SpaceC

An interpreted C-like programming language

---

Specification

This document is updated as the implementation progresses.

Comments

// This is a comment
/*
	This 
	is
	a
	block
	comment
*/

Typing

Dynamically typed - errors are detected at runtime. Simpler to implement than static typing.

Memory management

Carbage collection will be provided by the Java-runtime.

Datatypes

Booleans

true
false

Numbers

Double-precision floating point

1234 // Integer
12.34 // Decimal

Strings

"This is a string"
"" // Empty string

Nil

nil // no value

Expressions

Arithmetic

plus 1 1 // 2
substract 1 1 // 0
divide 1 2 // 0.5
multiply 1 2 // 2

-1
-aNumber // number negation

1 + 1 // 2
1 - 1 // 0
1 / 2 // 0.5
1 * 2 // 2
3 * (1 + 2) // 9

-1
-aNumber // number negation

String concatenation

concat "Hello" "World"

Comparison

1 = 1 // true
1 >= 0 // true
1 <= 2 // true
1 != 2 // true
1 = "1" // false

Logical

and- and or- operators are short-circuiting, like in JavaScript. and returns the left operand if it is false and doesn't even evaluate the right one. or returns the left operand if it is true and similarly doesn't evaluate the right one.

not true // false
not false // true

false and true // false
false or true // true

Statements

print "Hello world!"; // print statement (for debugging)

Variables

numberOfLines: 5;
lines;

print numberOfLines // 5
print lines // nil

Variables can be assigned only once. They work exactly like const works in JavaScript.

numberOfLines: 5;
numberOfLines: 2; // Error

Control flow

If-statements

if (condition) {
	print "yes";
} else {
	print "no";
}

while-loop

while (condition) {
	print "yes";
}

foreach-loop

foreach (item, array) {
	print item;
}

Functions

printUserNames(names);
plus(1, 1);

function printUserNames(names) {
	foreach (name, names) {
		print name;
	}
}

function plus(operand1, operand2) {
	return operand1 + operand2;
}

// Closure is implemented
function returnFunction() {
  outside: "outside";

  function inner() {
    print outside;
  }

  return inner;
}

var fn = returnFunction();
fn(); // "outside"

Classes and Objects

class Breakfast {
	constructor(meat, bread) {
			meat, bread: this;
  }

  cook() {
    print "Eggs a-fryin'!";
  }

  serve(who) {
    print "Enjoy your breakfast, " + who + ".";
  }
}

var breakfast = Breakfast("bacon", "buns");
print breakfast; // "Breakfast instance".

breakfast.yoghurt = "yoghurt";

class Brunch inherits Breakfast {
	constructor(meat, bread, time) {
		super(meat, bread);
		time: this;
  }
  drink() {
    print "How about a Bloody Mary?";
  }
}

Classes follow the JavaScript syntax, but their instantiation is similar to Python. Properties can be freely added to objects. this can be used to refer to the current object inside of methods.