Variables must be declared before they are used.
# Declare one variable.
var a_number = 10
# Multiple variables can be declared at once.
var a_double = 1.23,
greeting = "Hello",
numbers = [1, 2, 3]
# A type can be provided as well.
var doubles: List[Double] = []
# A cast can also be used to supply a type.
var strings = [].@(List[String])
Lily uses type inference to determine a var's type when it's declared. In most cases, a type does not have to be given. The type of a variable cannot be changed.
Constants cannot be modified after they are initialized. Constants can only be
initialized with a literal. Only Double, Integer, and String can be
constants.
constant magic_number = 55
constant minus_five = -5.5
constant greeting = "Hello"
# Invalid, even though the expression only involves literals
# constant count = 2 + 2
Lily has three kinds of comments. One for a line, one for a block, and one for documentation.
# This is a line comment.
# var w = 10
# This is a block comment.
var w = #[ 10 ]# 20
#[
Block comments can span multiple lines.
This is a block comment.
It can span multiple lines, but doesn't have to.
These don't support nesting.
]#
### This is a docblock.
### If you use docgen to generate documentation, it will include information in
### docblocks.
### The "docgen" section has more info on how to write docblocks.
define example
{
}
Lily comes with several data types already defined. A few of those data types have dedicated syntax to make them easier to use.
# Boolean can be true or false.
var is_open = true
var is_warm = false
Byte ranges from 0 to 255 inclusive.
var space = ' '
# Escape codes are allowed.
var tab_byte = '\t'
var byte_127 = 0x7Ft
# You can specify a type to coerce an Integer.
var byte_a: Byte = 12
var byte_b = 12.@(Byte)
A series of bytes. Can include \0 and may have invalid utf-8. By default,
ByteString literals only span one line.
var bytes = B"123456"
# Use triple quotes to span multiple lines.
# A ByteString can use any escape codes mentioned below.
var multiline_bytes = B"""
this
spans
multiple
lines
"""
# ByteString can be subscripted.
var byte_index = multiline_bytes[0]
A very small or very large value.
var small_double = 0.000004
var large_double = 10e1
var negative_double = -1.5
A key to value mapping. The key must be Integer or String. The value can be
any type. The type of a Hash is written as Hash[key, value].
var number_table = [
"One" => 1,
"Two" => 2,
# A trailing comma is allowed on the last value.
"Three" => 3,
]
var table_value = number_table["Two"]
# New entries can be created by assignment.
number_table["Four"] = 4
# This raises KeyError, because the key does not exist.
# var bad_key = number_table["Twenty"]
# Specifying a type for an empty Hash.
var empty_hash: Hash[Integer, List[String]] = []
var empty_cast_hash = [].@(Hash[Integer, List[String]])
# If a Hash contains duplicates, the right-most key "wins".
# This becomes [1 => "qwerty", 2 => "hjkl"]
var duplicate_hash = [
1 => "asdf",
2 => "hjkl",
1 => "qwerty",
]
A 64-bit signed value.
var simple_integer = 12345
var negative_int = -67890
var octal = 0c744
var hex = 0xFF
var bin = 0b1010101
A container of values with the same type. The type of a List is written as
List[element type].
var integer_list = [1, 2, 3]
var trailing_list = [
4,
5,
# Trailing comma is optional here.
6,
]
# Indexing starts at 0.
var first_number = integer_list[0]
# Negative indexes start from the end.
var last_number = integer_list[-1]
# This raises IndexError, because the index is out of range.
# var bad_index = integer_list[20]
# Indexing by Byte is also possible.
first_number = integer_list[0t]
# Specifying a type to an empty List.
var empty_list: List[String] = []
var empty_cast_list = [].@(List[String])
A block of text that is utf-8 valid. Internally, String is also zero
terminated.
var message = "Hello"
var multi_line = """\
This
spans
multiple
lines
"""
A List of a fixed size, except it allows each element to be a different type.
Empty Tuple values are not allowed.
The type of a Tuple is written as Tuple[type 1, type 2, ...].
var record = <[1, "left", [1]]>
# Tuple subscripts must be literals.
var record_list = record[2]
# It is a syntax error if a Tuple index is not an integer, or out of range.
# var bad_tuple_index = record[5]
The return type of a Function that doesn't specify aFunctions that don't
specify a return type. The only instance of Unit is unit.
var my_unit = unit
The following are "magic" keywords. When they are invoked, they are replaced with a literal.
__dir__ is a directory relative to the first file imported.
__file__ is the name of the current file.
__function__ is the name of the current function. If outside of a definition,
this returns __main__ for the first import, or __module__ for subsequent
imports.
__line__ is the current line number.
When writing a Byte, ByteString, or String, the following escape sequences
are allowed. In the case of String, sequences that specify a value over 127 or
0 are not allowed.
\a: Terminal bell (\007)
\b: Terminal backspace (\008)
\t: Tab (\009)
\n: A newline (\010)
\r: A carriage return (\013)
\": The " character.
\': The ' character.
\\: The \ character.
\/: \ on Windows, / elsewhere.
\nnn: Base 10, 0 to 255 inclusive. \0 is equivalent to \000.
\xNN: Hex, \x00 to \xFF inclusive. \x0 is equivalent to \x00.
\<newline>: Bytestring and String only. The newline of the current line
and leading whitespace ( or \t) will be omitted.
Lily's precedence table, from lowest to highest:
| Operator | Description |
|---|---|
= /= *= += -= <<= >>= |
Assign/compound assign |
|| |
Logical or |
&& |
Logical and |
>= > < <= == != |
Comparison and equality |
++ |
Concatenate |
|> |
Function pipe |
& | ^ |
Bitwise and, or, xor |
<< >> |
Bitwise shifts |
+ - |
Plus, minus |
% * / |
Modulo, multiply, divide |
Operations such as x.y member lookup and subscripts take over either the
entire current value, or the right side of the current binary operation.
The following operations are supported:
Basic arithmatic (+ - * /): Any two Double values, any two Integer values,
or one Double and one Integer. With mixed types, the result is Double.
Bitwise operations (<< >> %): Only two Integer values.
Comparison operations (>= > < <=): Any two Byte, Double, Integer, or
String values.
Equality (== !=) is allowed against any two values with exactly the same type.
For primitive numeric values, equality works as expected.
Hash, List, and Tuple, values are equal if they're structurally equal
to each other. [1] == [1] is true.
Variants such as None and Some also use structural equality.
Some(1) == Some(1) is true.
All other predefined data types and user-defined classes use exact equality.
Exception("") == Exception("") is false. They're only equivalent to each
other if they're the same instance.
The ++ operator, String.format, and print all make use of built-in
interpolation. Every kind of a value can be interpolated, and has a set way of
being interpolated.
print(true) # true
print(' ') # ' '
# ByteString values have escape codes written out.
print(B"test\r\n") # test\r\n
print(1.5) # 1.5
print(stdout) # <open file at 0x--->
print(print) # <built-in function print>
# Hash order is not guaranteed.
print([1 => "2"]) # [1 => "2"]
print(12) # 12
print([1, 2, 3]) # [1, 2, 3]
print("asdf") # asdf
print("Hello") # Hello
print(<[1, "2"]>) # <[1, "2"]>
print(unit) # unit
# Variants print how they're written.
# If Option was scoped, this would say "Option.Some(1)".
print(Some(1)) # Some(1)
# None doesn't have a full type, so a cast is necessary.
# The type doesn't matter.
print(None.@(Option[Integer])) # None
# Classes always print their address.
print(Exception("")) # <Exception at 0x--->