Classes

Classes are similar to records with some additional features:

Instances of classes must be dynamically allocated with NEW.
Class instances are always referenced by pointer.
Classes support interfaces.

Declaration

Classes are declared using TYPE with CLASS:

TYPE Person IS CLASS
    name: String
    phone: String
    pets: Number
END CLASS

Like records, classes may declare PRIVATE fields.

Allocation

A new instance of a class must be created using the NEW keyword:

TYPE Person IS CLASS
    name: String
    phone: String
    pets: Number
END CLASS

LET p: POINTER TO Person := NEW Person(name WITH "Alice")
print(p->name)

Interfaces

An interface is declared using the INTERFACE declaration:

INTERFACE Animal
    FUNCTION voice(self: Animal)
END INTERFACE

-------------------------

TYPE Cat IS CLASS IMPLEMENTS Animal
    furColour: String
END CLASS

FUNCTION Cat.voice(self: VALID POINTER TO Cat)
    print("meow")
END FUNCTION

-------------------------

TYPE Bird IS CLASS IMPLEMENTS Animal
    featherColour: String
END CLASS

FUNCTION Bird.voice(self: VALID POINTER TO Bird)
    print("chirp")
END FUNCTION

-------------------------

VAR animals: Array<VALID POINTER TO Animal> := []
animals.append(NEW Cat)
animals.append(NEW Bird)
FOREACH x IN animals DO
    x->voice()
END FOREACH

Each class that implements the interface uses the IMPLEMENTS keyword to indicate. The type POINTER TO Animal refers to instances of classes that implement the Animal interface.