Lexical Structure

Neon source code is encoded in UTF-8. All keywords and identifiers are case sensitive.

Comments

The comment lead-in character sequence is --. A single line comment is a -- followed by arbitrary text to the end of the line. A block comment is introduced with /* and ends with */. Block comments may span multiple lines. Block comments may not nest.

Example:

-- The following line prints some text.
print("Hello, World.")

/* This comment spans multiple
   lines of text until the comment
   closing characters. */

Keywords

All words that consist of only uppercase letters are reserved for keywords. The following keywords are defined by the language.

Keyword Description

Keyword	Description
`ALIAS`	used in `IMPORT` to optionally rename a module
`AND`	logical conjunction
`AS`	names a tested expression in `IF VALID` statement
`ASSERT`	assert that an expression is true, used for diagnostics
`Array`	generic array type
`BEGIN`	used in `BEGIN MAIN` to indicate a program entry point
`CASE`	multiple value matching from a range
`CONSTANT`	constant declaration
`DECLARE`	exception and forward function declaration
`DEFAULT`	default value for function parameter
`DEC`	decrement a `Number` variable
`Dictionary`	generic dictionary type
`DO`	used in `CASE`, `FOR`, and `WHILE` statements
`ELSE`	alternative condition in `IF` statement
`ELSIF`	alternative and test in `IF` statement
`EMBED`	include an external file directly into the compiled code
`ENUM`	enumeration type declaration
`END`	end of most kinds of blocks of code
`EXCEPTION`	exception declaration
`EXIT`	early exit from loops
`EXPORT`	export identifier from module
`FALSE`	boolean constant
`FIRST`	indicates first value in array subscript
`FOR`	loop with a sequential control variable
`FOREACH`	loop over an array of values
`FUNCTION`	definition of subprogram
`HEXBYTES`	literal `Bytes` value
`IF`	conditional test and branch
`IN`	function parameter passing mode; aggregate membership test
`INC`	increment a `Number` variable
`INDEX`	used in `FOREACH` statement for counting values
`INOUT`	function parameter passing mode
`IMPORT`	access code in another module
`IS`	used in a `TYPE` declaration
`LAST`	indicates last value in array subscript
`LET`	assignment to read-only value
`LOOP`	generic loop
`MAIN`	used in `BEGIN MAIN` to indicate a program entry point
`MOD`	arithmetic modulus
`NATIVE`	declares a predefined function in the standard library
`NEXT`	early skip to next loop iteration
`NEW`	dynamic memory allocation
`NIL`	pointer value constant
`NOT`	logical negation
`OF`	used in `FOREACH` statement
`OR`	logical disjunction
`OUT`	function parameter passing mode
`OTHERS`	alternative condition in a `CASE` statement
`POINTER`	pointer type declaration
`PRIVATE`	private record field
`RAISE`	initiate exception search
`RECORD`	named aggregate type declaration
`REPEAT`	bottom-tested loop
`RETURN`	early exit and value return from function
`STEP`	used in `FOR` loop for increment value
`THEN`	used in `IF` statement
`TO`	used in `FOR` loop; part of pointer declaration
`TRUE`	boolean constant
`TRY`	start of exception-checked block
`TYPE`	define named type
`UNTIL`	used at end of `REPEAT` loop
`VAR`	variable declaration
`VALID`	used in `IF VALID` pointer test statement
`WHEN`	used in `CASE` statement
`WHILE`	top-tested loop
`WITH`	parameter specification for named parameters

ALIAS

used in IMPORT to optionally rename a module

AND

logical conjunction

AS

names a tested expression in IF VALID statement

ASSERT

assert that an expression is true, used for diagnostics

Array

generic array type

BEGIN

used in BEGIN MAIN to indicate a program entry point

CASE

multiple value matching from a range

CONSTANT

constant declaration

DECLARE

exception and forward function declaration

DEFAULT

default value for function parameter

DEC

decrement a Number variable

Dictionary

generic dictionary type

DO

used in CASE, FOR, and WHILE statements

ELSE

alternative condition in IF statement

ELSIF

alternative and test in IF statement

EMBED

include an external file directly into the compiled code

ENUM

enumeration type declaration

END

end of most kinds of blocks of code

EXCEPTION

exception declaration

EXIT

early exit from loops

EXPORT

export identifier from module

FALSE

boolean constant

FIRST

indicates first value in array subscript

FOR

loop with a sequential control variable

FOREACH

loop over an array of values

FUNCTION

definition of subprogram

HEXBYTES

literal Bytes value

IF

conditional test and branch

IN

function parameter passing mode; aggregate membership test

INC

increment a Number variable

INDEX

used in FOREACH statement for counting values

INOUT

function parameter passing mode

IMPORT

access code in another module

IS

used in a TYPE declaration

LAST

indicates last value in array subscript

LET

assignment to read-only value

LOOP

generic loop

MAIN

used in BEGIN MAIN to indicate a program entry point

MOD

arithmetic modulus

NATIVE

declares a predefined function in the standard library

NEXT

early skip to next loop iteration

NEW

dynamic memory allocation

NIL

pointer value constant

NOT

logical negation

OF

used in FOREACH statement

OR

logical disjunction

OUT

function parameter passing mode

OTHERS

alternative condition in a CASE statement

POINTER

pointer type declaration

PRIVATE

private record field

RAISE

initiate exception search

RECORD

named aggregate type declaration

REPEAT

bottom-tested loop

RETURN

early exit and value return from function

STEP

used in FOR loop for increment value

THEN

used in IF statement

TO

used in FOR loop; part of pointer declaration

TRUE

boolean constant

TRY

start of exception-checked block

TYPE

define named type

UNTIL

used at end of REPEAT loop

VAR

variable declaration

VALID

used in IF VALID pointer test statement

WHEN

used in CASE statement

WHILE

top-tested loop

WITH

parameter specification for named parameters

Identifiers

An identifier is a letter followed by any number of letters, digits, or underscore. Identifiers which consist of all uppercase letters are reserved for Keywords.

Numbers

Literal numbers are in base 10 by default.

Numbers may be specified in a variety of bases (these support integers only):

Binary preceded by 0b
Octal preceded by 0o
Hexadecimal preceded by 0x

For base 10 numbers, they may contain a fractional portion following a decimal point .. Additionally, they may have an exponent following e or E.

Strings

Strings are sequences of Unicode characters surrounded by double quotes. The only special character within a string is the backslash, used for character escapes. The allowed character escapes are:

Escape

Replacement

Description

\"

double quote

\\

backslash

\b

chr(8)

backspace

\f

chr(11)

form feed

\n

chr(10)

newline

\r

chr(13)

carriage return

\t

chr(9)

tab

\uXXXX

chr(XXXX)

Unicode character XXXX (where XXXX is a 4-digit hex number)

\UXXXXXXXX

chr(XXXXXXXX)

Unicode character XXXXXXXX (where XXXXXXXX is a 8-digit hex number)

\u{NAME}

character

Unicode character named NAME from the Unicode standard

\()

expression

see Expression Substitution

Example:

VAR s: String

s := "Hello, World"

Literal strings may need to contain backslashes (such as when used for regular expressions). Instead of using normal double-quoted strings, there are two varieties of "raw strings". The first can contain any character except ":

CONSTANT s: String := @"This string contains backslash (\) characters"

The second type of string uses arbitrary delimiters so that any literal string can be included in source. The simplest form is:

CONSTANT s: String := @@"This string contains backslashes (\) and "quotes"."@@

If there is a need to include the sequence "@@ within the string, an arbitrary identifier may appear between the @ at the start and end of the stiring. For example:

CONSTANT s: String := @raw@"A raw string example is @@"like this"@@."@raw@