Syntax by Example

Syntax by Example

The following examples will help you understand the syntax of Evy. We also have a one page Cheat Sheet that you can print and keep handy.

For a more formal definition of the syntax, see the Language Specification. Built-in functions, such as print and circle, are documented in the Built-ins section.

#Comment

// This is a comment

#Declaration

x:num // or string, bool, any, []num, {}string
y := 1 // type inference (num)
print x y // 0 1

#Assignment

z:num
z = 5
print z // 5

#Expression

Arithmetic, number expressions

x := 5 * (3 + pi) - 2 / 7.6
print x // 30.44434210526316

Logical, boolean expressions

trace := false
debug := true
level := "error"

b := !trace and debug or level == ""
print b // true

#Strings

Concatenation, indexing and slicing

str := "abc" + "๐Ÿฅช123" // "abc๐Ÿฅช123" - concatenation
s2 := str[0] // "a" - indexing
s3 := str[1:5] // "bc๐Ÿฅช1" - slicing
print str s2 s3

Newline, indentation and escaping

str := "newline: \n indentation: \t"
print str
print "quotation mark : \" " // escaping

#if statements

x := 6
if x > 10
    print "huge"
else if x > 5
    print "medium"
else
    print "small"
end

#Nested if

str := "abc"
if (len str) > 2
    if (startswith str "a")
        print "string starting with 'a'"
    else
        print "string not starting with 'a'"
    end
else
    print "single character or empty string"
end

#Loop statements

#while loop

x := 0
while x < 10
    print x // 0 1 2 ... 9
    x = x + 1
end

#for โ€ฆ range number

for x := range 5
    print x // 0 1 2 3 4
end

for x := range 5 10
    print x // 5 6 7 8 9
end

for x := range 1 10 2 // from to step
    print x // 1 3 5 7 9
end

for x := range -10
    print x // nothing. step is 1 by default.
end

#for โ€ฆ range array

for x := range [1 2 3]
    print x // 1 2 3
end

#for โ€ฆ range map

m := {name:"Mali" sport:"climbing"}
for key := range m
    print key m[key]
end

#break

x := 0
while true
    print "tick... "
    sleep 1
    if x > 2
        print "๐Ÿ’ฅ"
        break // breaks out of the innermost loop
    end
    x = x + 1
end

#Function definition

func add:num a:num b:num
    return a + b
end

#No return type

func foxprint s:string
    print "๐ŸฆŠ "+s
end

#Variadic

func list args:any...
    for arg := range args[:-1]
        printf "%v, " arg
    end
    printf "%v" args[-1]
end

#Function calls

n := add 1 2
print n // 3
foxprint "๐Ÿพ" // ๐ŸฆŠ ๐Ÿพ
list 2 true "blue" // [2 true blue]

// previous function definitions
func add:num a:num b:num
    return a + b
end

func foxprint s:string
    print "๐ŸฆŠ "+s
end

func list args:any...
    print args
end

#Array

Typed declaration

a1:[]num
a2:[][]string
a1 = [1 2 3 4] // type: num[]
a2 = [["1" "2"] ["a" "b"]] // type: string[][]
print a1 a2

Declaration with inference

a1 := [true false] // type: bool[]
a2 := ["s1" // line break allowed
    "s2"] // type: string[]
print a1 a2

any arrays

a1:[]any
a2 := ["chars" 123] // type: any[]
print a1 a2

#Array element access

a1 := [1 2 3 4]
a2 := [["1" "2"] ["a" "b"]]
print a1[1] // 2
print a2[1][0] // "a"
print a1[-1] // 4

#Concatenation

a := [1 2 3 4]
a = a + [100] // [1 2 3 4 100]; optional extra whitespace
a = [0] + a + [101 102] // [0 1 2 3 4 100 101 102]

#Repetition

a := [0] * 5 // [0 0 0 0 0]
a = [1 2] * 2 + a + [3] * 3 // [1 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 3]
n := 3
b := ["hello"] * n
print b // ["hello" "hello" "hello"]

#Slicing

a := [1 2 3]
b := a[:2] // [1 2]
b = a[1:2] // [2]
b = a[-2:] // [2 3]

#Map

Any map

m:{}any // keys used in literals or with `.` must be identifiers.
m.name = "fox"
m.age = 42
m["key with space"] = "๐Ÿ”‘๐Ÿช"
print m // {name:fox age:42 key with space:๐Ÿ”‘๐Ÿช}

Typed map

m1 := {letters:"abc" name:"Jill"} // type: {}string
m2 := {
    letters:"abc" // line break allowed
    name:"Jill"
}
print m1 m2

Empty map

m1:{}string // {}string
m2 := {} // {}any
print m1 m2 // {} {}

Nested map

m1:{}[]num
m2 := {a:{}}
print m1 m2 // {} {a:{}}

#Map value access

m := {letters:"abc" name:"Jill"}
s := "letters"
print m.letters // abc
print m[s] // abc
print m["letters"] // abc

#any

Zero value of any is false.

x:any
m1:{}any
m2 := {letter:"a" number:1} // {}any
print x m1 m2 // false {} {letter:a number:1}

a1:[]any
a2 := ["b" 2] // []any
print a1 a2 // [] [b 2]

#Type inspection with typeof

print (typeof "abc") // "string"
print (typeof true) // "bool"
print (typeof [1 2]) // "[]num"
print (typeof [[1 2] [3 4]]) // "[][]num"

#Type assertion

x:any
print x (typeof x) // flase bool
x = [1 2 3 4]
s := x.([]num) // type assertion
print s (typeof s) // [1 2 3 4] []num

#Type inspection and assertion

v:any
v = "๐Ÿ"
if (typeof v) == "string"
    s := v.(string) // type assertion
    print s+s // ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ
end

#Event handling

on key k:string
    print "key:" k
end

Evy can only handle a limited set of events, such as key presses, pointer movements, or periodic screen redraws.

About

large, interactive letter 'e' as evy logo large, interactive letter 'e' as evy logo

Evy is a simple programming language, made to learn coding.

Evy is a modern, beginner-friendly programming language that bridges the gap between block-based coding and conventional programming languages. Its simple syntax and small set of built-in functions make it easy to learn and use, but it still is powerful enough for user interaction, games, and animations.

Created by a software engineer and parent who struggled to teach their kids programming with conventional languages, Evy is designed to make real programming as fun and easy as possible.