Syntax Reference

Ling is an expression-oriented language with a clean, minimal syntax. Every keyword below has equivalents in all supported lexicons — see Keyword Aliases for the full table.

Binding (variable declaration)

令 x = 42
令 name = "Ling"
令 flag = true

Re-binding shadows the previous binding in the same scope:

令 i = 0
令 i = i + 1   # i is now 1

Functions

函 add(a, b) {
    返 a + b
}

Functions are values and can be stored in bindings:

令 square = 函 (n) { 返 n * n }
令 result = square(7)   # 49

Do blocks (执)

A 执 block evaluates all statements and returns the value of the last one. The entry point of every Ling program is 令 启 = 执 { ... }.

令 启 = 执 {
    令 x = 10
    令 y = 20
    印(x + y)
}

Conditionals

若 x > 0 {
    印("positive")
}

若 x > 0 {
    印("positive")
} 否则 {
    印("non-positive")
}

While loops

令 i = 0
循 i < 10 {
    印(i)
    令 i = i + 1
}

Note: Ling has no unary minus operator. Write 0 - x instead of -x.

Lists

令 lst = list_new()
令 lst = list_push(lst, 42)
令 lst = list_push(lst, "hello")
令 n   = list_len(lst)         # 2
令 v   = list_get(lst, 0)      # 42

Comments

# This is a comment
令 x = 1   # inline comment

Arithmetic and comparison

令 sum  = a + b
令 diff = a - b
令 prod = a * b
令 quot = a / b
令 rem  = a % b
令 eq   = a == b
令 neq  = a != b
令 lt   = a < b
令 lte  = a <= b
令 gt   = a > b
令 gte  = a >= b

Built-in math functions

sin(x)   cos(x)   tan(x)
asin(x)  acos(x)  atan2(y, x)
sqrt(x)  abs(x)   floor(x)   ceil(x)
log(x)   exp(x)   pow(x, y)