Syntax

Comments

Comments in Blueberry can be one liners and multiline

# this is a single line comment
/* this
is a multiline
comment */

Data Types

number = 1
number = 1.2 # floating point number
str = "my string"
sym = :my_symbol # it's basically just an string but can only have [a-zA-Z_] characters
nothing = nil # equivalent to PHP's null
obj = new MyClass() # instantiate an object

Variables

You can assign values to variables just by using =.

my_variable_name = "my value"

Conditionals

if age > 18 and age < 99
    doSomething()
else if age > 99
    doSomethingElse()
else
    doNothing()
end

You can also use switch

switch someVariable
  when "mike"
    echo("Hello, Mike!")
  when "john"
    echo("Hello, John!")
  when "annie", "marceline"
    echo("Hai gals")
  else
    echo("Hello, World!")
end

Boolean Not

To apply a boolean not operation, use the not keyword

if not age > 18
    doSomething()
end

myValue = not myVariable

Ternary Operator

title = age > 18 ? "Mister" : "Boy"

Default Value

name = getName() ?: "Mike"

If getName() is falsy, "Mike" will be used, that translates as

name = getName() ? getName () : "Mike"

Loops

Blueberry has several loop flavours, while and for beeing the most common ones.

while someFunctionReturnsTrue()
    echo("Hello, World!")
end

# The for is very similar to ruby's :)
for i in (0..10)
    echo(i)
end

Ranges generate an array from start to end, so you can also do

myArr = (0..returnsInteger())

You can of course call for with any collection

myData = array(1, 2, 3, 4)
for i in myData
    echo(i)
end

Concatenation

The concatenation operator is &.

echo("Hello " & name)

Arrays

You can create arrays with [] Also, arrays can have initial values

myArray = [1, 2, f(1)]

callSomething([1, 2])

emptyArray = []

To get the array item at a given index is the same as PHP

item = arr[2]

Arrays indices start from 0

Multidimensional Arrays Using JSON Sytnax

You can create multidimensional arrays using JSON syntax

myArray = {
    "name": "John",
    "age": getAge(),
    "more_data": {
        "married": false
    }
}

Try-Catch

try
  someCodeHere()
catch myError
  echo(myError.getMessage())
finally
  doSomethingElse()
end

Of course you can omit the finally and the catch argument

try
  someCodeHere()
catch
  # When you don't include an argument identifier, "ex" is used
  # Nevertheless, most of the time you don"t include one it"s because you wont
  # use it.
  echo(ex.getMessage())
end

List Comprehensions

You can use CoffeeScript-style list comprehensions to make your life easier.

a = [2 * 1 for i in (1..10) where i % 2 == 0] 

Functions

Functions are created using the def keyword

def myFunctionName(name)
  return "Hello" & name
end

Closures

Closures are anonymous functions. They can be defined as follows:

a = (i) -> 2*i

That will compile to

$a = function ($i) { return 2*$i; }

You can also specify a block instead of an expression for the closure body:

a = (i) -> do
  b = 2
  callSomething()
  return f(b)
end

Closures automatically use the variables defined in the parent context:

a = 1
b = () -> a + 1

Will compile to

$a = 1;
$b = function () use ($a) { return $a + 1; };

If you don't want to include the whole scope you can manually specify it

a = 1
b = () use (a) -> a + 1

The plan is to eventually check for the closure body and include only the variables it uses. So feel free to work on that and submit a pull request!

Classes

Classes include the @ operator from Ruby, using that operator you can create instance variables and later on refer to them in a very simple and readable way.

class Human
  # name will be a public instance variable
  @name
  # age will also be a public instance variable with a value of 18
  @age = 18

  def __construct(name)
    # this is the class's constructor
    @name = name
  end

  def greet
    echo("Hi! I'm " & @name)
  end
end

mike = new Human()
mike.greet()
echo("Mike is " & mike.age & " years old.")

Access modifiers are similar to Ruby.

class MyClass
  private 
  
  # private attribute
  @foo

  def bar()
    return @foo
  end
end

If no access modifier is used, public is used.

Inheritance is done Ruby-style too.

class B < A
  # Class B extends from A
end

By Reference

In PHP you can define that a variable is a reference to another by using &, in Blueberry, it's the same

a &= b # a is a reference to b

def myFunc(&a)
 # a is passed by reference and the value will be modified outside the function
 a = a + 1
end

num = 1
myFunc(num)
# num is now 2