Misc

This page outlines some of the various statements, expressions, and keywords that have not yet found their way into the other documentation pages.

<type> (<identifier 1>, ..., <identifier n> := e)*

Used to define a variable. For example:

int a := 5; 
int b, c := 6; // Both b and c equal 6 (Note: the expression for variables to be assigned to may be re-evalued for each identifier they are bound to. 
int d = 7, e = 8;

var

The keyword var can be used in place of a type name in a variable declaration. Doing so will cause the type to be inferred.

Example:

var a := 5; // a will be inferred as having type int 
var b := false; // b will be inferred as having type bool 
var c := exec Program<P>; // c will be inferred as having type Channel<dual P> 

asChannel(e : T[]) : Channel<!+T>

asChannel(e : T[N}) : Channel<!+T>

asChannel(e : T) : Channel<!+T>

• Since: 1.3.4 Given an expression e, asChannel will evaluate it and return the reuslts as a channel that can be iterated through.

Example:

int [5] a := [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

var c2 := asChannel(a); 

# Will result in us printing "1, 2, 3, 4, 5"
accept(c2){
	int val := c2.recv();
	printf("%u ", val);
}
printf("\n");

copy(e : T) : T

Given any non-linear expression e, copy will return a deep copy of the expression. Note: parenthesis around the expression to be copied are optional.

Example:

var a := copy(5); // a will be equal to 5
var b := copy false; // b will be false

var ptr := Box<int>::init(a); 

var c := copy ptr; // c will be a deep copy of ptr

extern <Identifier> (T_1, ... T_n) : T_r

Allows one to import a function from another file/the C standard library whose name is <Identifier>, has the return type T_r, and has the arguments T_1, ..., T_n. This function is likely to be deprecated in favor of an easier system for importing resources—including other types (e.g., programs, structs, enums, etc).

import <Identifier> (:: <Identifier>)+ (as <Identifier>)?

Imports the specified definition from another file into the current file. By default, this allows one to refer to the definition via its original identifier; however, an optional identifier can be provided to rename it.

Example:

# Optional can now be used within the current scope; without
# this line, we would have to refer to it asbsl::lib::Optional::Optional
import bsl::lib::Optional::Optional; 

# Allows one to use llMap to refer to bsl::lib::Lists::map
import bsl::lib::Lists::map as llMap;