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Primitive Types

String​

In pinc strings are always written with double quotes (single quotes are reserved for the char type).

let greeting = "Hello world!"
let multilineGreeting = "Hello
 world!"

To concatenate strings, use ++:

let greetings = "Hello " ++ "world!";

String templates are written with double quotes just like normal strings. Their placeholder values are written inside $() and may only contain variables.

let name = "Joe";
let greeting = "Hello $(name)";
info

String templates may only accept variables as their placeholders. Advanced expressions (like an if condition) are currently not allowed.

The following code would lead to an error:

let greeting = "Hello $(if (name) name else "World")";

... but it can always be written with a let binding:

let subject = if (name) name else "World";
let greeting = "Hello $(subject)";

Char​

pinc has a type for a string with a single letter:

let firstLetterOfAlphabet = 'a';

To convert a string to a char, use "a"[0].

To convert a char to a string, use "" ++ 'a'.

Boolean​

A pinc boolean can be either true or false.

let yes = true;
let no = false;

All common operations are available:

  • logical and &&
  • logical or ||
  • logical not !
  • <=, >=, <, >
  • ==: structural equal, compares data structures deeply
  • !=: structural unequal

Int​

Integers are numbers without a decimal point.

let number = 5;
let largeNumber = 1_000_000;

let result = number + largeNumber; // 1_000_005

We provide the usual operations on them:

  • addition: +
  • substraction: -
  • multplication: *
  • division: /
  • modulo: %
  • exponentiation: **

To improve readability, you may place underscores in the middle of numeric literals such as 1_000_000. Note that underscores can be placed anywhere within a number, not just every three digits.

Float​

Floats are numbers with a decimal point. They can be written in the following ways:

let f = 1_000.462;
let f = 1.;
let f = 1.4332;
let f = .5;
let f = 1e10;
let f = 1e+2;
let f = 1e-5;
let f = 1.e-2;
let f = 0.1e-1;