Types

Neon is statically and strongly typed. Every value has a definite type, and there are no automatic conversions of values between types.

There is a dynamic Object type which can hold values of any of the concrete types.

Boolean

Boolean values can take on two values, FALSE or TRUE.

Example

LET b: Boolean := TRUE

Number

Number values are 128-bit decimal floating point (specifically, decimal128). The valid magnitude range of numbers are (in addition to zero):

Minimum: 1.000000000000000000000000000000000e-6143
Maximum: 9.999999999999999999999999999999999e6144

Example:

LET n: Number := 2.997924580e+8

String

String values are sequences of Unicode code points.

Bytes

Bytes values are sequences of 8-bit bytes. Values of this type are used for buffers when doing file and network I/O, for example.

Enumeration

Enumeration values are one of a set of valid values defined in the ENUM definition.

Example:

TYPE Colour IS ENUM
    red
    green
    blue
END ENUM

LET e: Colour := Colour.green

Record

Records are aggregate types that contain named elements with independent types.

Example:

TYPE Item IS RECORD
    name: String
    size: Number
END RECORD

VAR r: Item := Item()

r.name := "Widget"
r.size := 5

Records may have associated functions called methods, which can be called using a typical method call syntax.

Example:

TYPE Cart IS RECORD
    apples: Number
    oranges: Number
END RECORD

FUNCTION Cart.totalFruit(self: Cart): Number
    RETURN self.apples + self.oranges
END FUNCTION

VAR c: Cart := Cart()
c.apples := 5
c.oranges := 6
print(str(c.totalFruit()))

Record fields may be marked PRIVATE, which means that only code within associated methods may access that field.

Example:

TYPE Cart IS RECORD
    apples: Number
    oranges: Number
    PRIVATE nuts: Number
END RECORD

Class

Classes are aggregate types similar to records, but have different semantics and are always allocated dynamically.

Example:

TYPE Item IS CLASS
    name: String
    size: Number
END CLASS

LET p: POINTER TO Item := NEW Item()

p->name := "Widget"
p->size := 5

Classes may also have methods:

TYPE Cart IS CLASS
    apples: Number
    oranges: Number
END CLASS

FUNCTION Cart.totalFruit(self: VALID POINTER TO Cart): Number
    RETURN self->apples + self->oranges
END FUNCTION

LET c: POINTER TO Cart := NEW Cart()
c->apples := 5
c->oranges := 6
print(str(c->totalFruit()))

Array

Arrays are variable size sequences of values indexed by nonnegative integers. Arrays are dynamically sized as needed.

Example:

VAR a: Array<String> := []

a[0] := "Hello"
a[1] := "World"

Dictionary

Dictionaries are an associative map which pairs a unique String with a value of some type.

Example:

VAR d: Dictionary<Number> := {}

d["gold"] := 1
d["silver"] := 2
d["bronze"] := 3

Pointers

Pointers are addresses of dynamically allocated class objects. The NEW keyword allocates a new object of a given type and returns a pointer to it. Pointers may have the value NIL that does not point to any object. To use (dereference) a pointer, it must first be checked for validity (not NIL) using the IF VALID construct.

Example:

TYPE Item IS CLASS
    name: String
    size: Number
END CLASS

VAR item: POINTER TO Item

item := NEW Item
IF VALID item AS p THEN
    p->name := "Widget"
    p->size := 5
END IF

Object

The Object type can hold values of any of the concrete types. When used, Object values are converted back to the required concrete type when used. If the value is of the wrong type (eg. a Number where a String is required), then a DynamicConversionException is raised.

Example:

VAR x: Object

x := "hello"
print(x)

x := 5
TRY
    print(x)
TRAP DynamicConversionException DO
    print("Exception raised")
END TRY