strings.md

title	layout
Strings	default

Neko Strings

Strings in Neko are just arrays of bytes, so they may hold any binary data. Like arrays, they are indexed beginning with zero. There is also a standard library for dealing with strings as UTF8 characters here. Strings may hold up to 2²⁹ - 1 bytes, and cannot be resized once they are created.

Literal Syntax

The literal syntax for Neko strings uses double quotes ("). Special characters may be escaped using a backslash (\). These characters are:

• \" - Double quote
• \\ - Backslash
• \n - New line
• \r - Carriage return
• \t - Tab
• \xxx - Decimal binary code between 000 and 255

{% highlight javascript %} var s = "Hello!\nTab\tover\\there";

$print(s); {% endhighlight %}

Creating Strings

An empty string (populated with null values) can be created using $smake and a specified size:

{% highlight javascript %} var s = $smake(10); {% endhighlight %}

A copy of a string may be created using $scopy:

{% highlight javascript %} var s = $scopy("neko"); {% endhighlight %}

Accessing Strings

Individual bytes can be accessed using the $sget function which takes an index and returns an integer representing the value at that index. null is returned if the index is out of bounds.

{% highlight javascript %} var s = "neko";

$print($sget(s, 1)); //prints "101" {% endhighlight %}

Substrings may be accessed using the $ssub function, which takes a string, a starting index, and a length. If these are out of bounds, an error is raised.

{% highlight javascript %} var s = "neko";

$print($ssub(s, 1, 2)); //prints "ek" {% endhighlight %}

Modifying Strings

$sset will set individual bytes in a string to the given integer value between 0 and 255. Returns null if the index is out of bounds.

{% highlight javascript %} var s = "neko";

$sset(s, 2, 110);

$print(s); //prints "neno" {% endhighlight %}

Strings may also be concatenated using +.

{% highlight javascript %} var a = "a"; var b = "b"; var ab = a + b;

$print(ab); //prints "ab" {% endhighlight %}

To copy chunks of one string to another, use the $sblit function. This takes a starting position in the destination string, a starting position in the source string, and a length of the substring to copy. Raises an error if anything goes out of bounds.

{% highlight javascript %} var src = "neko"; var dst = "hello";

$sblit(dst, 2, src, 2, 2);

$print(dst); //prints "hekoo" {% endhighlight %}

String Size

The size or length of a string is returned from the $ssize function.

{% highlight javascript %} var s = "neko";

$print($ssize(s)); //prints "4" {% endhighlight %}

Finding a Substring

The $sfind function can be used to find the first occurance of a string inside another string, starting at the given position.

{% highlight javascript %} var s = "hello neko hello";

var pos = $sfind(s, 6, "ell");

$print(pos); //prints "12" {% endhighlight %}

Converting to Strings

Any Neko value can be converted to a string using the $string function.