Syntek Documentation

Variables

Variables are declared using the assignment operator =. Variables can always be reassigned. Example:

x = 5
x = 10

Scoping

Variables declared in the top level of a file are accessible in the entire file. A variable can be reassigned from the top level, or from a function. Example:

x = 10

function setX(a)
  x = a

To avoid shadowing of variables, a function parameter can not have the name of a variable declared in the top level of a file and will throw an error. This enforces variable names to be unique.

When a variable is declared inside a function body, or as a function parameter it only exists in the function scope. If a variable is declared inside a nested if statement, it will still be accessible outside the if statement. Example:

function abs(num)
  if num is less than 0
    x = -1
  else
    x = 1

  return num * x

Datatypes

The available datatypes are listed below.

Number

Number represents any numeric value. Because Syntek is built on JavaScript it uses the same number format, IEEE 754. This allows numbers to be floating point numbers.

x = 5
y = 2.5

String

Strings hold a sequence of characters. Strings are surrounded in single quotes.

language = 'Syntek'

Boolean

Booleans can have 2 values, true and false. Any comparison evaluates to a boolean of either true or false. Conditional statements and loops use booleans to determine whether to execute a piece of code.

active = true

if active
  active = false

Array

Arrays are able to store multiple values, such as numbers. Array indexes start at 0 (might be changed to 1, since it makes more sense to humans).

numbers = [1, 2, 3]
numbers[0] # 1
numbers[1] # 2
numbers[2] # 3

An array can also contain a mix of variable types.

values = [true, 1, 'hello']
values[0] # true
values[1] # 1
values[2] # 'hello'

Object

An object groups variables and functions together. For example, defining a car would look like this:

car = {
  type = 'Fiat'
  model = 500
  color = 'white'
  function honk()
    print('Honk!')
}

car.type # 'Fiat'
car.model # 500
car.color # 'white'
car.honk()

Trying to access a property of an object that does not exist will throw an error.

Objects can also have nested objects.

user = {
  id = 1
  info = {
    name = 'Jack'
    email = '[email protected]'
  }
}

user.info.name # 'Jack'
user.info.email # '[email protected]'

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