
-                        collect_into_token_and_push(
-                            &m.token_constructor().map_err(position_map)?,
-                            &mut tokens,
-                            &mut value,
-                        );
-                        mode = Mode::SlWhitespace;
-                    }
-                    Mode::String | Mode::SlComment | Mode::MlWhitespace | Mode::SlWhitespace => {}
-                    Mode::EscapedString => {
-                        return Err(Error {
-                            line,
-                            col,
-                            error: ErrorType::UnexpectedToken(c),
-                        })
-                    }
-                };
-                value.push(c);
-            }
-            c @ '\n' => {
-                match mode {
-                    m @ (Mode::Name | Mode::Class | Mode::Id | Mode::SlComment) => {
-                        collect_into_token_and_push(
-                            &m.token_constructor().map_err(position_map)?,
-                            &mut tokens,
-                            &mut value,
-                        );
-                        mode = Mode::MlWhitespace;
-                    }
-                    Mode::MlWhitespace | Mode::SlWhitespace => {
-                        mode = Mode::MlWhitespace;
-                    }
-                    Mode::String => {}
-                    Mode::EscapedString => {
-                        return Err(Error {
-                            line,
-                            col,
-                            error: ErrorType::UnexpectedToken('\n'),
-                        })
-                    }
-                };
-                value.push(c);
-                line += 1;
-                col = -1;
-            }
-            '/' => {
-                match mode {
-                    Mode::String | Mode::SlComment => {}
-                    m @ (Mode::Name
-                    | Mode::Class
-                    | Mode::Id
-                    | Mode::SlWhitespace
-                    | Mode::MlWhitespace) => {
-                        collect_into_token_and_push(
-                            &m.token_constructor().map_err(position_map)?,
-                            &mut tokens,
-                            &mut value,
-                        );
-                        mode = Mode::SlComment;
-                    }
-                    Mode::EscapedString => {
-                        return Err(Error {
-                            line,
-                            col,
-                            error: ErrorType::UnexpectedToken('/'),
-                        })
-                    }
-                };
-                value.push('/');
-            }
-            v @ ('A'..='Z' | 'a'..='z' | '0'..='9') => {
-                match mode {
-                    Mode::Name | Mode::Class | Mode::Id => {
-                        if v.is_numeric()
-                            && (value.is_empty() || mode == Mode::Id && value.len() == 1)
-                        {
-                            return Err(Error {
-                                line,
-                                col,
-                                error: ErrorType::UnexpectedToken(v),
-                            });
-                        }
-                    }
-                    Mode::String | Mode::SlComment => {}
-                    m @ (Mode::SlWhitespace | Mode::MlWhitespace) => {
-                        collect_into_token_and_push(
-                            &m.token_constructor().map_err(position_map)?,
-                            &mut tokens,
-                            &mut value,
-                        );
-                        mode = Mode::Name;
-                    }
-                    Mode::EscapedString => {
-                        return Err(Error {
-                            line,
-                            col,
-                            error: ErrorType::UnexpectedToken(v),
-                        })
-                    }
-                };
-                value.push(v);
-            }
-            unrecognized_char => match mode {
-                Mode::String => {
-                    value.push(unrecognized_char);
-                }
-                _ => {
-                    return Err(Error {
-                        line,
-                        col,
-                        error: ErrorType::UnexpectedToken(unrecognized_char),
+            Some('.') => {
+                *line += 1;
+                if result.contains(&'.') {
+                    iter.next();
+                    return Err(TokenError {
+                        error: "unexpected token".to_string(),
+                        col: *col,
+                        line: *line,
                     });
+                } else {
+                    iter.next()
+                        .expect("iterator should not be mutated between peek & next");
+                    result.push('.');
                 }
-            },
+            }
+            _ => {
+                break Ok(if result.contains(&'.') {
+                    Token::Float(String::from_iter(result))
+                } else {
+                    Token::Int(String::from_iter(result))
+                })
+            }
         }
-        col += 1;
     }
-
-    Ok(tokens)
 }
 
-#[test]
-fn test_example_1() {
-    let text = "text.title {
+fn make_string<T: Iterator<Item = char>>(
+    iter: &mut T,
+    line: &mut usize,
+    col: &mut usize,
+) -> Result<Token, TokenError> {
+    let mut result: Vec<char> = Vec::new();
+    let mut escaped = false;
+    iter.next().expect("opening quote should exist");
+    loop {
+        let next = iter.next().ok_or(TokenError {
+            error: "unexpected end of string".to_string(),
+            line: *line,
+            col: *col,
+        })?;
+        match next {
+            '\\' => {
+                *line += 1;
+                escaped = !escaped;
+                result.push('\\');
+            }
+            '"' => {
+                *line += 1;
+                if escaped {
+                    result.push('"');
+                    escaped = false;
+                } else {
+                    break Ok(Token::String(String::from_iter(result)));
+                }
+            }
+            '\n' => {
+                *line = 0;
+                *col += 1;
+                result.push('\n');
+            }
+            c => {
+                *line += 1;
+                escaped = false;
+                result.push(c);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+fn lexer(code: &str) -> Vec<Token> {
+    let mut tokens = Vec::new();
+    let mut iter = code.chars().peekable();
+    let mut col = 0;
+    let mut line = 0;
+    loop {
+        let char = if let Some(c) = iter.peek() {
+            c
+        } else {
+            break tokens;
+        };
+
+        match char {
+            '"' => {
+                let token = match make_string(&mut iter, &mut line, &mut col) {
+                    Ok(token) => token,
+                    Err(err) => Token::Error(err),
+                };
+                tokens.push(token);
+            }
+            '0'..='9' => {
+                let token = match make_number(&mut iter, &mut line, &mut col) {
+                    Ok(token) => token,
+                    Err(err) => Token::Error(err),
+                };
+                tokens.push(token);
+            }
+            'a'..='z' | 'A'..='Z' => {
+                let token = make_keyword_or_name(&mut iter, &mut line);
+                tokens.push(token);
+            }
+            ' ' => {
+                let mut result: Vec<char> = Vec::new();
+                let token = loop {
+                    let next = iter.peek();
+                    match next {
+                        Some(' ' | '\n' | '\r') => {
+                            let c = iter
+                                .next()
+                                .expect("should not mutate between next & unwrap");
+                            result.push(c);
+                        }
+                        _ => {
+                            break if result.contains(&'\n') {
+                                Token::MlWhitespace(String::from_iter(result))
+                            } else {
+                                Token::SlWhitespace(String::from_iter(result))
+                            }
+                        }
+                    };
+                };
+                tokens.push(token);
+            }
+            _ => todo!(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use crate::bong::lexer::{lexer, Token};
+
+    #[test]
+    fn name_keyword_number_whitespace() {
+        let result = lexer("abcd \n 1234   12.34 true false \"string\"");
+
+        let space = |c: &str| -> Token { Token::SlWhitespace(c.to_string()) };
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            result,
+            vec![
+                Token::Name("abcd".to_string()),
+                Token::MlWhitespace(" \n ".to_string()),
+                Token::Int("1234".to_string()),
+                space("   "),
+                Token::Float("12.34".to_string()),
+                space(" "),
+                Token::True("true".to_string()),
+                space(" "),
+                Token::False("false".to_string()),
+                space(" "),
+                Token::String("string".to_string()),
+            ]
+        )
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_example_1() {
+        let text = "text.title {
     // text { \"hello world\" }
     \"hello world\"
 }";
-    let tokens = lexer(text);
-    assert_eq!(
-        tokens,
-        Ok(vec![
-            Token::SlWhitespace("".to_string()),
-            Token::Name("text".to_string()),
-            Token::Class(".title".to_string()),
-            Token::SlWhitespace(" ".to_string()),
-            Token::LBrace("{".to_string()),
-            Token::MlWhitespace("\n    ".to_string()),
-            Token::SlComment("// text { \"hello world\" }".to_string()),
-            Token::MlWhitespace("\n    ".to_string()),
-            Token::String("\"hello world\"".to_string()),
-            Token::MlWhitespace("\n".to_string()),
-            Token::RBrace("}".to_string()),
-        ])
-    )
+        let tokens = lexer(text);
+        assert_eq!(
+            tokens,
+            vec![
+                Token::SlWhitespace("".to_string()),
+                Token::Name("text".to_string()),
+                Token::Class(".title".to_string()),
+                Token::SlWhitespace(" ".to_string()),
+                Token::LBrace("{".to_string()),
+                Token::MlWhitespace("\n    ".to_string()),
+                Token::SlComment("// text { \"hello world\" }".to_string()),
+                Token::MlWhitespace("\n    ".to_string()),
+                Token::String("\"hello world\"".to_string()),
+                Token::MlWhitespace("\n".to_string()),
+                Token::RBrace("}".to_string()),
+            ]
+        )
+    }
 }