syntax.pod6

=begin pod

=TITLE Syntax

=SUBTITLE General rules of Perl 6 syntax

Perl 6 borrows many concepts from human language. Which is not surprising,
considering it was designed by a linguist.

It reuses common elements in different contexts, has the notion of nouns
(terms) and verbs (operators), is context-sensitive (in the every day sense, not
necessarily in the Computer Science interpretation), so a symbol can have a
different meaning depending on whether a noun or a verb is expected.

It is also self-clocking, so that the parser can detect most of the common
errors and give good error messages.

=head1 Lexical Conventions

Perl 6 code is Unicode text, current implementations support UTF-8 as the
input encoding.  More detail on Perl 6 syntax and Unicode is discussed
in L<Unicode versus Texas symbols|/language/unicode_texas> as well as
parts of other documents related to those topics.

=head2 Free Form

It is free-form, in the sense that you are mostly free to
chose the amount of whitespace you chose, though in some cases, the presence
or absence of whitespace carries meaning.

So you can write

=begin code
if True {
    say "Hello";
}
=end code

or

=begin code
    if True {
say "Hello";
        }
=end code

or

=begin code
if True { say "Hello" }
=end code

or even

=begin code
if True {say "Hello"}
=end code

though you can't leave out any of the remaining whitespace.

=head2 X<Unspace|syntax,\>

In many places where the compiler would not allow a space you can use any
whitespace that is quoted with a backslash. Unspaces in tokens are not
supported. Newlines that are unspaced still count when the compiler produces
line numbers. Use cases for unspace are separation of postfix operators and
routine argument lists.

    sub alignment(+@l) { +@l };
    sub long-name-alignment(+@l) { +@l };
    alignment\         (1,2,3,4).say;
    long-name-alignment(3,5)\   .say;

=head2 Separating Statements

A Perl 6 program is a list of statements, separated by semicolons C<;>.
A semicolon after the final statement (or after the final statement inside a
block) is optional, though it's good form to include it.

A closing curly brace followed by a newline character implies a statement
separator, which is why you don't need to write a semicolon after an C<if>
statement block.

=begin code
if True {
    say "Hello";
}
say "world";
=end code

Both semicolons are optional here, but leaving them out increases the chance
of syntax errors when adding more lines later.

You do need to include a semicolon between the C<if> block and the say statement if you want them all on one line.

=begin code
if True { say "Hello" }; say "world";
#                     ^^^ this ; is required
=end code

=head2 Comments

Comments are parts of the program text only intended for human readers, and
the Perl 6 compilers does not evaluate them as program text.

Comments count as whitespace in places where the absence or presence of
whitespace disambiguates possible parses.

=head3 Single-line comments

The most common form of comments in Perl 6 starts with a single hash character
C<#> and goes until the end of the line.

=begin code
if $age > 250 {     # catch obvious outliers
    # this is another comment!
    die "That doesn't look right"
}
=end code

=head3 Multi-line / embedded comments

Multi-line and embedded comments start with a hash character, followed by a
backtick, and then some opening bracketing character, and end with the matching
closing bracketing character. The content can not only span multiple lines, but
can also be embedded inline.

=begin code
if #`( why would I ever write an inline comment here? ) True {
    say "something stupid";
}
=end code

Brackets inside the comment can be nested, so in C<#`{ a { b } c }>, the
comment goes until the very end of the string. You may also use more complex
brackets, such as C<#`{{ double-curly-brace }}>, which might help disambiguate
from nested brackets.

=head3 Pod comments

Pod syntax can be used for multi-line comments

=begin code
say "this is code";

=begin comment

Here are several
lines
of comment

=end comment

say 'code again';
=end code

=head2 Identifiers

Identifiers are a grammatical building block that occur in several places. An
identifier is a primitive name, and must start with an alphabetic character
(or an underscore), followed by zero or more word characters (alphabetic,
underscore or number). You can also embed dashes C<-> or single quotes C<'>
in the middle, but not two in a row, and only if followed immediately by an
alphabetic character.

    # valid identifiers:
    x
    something-longer
    with-numbers1234
    don't
    fish-food
    π

    # not valid identifiers:
    with-numbers1234-5
    42
    is-prime?
    fish--food

Names of constants, types (including classes and modules) and routines (subs
and methods) are identifiers, and they also appear in variable names (usually
proceeded by a sigil; see L<variables|/language/variables> for more details.)

Namespaces are provided by L<packages|/language/packages>. By separating
identifiers with double colons, the right most name is inserted into existing
or automatically created packages.

    my Int $Foo::Bar::buzz = 42;
    dd $Foo::Bar::buzz; # OUTPUT«Int $v = 42␤»

Identifiers can contain colon pairs. The entire colon pair becomes part of the
name of the identifier.

    my $foo:bar = 1;
    my $foo:bar<2> = 2;
    dd MY::.keys;
    # OUTPUT«("\$=pod", "!UNIT_MARKER", "EXPORT", "\$_", "\$!", "::?PACKAGE",
    # "GLOBALish", "\$¢", "\$=finish", "\$/", "\$foo:bar<1>", "\$foo:bar<2>",
    # "\$?PACKAGE").Seq␤»

Unicode superscript numerals are exponents and not part of an identifier;
e.g. C<$x²> does the square of variable C<$x>.  Subscript numerals are TBD.

=head1 Statements and Expressions

Perl 6 programs are made of lists of statements. A special case of a statement
is an I<expression>, which returns a value. For example C<if True { say 42 }>
is syntactically a statement, but not an expression, whereas C<1 + 2> is an
expression (and thus also a statement).

The C<do> prefix turns statements into expressions. So while

    my $x = if True { 42 };     # Syntax error!

is an error,

   my $x = do if True { 42 };

assigns the return value of the if statement (here C<42>) to the variable
C<$x>.


=head1 Terms

Terms are the basic nouns that, optionally together with operators, can form
expressions. Examples for terms are variables (C<$x>), barewords such as type
names (C<Int>), literals (C<42>), declarations (C<sub f() { }>) and calls
(C<f()>).

For example, in the expression C<2 * $salary>, C<2> and C<$salary> are two
terms (an L<integer|/type/Int> literal and a L<variable|/language/variables>).

=head2 Variables

Variables typically start with a special character called the I<sigil>, and
are followed by an identifier. Variables must be declared before you can use
them.

    # declaration:
    my $number = 21;
    # usage:
    say $number * 2;

See the L<documentation on variables|/language/variables> for more details.


=head2 Barewords (Constants, Type Names)

Pre-declared identifiers can be terms on their own. Those are typically type
names or constants, but also the term C<self> which refers to an object that
a method was called on (see L<objects|/language/objects>), and sigilless
variables:

    say Int;                # (Int)
    #   ^^^ type name (built in)

    constant answer = 42;
    say answer;
    #   ^^^^^^ constant

    class Foo {
        method type-name {
            self.^name;
          # ^^^^ built-in term 'self'
        }
    }
    say Foo.type-name;     # Foo
    #   ^^^ type name


=head2 Packages and Qualified Names

Named entities, such as variables, constants, classes, modules, subs, etc, are
part of a namespace. Nested parts of a name use C<::> to separate the
hierarchy. Some examples:

    $foo                # simple identifiers
    $Foo::Bar::baz      # compound identifiers separated by ::
    $Foo::($bar)::baz   # compound identifiers that perform interpolations
    Foo::Bar::bob(23)   # function invocation given qualified name

See the L<documentation on packages|/language/packages> for more details.


=head2 Literals

A L<literal|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literal_%28computer_programming%29>
is a representation of a constant value in source code. Perl 6 has literals
for several built-in types, like L<strings|/type/Str>, several numeric types,
L<pairs|/type/Pair> and more.


=head3 String literals

String literals are surrounded by quotes:

    say 'a string literal';
    say "a string literal\nthat interprets escape sequences";

See L<quoting|/language/quoting> for many more options.

=head3 X<Number literals|0b (radix form);0d (radix form);0o (radix form);0x (radix form)>

Number literals are generally specified in base ten, unless a prefix like
C<0x> (heB<x>adecimal, base 16), C<0o> (B<o>ctal, base 8) or C<0b>
(B<b>inary, base 2) or an explicit base in adverbial notation like
C<< :16<A0> >> specifies it otherwise. Unlike other programming languages,
leading zeros do I<not> indicate base 8; instead a compile-time warning is
issued.

In all literal formats, you can use underscores to group digits;
they don't carry any semantic; the following literals all evaluate to the same
number:

    1000000
    1_000_000
    10_00000
    100_00_00

=head4 Int literals

Integers default to signed base-10, but you can use other bases. For details,
see L<Int|/type/Int>.

    -2          # actually not a literal, but unary - operator applied to numeric literal 2
    12345
    0xBEEF      # base 16
    0o755       # base 8
    :3<1201>    # arbitrary base, here base 3

=head4 Rat literals

L<Rat|/type/Rat> literals (rationals) are very common, and take the place of decimals or floats in many other languages. Integer division also results in a C<Rat>.

    1.0
    3.14159
    -2.5        # Not actually a literal, but still a Rat
    :3<21.0012> # Base 3 rational
    ⅔
    2/3         # Not actually a literal, but still a Rat

=head4 Num literals

Scientific notation with an integer exponent to base ten after an C<e> produces
L<floating point number|/type/Num>:

    1e0
    6.022e23
    1e-9
    -2e48
    2e2.5       # error

=head4 Complex literals

L<Complex|/type/Complex> numbers are written either as an imaginary number
(which is just a rational number with postfix C<i> appended), or as a sum of
a real and an imaginary number:

    1+2i
    6.123e5i    # note that this is 6.123e5 * i and not 6.123 * 10 ** (5i)


=head3 Pair literals

L<Pairs|/type/Pair> are made of a key and a value, and there are two basic forms for
constructing them: C<< key => 'value' >> and C<:key('value')>.

=head4 Arrow pairs

Arrow pairs can have an expression or an identifier on the left-hand side:

    identifier => 42
    "identifier" => 42
    ('a' ~ 'b') => 1

=head4 Adverbial pairs (colon pairs)

Short forms without explicit values:

    my $thing = 42;
    :$thing                 # same as  thing => $thing
    :thing                  # same as  thing => True
    :!thing                 # same as  thing => False

The variable form also works with other sigils, like C<:&callback> or
C<:@elements>.

Long forms with explicit values:

    :thing($value)              # same as  thing => $value
    :thing<quoted list>         # same as  thing => <quoted list>
    :thing['some', 'values']    # same as  thing => ['some', 'values']
    :thing{a => 'b'}            # same as  thing => { a => 'b' }

=head3 Array literals

A pair of square brackets can surround an expression to form an itemized
L<Array|/type/Array> literal; typically there is a comma-delimited list
inside:

    say ['a', 'b', 42].join(' ');   # a b 42
    #   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Array constructor

The array constructor flattens non-itemized arrays and lists, but not itemized
arrays themselves:

    my @a = 1, 2;
    # flattens:
    say [@a, 3, 4].elems;       # 4

    # does not flatten:
    say [[@a], [3, 4]].elems;   # 2

=head3 Hash literals

A pair of curly braces can surround a list of pairs to form a
L<Hash|/type/Hash> literal; typically there is a comma-delimited list of pairs
inside. If a non-pair is used, it is assumed to be a key and the next element
is the value. Most often this is used with simple arrow pairs.

    say { a => 3, b => 23, :foo, :dog<cat>, "french", "fries" };
    # a => 3, b => 23, dog => cat, foo => True, french => fries

    say {a => 73, foo => "fish"}.keys.join(" ");   # a foo
    #   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Hash constructor

When assigning to a C<%> sigil variable, the curly braces are optional.

    my %ages = fred => 23, jean => 87, ann => 4;

By default keys in C<{ }> are forced to strings. To compose a hash with
non-string keys, use a colon prefix:

    my $when = :{ (now) => "Instant", (DateTime.now) => "DateTime" };

Note that with objects as keys, you cannot access non-string keys as strings:

    :{ -1 => 41, 0 => 42, 1 => 43 }<0>;  # Any
    :{ -1 => 41, 0 => 42, 1 => 43 }{0};  # 42

=head3 Regex literals

A L<Regex|/type/Regex> is declared with slashes like C</foo/>. Note that this C<//> syntax is shorthand for the full C<rx//> syntax.

    /foo/          # Short version
    rx/foo/        # Longer version
    Q :regex /foo/ # Even longer version

    my $r = /foo/; # Regexes can be assigned to variables

=head3 Signature literals

Signatures can be used standalone for pattern matching, in addition to the
typical usage in sub and block declarations. A standalone signature is declared
starting with a colon:

    say "match!" if 5, "fish" ~~ :(Int, Str); #=> match!

    my $sig = :(Int $a, Str);
    say "match!" if (5, "fish") ~~ $sig; #=> match!

    given "foo", 42 {
      when :(Str, Str) { "This won't match" }
      when :(Str, Int $n where $n > 20) { "This will!" }
    }

See the L<Signatures|/type/Signature> documentation for more about signatures.

=head2 Declarations

=head3 Variable declaration

    my $x;                          # simple lexical variable
    my $x = 7;                      # initialize the variable
    my Int $x = 7;                  # declare the type
    my Int:D $x = 7;                # specify that the value must be defined (not undef)
    my Int $x where { $_ > 3 } = 7; # constrain the value based on a function
    my Int $x where * > 3 = 7;      # same constraint, but using L<Whatever> short-hand

See L<Variable Declarators and
Scope|/language/variables#Variable_Declarators_and_Scope>
for more details on other scopes (our, has).

=head3 Subroutine declaration

    # The signature is optional
    sub foo { say "Hello!" }

    sub say-hello($to-whom) { say "Hello $to-whom!" }

You can also assign subroutines to variables.

    my &f = sub { say "Hello!" } # Un-named sub
    my &f = -> { say "Hello!" }  # Lambda style syntax. The & sigil indicates the variable holds a function
    my $f = -> { say "Hello!" }  # Functions can also be put into scalars

=head3 Module, Class, Role, and Grammar declaration

There are several types of compilation units (packages), each declared with a
keyword, a name, some optional traits, and a body of functions.

    module Gar { }

    class Foo { }

    role Bar { }

    grammar Baz { }

You can declare a unit of things without explicit curly brackets.

    unit module Gar;
    # ... stuff goes here instead of in {}'s

=head3 Multi-dispatch declaration

See also L<Multi-dispatch|/language/functions#Multi-dispatch>.

Subroutines can be declared with multiple signatures.

    multi sub foo() { say "Hello!" }
    multi sub foo($name) { say "Hello $name!" }

Inside of a class, you can also declare multi-dispatch methods.

    multi method greet { }
    multi method greet(Str $name) { }

=head1 Subroutine calls

See L<functions|/language/functions>.

=comment TODO

    foo;   # Invoke the function foo with no arguments
    foo(); # Invoke the function foo with no arguments
    &f();  # Invoke &f, which contains a function
    &f.(); # Same as above, needed to make the following work
    my @functions = ({say 1}, {say 2}, {say 3});
    @functions>>.();

    # Method invocation. Object (instance) is $person, method is set-name-age
    $person.set-name-age('jane', 98);  # Most common way
    $person.set-name: 'jane', 98;      # Precedence drop
    set-name($person: 'jane', 98);     # Invocant marker

=head1 Operators

See L<Operators|/language/operators> for lots of details.

Operators are functions with a more symbol heavy and composable syntax. Like
other functions, operators can be multi-dispatch to allow for context-specific
usage.

There are five types (arrangements) for operators, each taking either one or two arguments.

    ++$x           # prefix, operator comes before single input
    5 + 3          # infix, operator is between two inputs
    $x++           # postfix, operator is after single input
    <the blue sky> # circumfix, operator surrounds single input
    %foo<bar>      # postcircumfix, operator comes after first input and surrounds second

=head2 Meta Operators

Operators can be composed. A common example of this is combining an infix
(binary) operator with assignment. You can combine assignment with any binary
operator.

    $x += 5     # Adds 5 to $x, same as $x = $x + 5
    $x min= 3   # Sets $x to the smaller of $x and 3, same as $x = $x min 3
    $x .= child # Equivalent to $x = $x.child

Wrap an infix operator in C<[ ]> to create a new reduction operator that works
on a single list of inputs, resulting in a single value.

    [+] <1 2 3 4 5>         # 15
    (((1 + 2) + 3) + 4) + 5 # equivalent expanded version

Wrap an infix operator in C<« »> (or the ASCII equivalent C<<< >>>) to create a
new hyper operator that works pairwise on two lists.

    <1 2 3> «+» <4 5 6> # <5 7 9>

The direction of the arrows indicates what to do when the lists are not the same size.

    @a «+« @b # Result is the size of @b, elements from @a will be re-used
    @a »+» @b # Result is the size of @a, elements from @b will be re-used
    @a «+» @b # Result is the size of the biggest input, the smaller one is re-used
    @a »+« @b # Exception if @a and @b are different sizes

You can also wrap a unary operator with a hyper operator.

    -« <1 2 3> # <-1 -2 -3>

=end pod