119 Commits

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d4daa0e048 docs; add .nojekyll hint for pages to not fail when building
probably due to minified code
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87f9a1782a latest docs 2021-08-09 18:01:41 -07:00
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f3c5ca34a7 Re-add CNAME file. 2018-07-13 09:09:18 -07:00
84a3201099 Regenerate 2018-07-13 09:03:56 -07:00
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99bc2be625 Fresh docs! 2017-10-19 22:14:16 -07:00
5cac3af2f2 Fresh docs! 2017-10-19 07:05:45 -07:00
5aba452874 Merge pull request #399 from jackivan88/patch-1
Correct transposed words on line 105
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1de14d25d1 Correct transposed words on line 105 2016-12-05 08:17:54 +09:00
5b60e42754 Merge pull request #361 from minirop/gh-pages-typo
Typo saying C++89
2016-05-10 10:47:48 -07:00
bb6d702118 typo saying C++89 2016-05-10 19:23:22 +02:00
08b24c9dd4 Fresh docs! 2016-02-27 11:10:16 -08:00
4a121ec1c2 Fresh docs! 2016-02-21 12:24:03 -08:00
0387e95df4 Fresh docs! 2016-02-20 09:25:27 -08:00
8b6e6bc677 Fresh docs! 2016-01-24 15:41:12 -08:00
2db55f7d29 Fresh docs! 2015-12-30 08:13:38 -08:00
843ff4405f Fresh docs! 2015-12-29 22:29:29 -08:00
247097c0f8 Add CNAME. 2015-12-29 22:14:03 -08:00
46c1c08fea Fresh docs! 2015-12-29 22:00:50 -08:00
bc6e1c63b5 Regenerate all the things. 2015-11-09 08:01:19 -08:00
61c1c991b1 Regenerate docs. 2015-09-22 08:02:21 -07:00
734b275c4a Fresh docs! 2015-09-11 21:39:04 -07:00
29080e85b0 Regenerate. 2015-07-21 07:30:08 -07:00
714ef30740 Regenerate. 2015-07-18 11:20:29 -07:00
200223b0fa Regenerate docs. 2015-07-01 08:13:20 -07:00
1f85ee1aa6 Add community page. 2015-04-25 08:50:08 -07:00
59b07c9141 Fresh docs! 2015-04-22 07:58:05 -07:00
050b2b0a51 Update Sequence docs. 2015-03-28 10:27:03 -07:00
9a9968d278 Docs! 2015-03-27 20:59:45 -07:00
28309824bf Fresh docs! 2015-03-27 20:54:23 -07:00
95fea0df56 Add Class.supertype. 2015-03-14 12:18:06 -07:00
0a1c30118f Regenerate. 2015-03-13 07:58:04 -07:00
81b52f8c06 Regenerate. 2015-02-22 11:27:03 -08:00
074545a79a Module docs! 2015-02-18 08:00:42 -08:00
7343aff563 Maps! 2015-01-25 21:40:06 -08:00
e8eabc5a67 Regenerate. 2015-01-22 20:59:11 -08:00
846ade932a Regenerate. 2015-01-20 17:47:56 -08:00
0a39662a55 Regenerate core lib docs. 2015-01-18 15:37:50 -08:00
8e333df6a5 Regenerate. 2015-01-16 17:51:38 -08:00
d984ed4ac8 Update benchmark table. 2015-01-16 07:53:15 -08:00
bf231f3c48 Regenerate. 2015-01-16 07:06:25 -08:00
475d254258 Regenerate. 2015-01-15 21:18:18 -08:00
7bbc735545 Regenerate. 2015-01-08 21:06:40 -08:00
66c723ab70 Contributor's guide. 2015-01-04 13:36:51 -08:00
8edc610287 Republish docs. 2015-01-03 23:27:54 -08:00
eb449ccf73 Fix #48. 2015-01-02 20:08:06 -08:00
2a1483f675 Remove pointless newline. 2015-01-02 08:00:01 -08:00
0708b9dfc1 Fix link to embedding API. 2015-01-01 23:00:03 -08:00
d4c04663f9 Fix range in docs. 2015-01-01 22:49:04 -08:00
3311324aea Copy docs to gh-pages. 2015-01-01 21:04:14 -08:00
1177 changed files with 12035 additions and 312565 deletions

52
.gitignore vendored
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# Build outputs
/bin
/lib
# Intermediate files
*.obj
Debug/
Release/
/build
/.sass-cache
*.pyc
# Intermediate files directory.
build/
build_xcode/
.sass-cache/
# I leave a temporary Wren script at the top
# level so that I can quickly test stuff.
/scratch.wren
# Built applications.
wren
wrend
# The baseline file is machine-specific
/test/benchmark/baseline.txt
# VSCode project files.
.vscode
# XCode user-specific stuff
# XCode user-specific stuff.
xcuserdata/
*.xccheckout
# Visual Studio cache files
.vs/
ipch/
*.aps
*.ncb
*.opensdf
*.sdf
*.cachefile
# I leave a temporary Wren script at the top level so that I can quickly test
# stuff.
scratch.wren
# Visual Studio User-specific files
*.suo
*.user
*.userosscache
*.sln.docstates
# The baseline file is machine-specific, so doesn't get checked in.
benchmark/baseline.txt
# macOS
.DS_Store
# built docs get copied here, which is presumed to be a separate checkout of
# the repo so they can be pushed to GitHub Pages.
gh-pages/

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#!/bin/bash
set -e
# This build script only builds mac or linux right now, for CI.
WREN_WD="projects/make"
if [ -n "$WREN_TARGET_MAC" ]; then
WREN_WD="projects/make.mac"
fi
WREN_PY=${WREN_PY_BINARY:-python3}
echo "using working directory '$WREN_WD' ..."
echo "using python binary '$WREN_PY' ..."
make -C $WREN_WD config=debug_64bit-no-nan-tagging
$WREN_PY ./util/test.py --suffix=_d
make -C $WREN_WD config=debug_64bit
$WREN_PY ./util/test.py --suffix=_d
make -C $WREN_WD config=release_64bit-no-nan-tagging
$WREN_PY ./util/test.py
make -C $WREN_WD config=release_64bit
$WREN_PY ./util/test.py

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language: c
# https://docs.travis-ci.com/user/languages/c/#gcc-on-macos
# On mac, gcc is aliased to clang, so we only have one row
# in build the matrix, not two like on linux
compiler:
- clang
- gcc
# Automatically build and deploy docs.
jobs:
include:
- os: linux
- os: osx
env: WREN_TARGET_MAC=1
- stage: deploy
script: ./util/deploy_docs_from_travis.sh
# Only deploy commits that land on main.
if: branch = main and type = push
# Travis VMs are 64-bit but we compile both for 32 and 64 bit. To enable the
# 32-bit builds to work, we need gcc-multilib.
addons:
apt:
packages:
- gcc-multilib
- g++-multilib
# These are needed for building and deploying the docs.
- python3-markdown
- python3-pygments
- python3-setuptools
- ruby-sass
# Can't do container-based builds for now because installing the custom
# Pygments lexer to generate the docs requires sudo. :( If that changes,
# uncomment the next line and delete the "sudo" and "dist" lines.
# sudo: false # Enable container-based builds.
sudo: required
dist: trusty
script: ./.travis.sh

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AUTHORS
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This is the (likely incomplete) list of people who have made Wren what it is.
If you submit a patch to Wren, please add your name and email address to the
end of this list.
Robert Nystrom <robert@stuffwithstuff.com>
Kyle Marek-Spartz <kyle.marek.spartz@gmail.com>
Paul Woolcock <paul@woolcock.us>
Evan Shaw <edsrzf@gmail.com>
Gavin Schulz <gavin.schulz@gmail.com>
Lukas Werling <lukas.werling@gmail.com>
Marco Lizza <marco.lizza@gmail.com>
Raymond Sohn <raymondsohn@gmail.com>
Thorbjørn Lindeijer <bjorn@lindeijer.nl>
Patricio Mac Adden <patriciomacadden@gmail.com>
Evan Hahn <me@evanhahn.com>
Starbeamrainbowlabs <contact@starbeamrainbowlabs.com>
Alexander Roper <minirop@gmail.com>
Will Speak <will@willspeak.me>
Damien Radtke <damienradtke@gmail.com>
Max Ferguson <maxxferguson@gmail.com>
Sven Bergström <sven@underscorediscovery.com>
Kyle Charters <kylewcharters@gmail.com>
Marshall Bowers <elliott.codes@gmail.com>
Michal Kozakiewicz <michalkozakiewicz3@gmail.com>
Charlotte Koch <cfkoch@edgebsd.org>
Michel Hermier <michel.hermier@gmail.com>
Taylor Hoff <primdevs@gmail.com>
ruby0x1 <ruby0x1@pm.me>
Kolja Kube <code@koljaku.be>
Alexander Klingenbeck <alexander.klingenbeck@gmx.de>
Aviv Beeri <avbeeri@gmail.com>

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## 0.4.0
- Fix some stack corruption with multiple wrenInterpret calls
- WREN_MAX_TEMP_ROOTS default is 8 (instead of 5)
- Add `Num.log2` and `Num.exp`
- Fixed crash when GC collects module during import 2ce421ea
- Fixed bug with `import` (28ad8aa9)
- Map API support:
- wrenSetSlotNewMap
- wrenGetMapCount
- wrenGetMapContainsKey
- wrenGetMapValue
- wrenSetMapValue
- wrenRemoveMapValue
- Add util/generate_projects.py (expects premake binary in projects/premake/)
- Support positive sign (+) in scientific notation
- Optional Random.Sample optimization (#716)
## 0.3.0
0.3.0 is a fairly specific release, aimed at fixing build issues across platforms,
streamlining the process for new users and making embedding easier.
This is a stepping stone for working on language features and improving the VM,
hacking on the docs and the VM is simpler than ever!
Builds now work out of the box on all primary platforms.
Previously there was issues on Windows and other platforms due to unix-ey workflows being the default.
All the python scripts have also been fixed and updated (to python 3), and work consistently
across all platforms out of the box too (including the tests, benchmarks, metrics etc).
Like before, there was some things that didn't hold up on Windows or Mac. Fixed!
A lot of work has been done to also clarify the distinction between the CLI project and the VM,
as well as [move the CLI to its own repo](https://github.com/wren-lang/wren-cli/)!
This removes a lot of code that wasn't being used, and also been clarified the project structure.
Docs have also had a clean up, and a new page to try Wren directly on the doc page was added.
### Language/VM
- CLI moved to own repo
- Use premake for project generation, see projects/
- Fix builds across platforms. "Just works" on all primary platforms.
- Fix amalgamated script generator and amalgamated build
- Fix unicode parsing and other issues in all python scripts
- All python scripts are python3 now, and run on all platforms correctly
- Test runner isolated and unified for VM tests
- Remove SASS and Pygments requirements from docs, just python now
- Updated docs to clarify VM/CLI split
- Added Try page for running wren code in the docs
## 0.2.0
0.2.0 spans a pretty wide time period with [around 290 commits](https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/compare/0.1.0...main).
This includes many bug fixes, improvements, clarity in the
code and documentation and so on. There's too many to explicitly list.
Below is the obvious user facing stuff that was easy to spot in the history.
Most noteworthy is that 'relative imports' are a slightly breaking change,
but help pave the way forward toward a consistency for modules.
### Language/VM
- `import` was made smarter, differentiating relative from logical
- `Fiber` can now accept a value from the first `call`/`transfer`
- Added `String.trim`, `String.trimEnd`, `String.trimStart` variants
- Added `String.split`, `String.replace`, `String.fromByte`
- Added `String.indexOf(needle, startIndex)`
- Added `Sequence.take` and `Sequence.skip`
- Added `List.filled(count, value)`
- Added `Num.pow`, `Num.log`, `Num.round`
- Added `Num.largest`, `Num.smallest`
- Added `Map` iteration (`MapEntry`)
#### C API
- Added `wren.hpp` for use in c++
- Added void* user data to `WrenVM`
- Allow hosts with no module loader to still load optional modules.
- Added `wrenAbortFiber`
### CLI
Please note that beyond 0.2.0 the CLI will have it's own changelog.
This list is not exhaustive. For a fuller history see the commit log above.
- Add path module
- Add `--version`
- Add REPL written in Wren
- Add Stdin.isTerminal
- Added Platform class
- Rename `process` module to `os`
## 0.1.0
First declared version. Everything is new!

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CNAME Normal file
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wren.io

21
LICENSE
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MIT License
Copyright (c) 2013-2020 Robert Nystrom and Wren Contributors
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

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## Wren is a small, fast, class-based concurrent scripting language
Think Smalltalk in a Lua-sized package with a dash of Erlang and wrapped up in
a familiar, modern [syntax][].
```dart
System.print("Hello, world!")
class Wren {
flyTo(city) {
System.print("Flying to %(city)")
}
}
var adjectives = Fiber.new {
["small", "clean", "fast"].each {|word| Fiber.yield(word) }
}
while (!adjectives.isDone) System.print(adjectives.call())
```
* **Wren is small.** The VM implementation is under [4,000 semicolons][src].
You can skim the whole thing in an afternoon. It's *small*, but not
*dense*. It is readable and [lovingly-commented][nan].
* **Wren is fast.** A fast single-pass compiler to tight bytecode, and a
compact object representation help Wren [compete with other dynamic
languages][perf].
* **Wren is class-based.** There are lots of scripting languages out there,
but many have unusual or non-existent object models. Wren places
[classes][] front and center.
* **Wren is concurrent.** Lightweight [fibers][] are core to the execution
model and let you organize your program into an army of communicating
coroutines.
* **Wren is a scripting language.** Wren is intended for embedding in
applications. It has no dependencies, a small standard library,
and [an easy-to-use C API][embedding]. It compiles cleanly as C99, C++98
or anything later.
If you like the sound of this, [let's get started][started]. You can even try
it [in your browser][browser]! Excited? Well, come on and [get
involved][contribute]!
[![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/wren-lang/wren.svg?branch=main)](https://travis-ci.org/wren-lang/wren)
[syntax]: http://wren.io/syntax.html
[src]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/tree/main/src
[nan]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/blob/93dac9132773c5bc0bbe92df5ccbff14da9d25a6/src/vm/wren_value.h#L486-L541
[perf]: http://wren.io/performance.html
[classes]: http://wren.io/classes.html
[fibers]: http://wren.io/concurrency.html
[embedding]: http://wren.io/embedding/
[started]: http://wren.io/getting-started.html
[browser]: http://ppvk.github.io/wren-nest/
[contribute]: http://wren.io/contributing.html

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blog/0-hello-wren.html Normal file
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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
<title>Hello Wren &ndash; Wren</title>
<script type="application/javascript" src="../prism.js" data-manual></script>
<script type="application/javascript" src="../wren.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../prism.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../style.css" />
<link href='//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Source+Sans+Pro:400,700,400italic,700italic|Source+Code+Pro:400|Lato:400|Sanchez:400italic,400' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'>
<!-- Tell mobile browsers we're optimized for them and they don't need to crop
the viewport. -->
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1"/>
</head>
<body id="top">
<header>
<div class="page">
<div class="main-column">
<h1><a href="../">wren</a></h1>
<h2>a classy little scripting language</h2>
</div>
</div>
</header>
<div class="page">
<nav class="big">
<a href="../"><img src="../wren.svg" class="logo"></a>
<ul>
<li><a href="../getting-started.html">Getting Started</a></li>
<li><a href="../contributing.html">Contributing</a></li>
<li><a href="../blog">Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="../try">Try it!</a></li>
</ul>
</nav>
<nav class="small">
<table>
<tr>
<td>
<ul>
<li><a href="../getting-started.html">Getting Started</a></li>
<li><a href="../contributing.html">Contributing</a></li>
<li><a href="../blog">Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="../try">Try it!</a></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</nav>
<main>
<h2>Hello Wren</h2>
<p>4 Feb 2019</p>
<hr />
<p>Welcome to the new Wren development blog!</p>
<p>Around November 2018 on the Wren mailing list, munificent announced that a new maintainer is taking over the development and maintainence of the Wren language. <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/wren-lang/cMUwij-NIn0">The original post is here, with all the details.</a></p>
<p>In short, <a href="https://github.com/ruby0x1">I&rsquo;m (ruby0x1)</a> taking over from <a href="https://github.com/munificent">Bob (munificent)</a> as maintainer, but Bob is sticking around as a contributor!</p>
<h3>The Wren blog <a href="#the-wren-blog" name="the-wren-blog" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>One of the first things I felt Wren needed going forward is a consistent and centralized place to talk about the language. The existing design choices and goals, and especially the future and evolution of Wren are something a lot of people want to read about, in detail. Now we have a place to do exactly that!</p>
<p>The blog will be keeping in the spirit of Wren by remaining simple. Posts are just regular markdown files in the repository alongside the rest of the site, and are considered part of the documentation.</p>
<p>Since Wren as a project aims to help others learn, having the in depth thought processes, development details and technical intricacy be documented in the same place, over a timeline, is valuable.</p>
<h3>What&rsquo;s next for Wren? <a href="#what's-next-for-wren" name="what's-next-for-wren" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>First and foremost, I wanted to state explicitly that <strong>Wren is going to be changing</strong> but it is <strong>not going to become something else</strong>. </p>
<p>Wren attracted me as a language because of what it <em>is</em>, not because it isn&rsquo;t {<em>other language</em>}. If I wanted to use {<em>other language</em>} I would have, but I chose Wren because I wanted what it was. </p>
<p>So, Wren is going to be changing in ways that align with it&rsquo;s existing design intentions. Staying small, simple, learnable and hackable is all vital to what makes Wren valuable, and will remain. </p>
<p>We&rsquo;re just as excited as you are to get to longer term changes and fun tweaks (we have lots of work done already in local projects like <a href="https://i.imgur.com/dazexnY.gifv">the debugger</a>). There&rsquo;s plenty of ideas we&rsquo;ve tried since we&rsquo;ve been <a href="https://luxeengine.com">using Wren full time</a> the last 2.5+ years, and can&rsquo;t wait to get started with bring those into the main branch (and optional modules). There&rsquo;s a lot to do!</p>
<p>In the next blog I want to try talk a bit more about the short to medium term goals and roadmap (rather than mixing it here with the meta/hello world post). Be sure to keep an eye out for that one, as it has more juicy details on what we&rsquo;re gonna get up to.</p>
<p>There are immediate term goals, though.</p>
<h3>First steps <a href="#first-steps" name="first-steps" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>I think it&rsquo;s important to reset the baseline before we shake things up too much. Think of it as a ramp up to gain momentum, rather than running into a china store with arms flailing. </p>
<ul>
<li>We&rsquo;re gonna clear out a bit of backlog, tidying up issues and PRs</li>
<li>Tidy up the website a bit, visually and structurally</li>
<li>Make sure all documentation is up to date with the current development</li>
<li>Tag 0.2.0 with a list of relevant changes since 0.1.0</li>
</ul>
<p>Once we tag 0.2.0, we&rsquo;ll be in a good place to move forward. And, everything up until now will have a well defined checkpoint preserved, if people want to refer to it.</p>
<h3>Steps so far <a href="#steps-so-far" name="steps-so-far" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Since the announcement and transition, I&rsquo;ve been making my way through all the mailing list posts, issues and PRs in the backlog and reading all the way back to the early days. </p>
<p>I&rsquo;ve also been talking to community members one on one and getting personal experiences and thoughts on Wren. Forming a full picture will help us since we&rsquo;ll have an overview of what&rsquo;s most relevant (and what isn&rsquo;t) as time has passed, and gives us actionable things to do for the next milestone. I think it&rsquo;s an important step. </p>
<p>We&rsquo;ve also been investigating some of the PRs with the community to get those sorted out, since they&rsquo;re in the way.</p>
<p>Lastly, I&rsquo;ve already done a bit of clean up on the website and documentation theme, added a new logo, and of course added the blog.</p>
<h3>Thanks! <a href="#thanks" name="thanks" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Lastly, I wanted to say thanks to munificent, the community and all the contributors that have made Wren possible to this point. It&rsquo;s a wonderful thing and I look forward to seeing where we take it, together.</p>
<p>I hope you&rsquo;ll join us on the journey!</p>
<h3>More <a href="#more" name="more" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://wren.io/blog/rss.xml">The Wren Blog RSS</a></li>
<li>Join the <a href="https://discord.gg/Kx6PxSX">discord community</a></li>
<li>Visit the <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang">wren-lang organization</a> on GitHub.</li>
<li>Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/munificentbob">@munificentbob</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/ruby0x1">@ruby0x1</a> on twitter</li>
</ul>
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<p>Wren lives
<a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren">on GitHub</a>
&mdash; Made with &#x2764; by
<a href="http://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/">Bob Nystrom</a> and
<a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/blob/main/AUTHORS">friends</a>.
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<h2>a classy little scripting language</h2>
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<h2>0.2.0 and beyond</h2>
<p>30 Sep 2019</p>
<hr />
<h3>0.2.0 is here <a href="#0.2.0-is-here" name="0.2.0-is-here" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>It&rsquo;s time to tag a release!
Let&rsquo;s check our goals from <a href="0-hello-wren.html">the last blog post</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li><s>We&rsquo;re gonna clear out a bit of backlog, tidying up issues and PRs</s></li>
<li><s>Tidy up the website a bit, visually and structurally</s></li>
<li><s>Make sure all documentation is up to date with the current development</s></li>
<li><s>Tag 0.2.0 with a list of relevant changes since 0.1.0</s></li>
</ul>
<p>So far so good.</p>
<h3>Backlog <a href="#backlog" name="backlog" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Clearing out the issues on a repo after some time has passed is always a bit tricky. </p>
<p>Many issues are outdated (or unrelated), and some need a proper response. Some are related to future ideals, things that will take a while to get to. Some are related to the Wren CLI. It can be difficult to reason about the state of the tasks when they&rsquo;re all over the place, so we&rsquo;ve been consolidating.</p>
<p>The good news is the issue list has been drastically reduced, 70+ issues being closed (or resolved). Around 21 of those are marked for future consideration, and 23 moved to the Wren CLI repository. More consolidation will still continue.</p>
<p><strong>The goal is that the active issues are as relevant as possible in the immediate term.</strong></p>
<p>A tricky but important aspect to mention here is the perception of closing an issue&hellip;
A closed issue doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean anything final, it&rsquo;s just a categorization tool!</p>
<p>The other categorization tool which operates <em>within</em> open/closed categories, is the <em>label</em>. Labels allow us to distinguish clearly the different types of issues, which makes open/closed less binary and more nuanced and rich. We rely on both to make sense of the list.</p>
<p>For example, discussions of future tasks, ideas or goals <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/issues?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;q=is%3Aissue+label%3Afuture+">are tagged <code>future</code></a>. Now we can refer to them later, and re-open them when they become active and relevant again.</p>
<p><strong>We&rsquo;re in this together.</strong> <br />
Please don&rsquo;t be discouraged if an issue is closed! Discussion is absolutely encouraged and ideas, proposals and input is very necessary. Feel free to keep a discussion going, even if the issue it&rsquo;s attached to has been marked as closed.</p>
<h3>0.2.0 <a href="#0.2.0" name="0.2.0" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>We&rsquo;ve been hammering away on Wren since 0.1.0 for quite a while. The <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/compare/0.1.0...5338275dcdd97fd8d9fc614f420a645500836a59">change list on GitHub</a> is too long to display!</p>
<p>Most importantly, before we start iterating on the language further, I wanted to make sure we had a checkpoint to look back to. That&rsquo;s largely what 0.2.0 is about.</p>
<p>There&rsquo;s quite a lot of good changes, with <strong>290 commits from 41 contributors!</strong>
Thanks to everyone getting involved, every little bit has helped Wren, no matter how small the contribution.</p>
<h3>0.3.0 <a href="#0.3.0" name="0.3.0" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>With 0.2.0 wrapped up, our next release won&rsquo;t be as far away this time.</p>
<p><strong>The primary goal for 0.3.0 is separating the VM from the CLI.</strong></p>
<p>This includes updated documentation, splitting the source repos, migrating all the tests, issues and more.
All the code and documentation will still be easy to access in one place, but clarity around Wren as a project will improve a lot.</p>
<p>The migration has already started, you can <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren-cli">find the wren-cli repository here</a>.
I&rsquo;m working on some of the refactoring on the <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/tree/wren-cli-refactor">wren-cli-refactor branch.</a></p>
<p>With that, we&rsquo;ll also have a cleaner build process for the CLI.
On some platforms (Windows especially), there have been several pain points, these will be addressed.
There&rsquo;s also gonna be an additional build target, namely emscripten, so we can easily run Wren examples on the Wren website and documentation.</p>
<p>And finally, we&rsquo;ll have some proper prebuilt releases with 0.3.0.
I know many people have just wanted to grab an executable and give the language a go, but that hasn&rsquo;t been an option.
We&rsquo;ll fix that with 0.3.0.</p>
<p>The 0.3.0 goals in simple form:
- VM / CLI split
- Build consistency/reliablity
- Web build for embedding in docs
- Prebuilt releases</p>
<h3>Beyond <a href="#beyond" name="beyond" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>I don&rsquo;t have any concrete plans for 0.4.0 right now, but once the dust settles from 0.3.0 we&rsquo;ll have a clearer view.</p>
<p>There&rsquo;s definitely things in the pipeline though, I&rsquo;ve been playing with <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/pull/701">adding compound assignments like <code>+=</code></a>.</p>
<p>More details about in development features and fixes can be found on the repo in the meantime.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading!</p>
<h3>More <a href="#more" name="more" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://wren.io/blog/rss.xml">The Wren Blog RSS</a></li>
<li>Join the <a href="https://discord.gg/Kx6PxSX">discord community</a></li>
<li>Visit the <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang">wren-lang organization</a> on GitHub to get involved.</li>
<li>Follow the developers <a href="https://twitter.com/munificentbob">@munificentbob</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/ruby0x1">@ruby0x1</a> on twitter</li>
</ul>
</main>
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<footer>
<div class="page">
<div class="main-column">
<p>Wren lives
<a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren">on GitHub</a>
&mdash; Made with &#x2764; by
<a href="http://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/">Bob Nystrom</a> and
<a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/blob/main/AUTHORS">friends</a>.
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<h2>0.3.0 released!</h2>
<p>5 June 2020</p>
<hr />
<p>In this post we&rsquo;ll cover 0.3.0 and the goals for 0.4.0 <a href="#goals-for-0.4.0">#</a>.</p>
<h2>About the 0.3.0 release <a href="#about-the-0.3.0-release" name="about-the-0.3.0-release" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>Let&rsquo;s revisit our goals from <a href="1-0.2.0-and-beyond.html">the last blog post</a>, <br />
and mark what we managed to get done:</p>
<ul>
<li><s>VM / CLI split</s> <a href="#vm--cli-split">#</a></li>
<li><s>Build consistency/reliablity</s> <a href="#build-consistencyreliability">#</a></li>
<li><s>Web build for embedding in docs</s> <a href="#web-build-for-embedding-in-docs">#</a></li>
<li><s>Prebuilt releases</s> <a href="#prebuilt-releases">#</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>The details <a href="#the-details" name="the-details" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3>VM / CLI split <a href="#vm--cli-split" name="vm--cli-split" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>With 0.3.0 we&rsquo;ve separated the CLI from the Wren repo,
and updated the docs to make the distinction clearer.</p>
<p>The <a href="../cli">CLI now has its own corner of the docs</a>, so that the modules
and API docs aren&rsquo;t overlapped like before. This opens up space for the
CLI to get better, fuller documentation, and removes confusion about
built in modules vs ones that are in the CLI only.</p>
<p>The code structure is clearer, too, and all the tests and utils are now specific.</p>
<h3>Build consistency/reliability <a href="#build-consistencyreliability" name="build-consistencyreliability" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Previously, builds on Windows could be a little fickle, and there was sometimes
issues with the dependencies on the CLI side.</p>
<p>To solve this, premake is now used to generate platform specific project files that
&lsquo;just work&rsquo;, making it a one step process to build the VM or CLI. Both projects
now have a <code>projects/</code> folder which includes ready to go project files for primary platforms.</p>
<p><small>The original <code>Makefile</code> and <code>util/wren.mk</code> no longer exist, so there might be some work needed
to reintegrate if you relied on those. You can find the updated makefile in <code>projects/make/</code>, or <code>projects/make.mac/</code>.</small></p>
<p>The <strong>amalgamated build</strong> was fixed too, so that embedding in your own project is as simple as
including a single c file (and the <code>wren.h</code> header).</p>
<p>On the <strong>CLI</strong> side, the pre-build steps were removed and dependencies vendored in repo,
so that the project just builds with less potential points of error, especially across platforms.</p>
<p>And finally the <strong>docs</strong>! Previously <a href="https://sass-lang.com/">SASS</a> was used, and code highlighting
was done at generation time using pygments, a python code highlighter. Both of these dependencies
have been removed, code highlighting is now done on the client side instead (see another reason why below).
The benefit here that it is now <em>easy</em> to edit the docs, just a simple python command, no setup!</p>
<h3>Web build for embedding in docs <a href="#web-build-for-embedding-in-docs" name="web-build-for-embedding-in-docs" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The goal was two part here, one is to have a page to just try out Wren.
Type in some code, run it. That&rsquo;s the first big step and we&rsquo;ve now got that on the docs page.</p>
<h4><a href="../try" target="_blank" class="dark-link">Try Wren directly in your browser!</a></h4>
<p>This should work on desktop or mobile, and will continue to be improved over time.</p>
<p>The second part of that goal is having the VM available to make examples on each page interactive.
This is implemented, <em>but not activated on any pages yet</em>.</p>
<p>In the near future inline doc examples will have a small button that you can
press to see the code result right there, live. Since there&rsquo;s a lot of examples,
and sometimes they&rsquo;re fragments of code that don&rsquo;t run in isolation,
it will take time to propagate it through the pages.</p>
<p>Mainly, I didn&rsquo;t want this to hold up 0.3.0, but expect to start seeing it soon.</p>
<h3>Prebuilt releases <a href="#prebuilt-releases" name="prebuilt-releases" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>In addition to the browser based build that removes a barrier to trying out Wren,
Wren CLI has prebuilt binaries for Mac, Windows and Linux now! This gives
an easy path to just tinkering with Wren before embedding it.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Goals for 0.4.0 <a href="#goals-for-0.4.0" name="goals-for-0.4.0" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>With 0.4.0 the goal is to address a couple of bigger todos, but also to push the language
itself, and the embedding experience forward.</p>
<p>You can see some of the <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Aopen+label%3A0.4.0">work in progress tasks</a> here,
but there&rsquo;s a few things I&rsquo;d like to resolve in 0.4.0.</p>
<p><strong>Compound operators</strong> <br />
I&rsquo;ve really missed having <code>+=</code> and friends, <br />
so I&rsquo;ve been working on a (broken, wip) <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/pull/701">PR here</a>.
I&rsquo;ve since had a better idea to implement it and will hope to address that in 0.4.0.</p>
<p><strong>Chained methods (&lsquo;fluent interfaces&rsquo;)</strong> <br />
Currently in Wren it&rsquo;s required that the period (<code>.</code>) be on the same line as the method.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
example.
some().
functions().
here()
</pre>
<p>This isn&rsquo;t as elegant as we&rsquo;d want for this form of API,
so <strong>in 0.4.0 the goal is</strong> allowing a newline, as you&rsquo;d expect:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
example
.some()
.functions()
.here()
</pre>
<p>This doesn&rsquo;t seem like a big deal but when your calls are wider,
longer and possibly accept block functions. It&rsquo;s hard to read,
and can be less fun to track down a missing <code>.</code> in a big chunk of code.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
example.
some {|args, and, stuff|
...
}.
here()
</pre>
<p><strong>C Side APIs</strong> <br />
Some APIs for dealing with <code>Map</code> have been proposed several times,
it&rsquo;s time to bring that into the API. There&rsquo;s some additions for <code>List</code> as well,
like a helper to set an element in a list.</p>
<p><strong>Other goals</strong> <br />
There&rsquo;s a few more things but I&rsquo;m still exploring their viability. <br />
Keep an eye on the <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren">PRs/issues</a> or the <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Aopen+label%3A0.4.0">0.4.0 label</a> to see when they&rsquo;re discussed.</p>
<h2>Till next time <a href="#till-next-time" name="till-next-time" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<hr />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://wren.io/blog/rss.xml">The Wren Blog RSS</a></li>
<li>Join the <a href="https://discord.gg/Kx6PxSX">discord community</a></li>
<li>Visit the <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang">wren-lang organization</a> on GitHub to get involved.</li>
<li>Follow the developers <a href="https://twitter.com/munificentbob">@munificentbob</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/ruby0x1">@ruby0x1</a> on twitter</li>
</ul>
</main>
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<a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren">on GitHub</a>
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<a href="http://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/">Bob Nystrom</a> and
<a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/blob/main/AUTHORS">friends</a>.
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<h2>0.4.0 released!</h2>
<p>8 April 2021</p>
<hr />
<p>This post is all about the 0.4.0 release since it&rsquo;s a big one! <br />
<small>(A separate post for 0.5.0 goals would likely come later.)</small></p>
<h2>0.4.0 details <a href="#0.4.0-details" name="0.4.0-details" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p><strong>0.4.0 contains 145 commits from 28 contributors.</strong></p>
<p>The <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/releases/tag/0.4.0">full release notes</a>
link to each PR or commit, and contains a lot more details than this post.</p>
<p><strong>Goals</strong> <br />
As usual, let&rsquo;s revisit the goals from the <a href="2-0.3.0-released.html#goals-for-0.4.0">0.3.0 post</a>.</p>
<p>Most importantly - compound operators didn&rsquo;t land in 0.4.0 for various reasons.
Still working on it, it&rsquo;s just a fun and nuanced problem and I don&rsquo;t want to
keep 0.4.0 back cos of it.</p>
<p>With that out the way, let&rsquo;s see what 0.4.0 contains! </p>
<h2>0.4.0 highlights <a href="#0.4.0-highlights" name="0.4.0-highlights" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>Below we&rsquo;ll highlight some key features, fixes and improvements from the release. </p>
<p><strong>A lot of work came from the community, much thanks to everyone contributing!</strong></p>
<p>You can find all the details and the contributions in the <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/releases/tag/0.4.0">release notes</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Take note!</strong> There are two minor breaking changes in the API on the release notes. </p>
<hr />
<h3>Bug fixes <a href="#bug-fixes" name="bug-fixes" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Several important bugs have been fixed, sneaky stack corruptions and some user
experience fixes that clarify confusing states. </p>
<h3>Documentation <a href="#documentation" name="documentation" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>A lot of work has gone into documentation this release, revising, fixing, adding
and closing gaps that were left. For example, Wren supports multi-line strings
but this was never mentioned anywhere! </p>
<h3>New <strong>continue</strong> keyword <a href="#new-continue-keyword" name="new-continue-keyword" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Loops can now use continue, which is a welcome addition.</p>
<h3>New <strong>as</strong> keyword <a href="#new-as-keyword" name="new-as-keyword" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>You can now use <code>import "..." for Name as OtherName</code> to avoid name conflicts,
or to use aliases/shorthand for imported variables.</p>
<h3>Raw strings <a href="#raw-strings" name="raw-strings" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Wren now supports triple quotes for a string <code>"""</code>.</p>
<p>This type of string is only unique in how it&rsquo;s parsed, the content of the
string is ignored (no interpolation or escapes are processed), which allows
complex strings to be expressed without needing to escape things. </p>
<p>A common example is json or regex, where there&rsquo;s a lot of escaping that obscures
the string content and makes it hard to read and maintain. </p>
<p>If they span multiple lines, the string ignores the open and closing newlines
and whitespace and preserves anything in between.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var json = """
{
"hello": "wren",
"from" : "json"
}
"""
</pre>
<h3>Attributes <a href="#attributes" name="attributes" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Attributes are user-defined metadata associated with a class or method that
can be used at runtime, by external tools (and potentially by Wren itself).</p>
<pre class="snippet">
#hidden = true
#doc = "A simple example class"
class Example {}
</pre>
<p>They can be:</p>
<ul>
<li>a <code>#key</code> on it&rsquo;s own</li>
<li>a <code>#key = value</code></li>
<li>a <code>#group(with, multiple = true, keys = "value")</code></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Example</strong> </p>
<p>Below you can one obvious use case, a wip version where attributes for docs were
parsed and sent over to <a href="https://code.visualstudio.com/">vscode</a> to display.</p>
<video preload="auto" controls="" loop="loop" style="max-width:100%; width:auto; margin:auto; display:block;">
<source src="https://i.imgur.com/W9DWysP.mp4" type="video/mp4">
</video>
<p><strong>Runtime access</strong> <br />
By default, attributes are compiled out and ignored.
For an attribute to be visible at runtime, mark it for runtime access using an
exclamation:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
#doc = "not runtime data"
#!runtimeAccess = true
#!maxIterations = 16
</pre>
<p>Attributes at runtime are stored on the class itself. You can access them via
<code>YourClass.attributes</code>. If any attributes are made available, they&rsquo;ll be found here:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>YourClass.attributes.self</code> for the class attributes</li>
<li><code>YourClass.attributes.methods</code> for the method attributes</li>
</ul>
<p>All the details for <a href="https://wren.io/classes.html#attributes">Attributes can be found here</a>.</p>
<h3>Chained methods fixes (&lsquo;fluent interfaces&rsquo;) <a href="#chained-methods-fixes-('fluent-interfaces')" name="chained-methods-fixes-('fluent-interfaces')" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Mentioned in the last post, you can now use this pattern in code as intended,
the same-line requirement for the <code>.</code> has been removed.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
example
.some()
.functions()
.here()
</pre>
<h3>List additions <a href="#list-additions" name="list-additions" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Lists are now sortable via <code>list.sort()</code> and <code>list.sort {|a, b| ... }</code>.
You can find an index of something via <code>list.indexOf(value)</code>, and remove a value
via <code>list.remove(value)</code>. There&rsquo;s also <code>list.swap(index0, index1)</code> for moving
items around within a list.</p>
<p>For the API, <code>wrenSetListElement</code> now exists, and both set and
<code>wrenGetListElement</code> now accept negative indices same as the language side.</p>
<h3>Num additions <a href="#num-additions" name="num-additions" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>A few new constants:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>Num.tau</code></li>
<li><code>Num.nan</code> </li>
<li><code>Num.infinity</code></li>
<li><code>Num.minSafeInteger</code>/<code>Num.maxSafeInteger</code></li>
</ul>
<p>And some new methods on a number:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>num.min(other)</code></li>
<li><code>num.max(other)</code></li>
<li><code>num.clamp(min, max)</code></li>
<li><code>num.cbrt</code></li>
<li><code>num.exp</code></li>
<li><code>num.log2</code></li>
</ul>
<h3>Map access from the API <a href="#map-access-from-the-api" name="map-access-from-the-api" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>You can now create and access maps from the API:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>wrenSetSlotNewMap</code></li>
<li><code>wrenGetMapCount</code></li>
<li><code>wrenGetMapContainsKey</code></li>
<li><code>wrenGetMapValue</code></li>
<li><code>wrenSetMapValue</code></li>
<li><code>wrenRemoveMapValue</code></li>
</ul>
<h2>Till next time <a href="#till-next-time" name="till-next-time" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<hr />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://wren.io/blog/rss.xml">The Wren Blog RSS</a></li>
<li>Join the <a href="https://discord.gg/Kx6PxSX">discord community</a></li>
<li>Visit the <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang">wren-lang organization</a> on GitHub to get involved.</li>
<li>Follow the developers <a href="https://twitter.com/munificentbob">@munificentbob</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/ruby0x1">@ruby0x1</a> on twitter</li>
</ul>
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<p>Wren lives
<a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren">on GitHub</a>
&mdash; Made with &#x2764; by
<a href="http://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/">Bob Nystrom</a> and
<a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/blob/main/AUTHORS">friends</a>.
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<title>Development blogs &ndash; Wren</title>
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{html}
<h2>Development blogs</h2>
<p><a href="3-0.4.0-released.html"><h3>0.4.0 released!</h3></a></p>
<blockquote>
<p><date>8 April 2021</date> • 0.4.0 is a big release, here&rsquo;s all the info! </p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="2-0.3.0-released.html"><h3>0.3.0 released!</h3></a></p>
<blockquote>
<p><date>5 June 2020</date> • 0.3.0 release info! Plus some notes and goals for the next release, 0.4.0.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="1-0.2.0-and-beyond.html"><h3>0.2.0 and beyond</h3></a></p>
<blockquote>
<p><date>30 Sep 2019</date> • Checkpoints, and the plans for 0.3.0.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="0-hello-wren.html"><h3>System.print(&ldquo;hello wren&rdquo;)</h3></a></p>
<blockquote>
<p><date>4 Feb 2019</date> • A short post introducing the blog, the new maintainer, and the immediate term plans for Wren.</p>
</blockquote>
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@ -3,12 +3,19 @@
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<description>The development blog of the Wren programming language.</description>
<language>en-us</language>
<item>
<title>0.4.0 released</title>
<link>https://wren.io/blog/3-0.4.0-released.html</link>
<description>0.4.0 is a big release, here's all the info!</description>
<guid>https://wren.io/blog/3-0.4.0-released.html</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 08 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>0.3.0 released</title>
<link>https://wren.io/blog/2-0.3.0-released.html</link>
<description>0.3.0 release info! Plus some notes and goals for the next release, 0.4.0.</description>
<guid>https://wren.io/blog/2-0.3.0-released.html</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<pubDate>Mon, 05 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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778
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<h2>a classy little scripting language</h2>
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<main>
<h2>Classes</h2>
<p>Every value in Wren is an object, and every object is an instance of a class.
Even <code>true</code> and <code>false</code> are full-featured objects&mdash;instances of the
<a href="modules/core/bool.html">Bool</a> class.</p>
<p>Classes define an objects <em>behavior</em> and <em>state</em>. Behavior is defined by
<a href="method-calls.html"><em>methods</em></a> which live in the class. Every object of the same
class supports the same methods. State is defined in <em>fields</em>, whose values are
stored in each instance.</p>
<h2>Defining a class <a href="#defining-a-class" name="defining-a-class" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>Classes are created using the <code>class</code> keyword, unsurprisingly:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {}
</pre>
<p>This creates a class named <code>Unicorn</code> with no methods or fields.</p>
<h2>Methods <a href="#methods" name="methods" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>To let our unicorn do stuff, we need to give it methods.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
prance() {
System.print("The unicorn prances in a fancy manner!")
}
}
</pre>
<p>This defines a <code>prance()</code> method that takes no arguments. To add parameters, put
their names inside the parentheses:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
prance(where, when) {
System.print("The unicorn prances in %(where) at %(when).")
}
}
</pre>
<p>Since the number of parameters is part of a method&rsquo;s <a href="method-calls.html#signature">signature</a> a class can
define multiple methods with the same name:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
prance() {
System.print("The unicorn prances in a fancy manner!")
}
prance(where) {
System.print("The unicorn prances in %(where).")
}
prance(where, when) {
System.print("The unicorn prances in %(where) at %(when).")
}
}
</pre>
<p>It&rsquo;s often natural to have the same conceptual operation work with different
sets of arguments. In other languages, you&rsquo;d define a single method for the
operation and have to check for missing optional arguments. In Wren, they are
different methods that you implement separately.</p>
<p>In addition to named methods with parameter lists, Wren has a bunch of other
different syntaxes for methods. Your classes can define all of them.</p>
<h3>Getters <a href="#getters" name="getters" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>A getter leaves off the parameter list and the parentheses:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
// Unicorns are always fancy.
isFancy { true }
}
</pre>
<h3>Setters <a href="#setters" name="setters" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>A setter has <code>=</code> after the name, followed by a single parenthesized parameter:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
rider=(value) {
System.print("I am being ridden by %(value).")
}
}
</pre>
<p>By convention, the parameter is usually named <code>value</code> but you can call it
whatever makes your heart flutter.</p>
<h3>Operators <a href="#operators" name="operators" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Prefix operators, like getters, have no parameter list:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
- {
System.print("Negating a unicorn is weird.")
}
}
</pre>
<p>Infix operators, like setters, have a single parenthesized parameter for the
right-hand operand:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
-(other) {
System.print("Subtracting %(other) from a unicorn is weird.")
}
}
</pre>
<p>A subscript operator puts the parameters inside square brackets and can have
more than one:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
[index] {
System.print("Unicorns are not lists!")
}
[x, y] {
System.print("Unicorns are not matrices either!")
}
}
</pre>
<p>Unlike with named methods, you can&rsquo;t define a subscript operator with an empty
parameter list.</p>
<p>As the name implies, a subscript setter looks like a combination of a subscript
operator and a setter:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
[index]=(value) {
System.print("You can't stuff %(value) into me at %(index)!")
}
}
</pre>
<h2>Method Scope <a href="#method-scope" name="method-scope" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>Up to this point, &ldquo;<a href="variables.html#scope">scope</a>&rdquo; has been used to talk exclusively about
<a href="variables.html">variables</a>. In a procedural language like C, or a functional one like Scheme,
that&rsquo;s the only kind of scope there is. But object-oriented languages like Wren
introduce another kind of scope: <em>object scope</em>. It contains the methods that
are available on an object. When you write:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
unicorn.isFancy
</pre>
<p>You&rsquo;re saying &ldquo;look up the method <code>isFancy</code> in the scope of the object
<code>unicorn</code>&rdquo;. In this case, the fact that you want to look up a <em>method</em>
<code>isFancy</code> and not a <em>variable</em> <code>isFancy</code> is explicit. That&rsquo;s what <code>.</code> does and
the object to the left of the period is the object you want to look up the
method on.</p>
<h3><code>this</code> <a href="#this" name="this" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Things get more interesting when you&rsquo;re inside the body of a method. When the
method is called on some object and the body is being executed, you often need
to access that object itself. You can do that using <code>this</code>.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
name { "Francis" }
printName() {
System.print(this.name) //> Francis
}
}
</pre>
<p>The <code>this</code> keyword works sort of like a variable, but has special behavior. It
always refers to the instance whose method is currently being executed. This
lets you invoke methods on &ldquo;yourself&rdquo;.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s an error to refer to <code>this</code> outside of a method. However, it&rsquo;s perfectly
fine to use it inside a <a href="functions.html">function</a> declared <em>inside</em> a method. When you do,
<code>this</code> still refers to the instance whose <em>method</em> is being called:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
name { "Francis" }
printNameThrice() {
(1..3).each {
// Use "this" inside the function passed to each().
System.print(this.name) //> Francis
} //> Francis
} //> Francis
}
</pre>
<p>This is unlike Lua and JavaScript which can &ldquo;forget&rdquo; <code>this</code> when you create a
callback inside a method. Wren does what you want here and retains the
reference to the original object.</p>
<p>(In technical terms, a function&rsquo;s closure includes <code>this</code>. Wren can do this
because it makes a distinction between methods and functions.)</p>
<h3>Implicit <code>this</code> <a href="#implicit-this" name="implicit-this" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Using <code>this.</code> every time you want to call a method on yourself works, but it&rsquo;s
tedious and verbose, which is why some languages don&rsquo;t require it. You can do a
&ldquo;self send&rdquo; by calling a method (or getter or setter) without any explicit
receiver:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
name { "Francis" }
printName() {
System.print(name) //> Francis
}
}
</pre>
<p>Code like this gets tricky when there is also a variable outside of the class
with the same name. Consider:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var name = "variable"
class Unicorn {
name { "Francis" }
printName() {
System.print(name) // ???
}
}
</pre>
<p>Should <code>printName()</code> print &ldquo;variable&rdquo; or &ldquo;Francis&rdquo;? A method body has a foot in
each of two worlds. It is surrounded by the lexical scope where it&rsquo;s defined in
the program, but it also has the object scope of the methods on <code>this</code>.</p>
<p>Which scope wins? Every language has to decide how to handle this and there
is a surprising plethora of approaches. Wren&rsquo;s approach to resolving a name
inside a method works like this:</p>
<ol>
<li>If there is a local variable inside the method with that name, that wins.</li>
<li>Else, if the name starts with a lowercase letter, treat it like a method on
<code>this</code>.</li>
<li>Otherwise, look for a variable with that name in the surrounding scope.</li>
</ol>
<p>So, in the above example, we hit case #2 and it prints &ldquo;Francis&rdquo;. Distinguishing
self sends from outer variables based on the <em>case</em> of the first letter in the
name probably seems weird but it works surprisingly well. Method names are
lowercase in Wren. Class names are capitalized.</p>
<p>Most of the time, when you&rsquo;re in a method and want to access a name from outside
of the class, it&rsquo;s usually the name of some other class. This rule makes that
work.</p>
<p>Here&rsquo;s an example that shows all three cases:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var shadowed = "surrounding"
var lowercase = "surrounding"
var Capitalized = "surrounding"
class Scope {
shadowed { "object" }
lowercase { "object" }
Capitalized { "object" }
test() {
var shadowed = "local"
System.print(shadowed) //> local
System.print(lowercase) //> object
System.print(Capitalized) //> surrounding
}
}
</pre>
<p>It&rsquo;s a bit of a strange rule, but Ruby works more or less the same way.</p>
<h2>Constructors <a href="#constructors" name="constructors" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>We&rsquo;ve seen how to define kinds of objects and how to declare methods on them.
Our unicorns can prance around, but we don&rsquo;t actually <em>have</em> any unicorns to do
it. To create <em>instances</em> of a class, we need a <em>constructor</em>. You define one
like so:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
construct new(name, color) {
System.print("My name is " + name + " and I am " + color + ".")
}
}
</pre>
<p>The <code>construct</code> keyword says we&rsquo;re defining a constructor, and <code>new</code> is its
name. In Wren, all constructors have names. The word &ldquo;new&rdquo; isn&rsquo;t special to
Wren, it&rsquo;s just a common constructor name.</p>
<p>To make a unicorn now, we call the constructor method on the class itself:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var fred = Unicorn.new("Fred", "palomino")
</pre>
<p>Giving constructors names is handy because it means you can have more than one,
and each can clarify how it creates the instance:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
construct brown(name) {
System.print("My name is " + name + " and I am brown.")
}
}
var dave = Unicorn.brown("Dave")
</pre>
<p>Note that we have to declare a constructor because, unlike some other
languages, Wren doesn&rsquo;t give you a default one. This is useful because some
classes aren&rsquo;t designed to be constructed. If you have an abstract base class
that just contains methods to be inherited by other classes, it doesn&rsquo;t need
and won&rsquo;t have a constructor.</p>
<p>Like other methods, constructors can obviously have arguments, and can be
overloaded by <a href="#signature">arity</a>. A constructor <em>must</em> be a named method with
a (possibly empty) argument list. Operators, getters, and setters cannot be
constructors.</p>
<p>A constructor returns the instance of the class being created, even if you
don&rsquo;t explicitly use <code>return</code>. It is valid to use <code>return</code> inside of a
constructor, but it is an error to have an expression after the return.
That rule applies to <code>return this</code> as well, return handles that implicitly inside
a constructor, so just <code>return</code> is enough.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
return //> valid, returns 'this'
return variable //> invalid
return null //> invalid
return this //> also invalid
</pre>
<p>A constructor is actually a pair of methods. You get a method on the class:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
Unicorn.brown("Dave")
</pre>
<p>That creates the new instance, then it invokes the <em>initializer</em> on that
instance. This is where the constructor body you defined gets run.</p>
<p>This distinction is important because it means inside the body of the
constructor, you can access <code>this</code>, assign <a href="#fields">fields</a>, call superclass
constructors, etc.</p>
<h2>Fields <a href="#fields" name="fields" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>All state stored in instances is stored in <em>fields</em>. Each field has a name
that starts with an underscore.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Rectangle {
area { _width * _height }
// Other stuff...
}
</pre>
<p>Here, <code>_width</code> and <code>_height</code> in the <code>area</code> <a href="classes.html#methods">getter</a> refer
to fields on the rectangle instance. You can think of them like <code>this.width</code>
and <code>this.height</code> in other languages.</p>
<p>When a field name appears, Wren looks for the nearest enclosing class and looks
up the field on the instance of that class. Field names cannot be used outside
of an instance method. They <em>can</em> be used inside a <a href="functions.html">function</a>
in a method. Wren will look outside any nested functions until it finds an
enclosing method.</p>
<p>Unlike <a href="variables.html">variables</a>, fields are implicitly declared by simply
assigning to them. If you access a field before it has been initialized, its
value is <code>null</code>.</p>
<h3>Encapsulation <a href="#encapsulation" name="encapsulation" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>All fields are <em>private</em> in Wren&mdash;an object&rsquo;s fields can only be directly
accessed from within methods defined on the object&rsquo;s class. </p>
<p>In short, if you want to make a property of an object visible,
<strong>you need to define a getter to expose it</strong>:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Rectangle {
width { _width }
height { _height }
// ...
}
</pre>
<p>To allow outside code to modify the field,
<strong>you need to provide setters to provide access</strong>:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Rectangle {
width=(value) { _width = value }
height=(value) { _height = value }
}
</pre>
<p>This might be different from what you&rsquo;re used to, so here are two important facts:</p>
<ul>
<li>You can&rsquo;t access fields from a base class.</li>
<li>You can&rsquo;t access fields on another instance of your own class.</li>
</ul>
<p>Here is an example in code:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Shape {
construct new() {
_shape = "none"
}
}
class Rectangle is Shape {
construct new() {
//This will print null!
//_shape from the parent class is private,
//we are reading `_shape` from `this`,
//which has not been set, so returns null.
System.print("I am a %(_shape)")
//a local variable, all variables are private
_width = 10
var other = Rectangle.new()
//other._width is not accessible from here,
//even though we are also a rectangle. The field
//is private, and other._width is invalid syntax!
}
}
...
</pre>
<p>One thing we&rsquo;ve learned in the past forty years of software engineering is that
encapsulating state tends to make code easier to maintain, so Wren defaults to
keeping your object&rsquo;s state pretty tightly bundled up. Don&rsquo;t feel that you have
to or even should define getters or setters for most of your object&rsquo;s fields.</p>
<h2>Metaclasses and static members <a href="#metaclasses-and-static-members" name="metaclasses-and-static-members" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p><strong>TODO</strong></p>
<h3>Static fields <a href="#static-fields" name="static-fields" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>A name that starts with <em>two</em> underscores is a <em>static</em> field. They work
similar to <a href="#fields">fields</a> except the data is stored on the class itself, and
not the instance. They can be used in <em>both</em> instance and static methods.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Foo {
construct new() {}
static setFromStatic(a) { __a = a }
setFromInstance(a) { __a = a }
static printFromStatic() {
System.print(__a)
}
printFromInstance() {
System.print(__a)
}
}
</pre>
<p>Just like instance fields, static fields are initially <code>null</code>:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
Foo.printFromStatic() //> null
</pre>
<p>They can be used from static methods:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
Foo.setFromStatic("first")
Foo.printFromStatic() //> first
</pre>
<p>And also instance methods. When you do so, there is still only one static field
shared among all instances of the class:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var foo1 = Foo.new()
var foo2 = Foo.new()
foo1.setFromInstance("second")
foo2.printFromInstance() //> second
</pre>
<h2>Inheritance <a href="#inheritance" name="inheritance" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>A class can inherit from a &ldquo;parent&rdquo; or <em>superclass</em>. When you invoke a method
on an object of some class, if it can&rsquo;t be found, it walks up the chain of
superclasses looking for it there.</p>
<p>By default, any new class inherits from Object, which is the superclass from
which all other classes ultimately descend. You can specify a different parent
class using <code>is</code> when you declare the class:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Pegasus is Unicorn {}
</pre>
<p>This declares a new class Pegasus that inherits from Unicorn.</p>
<p>Note that you should not create classes that inherit from the built-in types
(Bool, Num, String, Range, List). The built-in types expect their internal bit
representation to be very specific and get horribly confused when you invoke one
of the inherited built-in methods on the derived type.</p>
<p>The metaclass hierarchy does <em>not</em> parallel the regular class hierarchy. So, if
Pegasus inherits from Unicorn, Pegasus&rsquo;s metaclass does not inherit from
Unicorn&rsquo;s metaclass. In more prosaic terms, this means that static methods are
not inherited.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
// Unicorns cannot fly. :(
static canFly { false }
}
class Pegasus is Unicorn {}
Pegasus.canFly //! Static methods are not inherited.
</pre>
<p>This also means constructors are not inherited:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
construct new(name) {
System.print("My name is " + name + ".")
}
}
class Pegasus is Unicorn {}
Pegasus.new("Fred") //! Pegasus does not define new().
</pre>
<p>Each class gets to control how it may be constructed independently of its base
classes. However, constructor <em>initializers</em> are inherited since those are
instance methods on the new object.</p>
<p>This means you can do <code>super</code> calls inside a constructor:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
construct new(name) {
System.print("My name is " + name + ".")
}
}
class Pegasus is Unicorn {
construct new(name) {
super(name)
}
}
Pegasus.new("Fred") //> My name is Fred
</pre>
<h2>Super <a href="#super" name="super" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p><strong>TODO: Integrate better into page. Should explain this before mentioning
super above.</strong></p>
<p>Sometimes you want to invoke a method on yourself, but using methods defined in
one of your <a href="classes.html#inheritance">superclasses</a>. You typically do this in
an overridden method when you want to access the original method being
overridden.</p>
<p>To do that, you can use the special <code>super</code> keyword as the receiver in a method
call:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Base {
method() {
System.print("base method")
}
}
class Derived is Base {
method() {
super.method() //> base method
}
}
</pre>
<p>You can also use <code>super</code> without a method name inside a constructor to invoke a
base class constructor:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
class Base {
construct new(arg) {
System.print("base got " + arg)
}
}
class Derived is Base {
construct new() {
super("value") //> base got value
}
}
</pre>
<h2>Attributes <a href="#attributes" name="attributes" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p><small><strong>experimental stage</strong>: subject to minor changes</small></p>
<p>A class and methods within a class can be tagged with &lsquo;meta attributes&rsquo;.</p>
<p>Like this:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
#hidden = true
class Example {}
</pre>
<p>These attributes are metadata, they give you a way to annotate and store
any additional information about a class, which you can optionally access at runtime.
This information can also be used by external tools, to provide additional
hints and information from code to the tool.</p>
<p><small>
Since this feature has just been introduced, <strong>take note</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>Currently</strong> there are no attributes with a built-in meaning.
Attributes are user-defined metadata. This may not remain
true as some may become well defined through convention or potentially
through use by Wren itself.
</small></p>
<p>Attributes are placed before a class or method definition,
and use the <code>#</code> hash/pound symbol. </p>
<p>They can be </p>
<ul>
<li>a <code>#key</code> on it&rsquo;s own</li>
<li>a <code>#key = value</code></li>
<li>a <code>#group(with, multiple = true, keys = "value")</code></li>
</ul>
<p>An attribute <em>key</em> can only be a <code>Name</code>. This is the same type of name
as a method name, a class name or variable name, an identifier that matches
the Wren identifier rules. A name results in a String value at runtime.</p>
<p>An attribute <em>value</em> can be any of these literal values: <code>Name, String, Bool, Num</code>.
Values cannot contain expressions, just a value, there is no compile time
evaluation.</p>
<p>Groups can span multiple lines, methods have their own attributes, and duplicate
keys are valid.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
#key
#key = value
#group(
multiple,
lines = true,
lines = 0
)
class Example {
#test(skip = true, iterations = 32)
doStuff() {}
}
</pre>
<h3>Accessing attributes at runtime <a href="#accessing-attributes-at-runtime" name="accessing-attributes-at-runtime" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>By default, attributes are compiled out and ignored.</p>
<p>For an attribute to be visible at runtime, mark it for runtime
access using an exclamation:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
#doc = "not runtime data"
#!runtimeAccess = true
#!maxIterations = 16
</pre>
<p>Attributes at runtime are stored on the class. You can access them via
<code>YourClass.attributes</code>. The <code>attributes</code> field on a class will
be null if a class has no attributes or if it&rsquo;s attributes aren&rsquo;t marked.</p>
<p>If the class contains class or method attributes, it will be an object with
two getters:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>YourClass.attributes.self</code> for the class attributes</li>
<li><code>YourClass.attributes.methods</code> for the method attributes</li>
</ul>
<p>Attributes are stored by group in a regular Wren Map.
Keys that are not grouped, use <code>null</code> as the group key.</p>
<p>Values are stored in a list, since duplicate keys are allowed, multiple
values need to be stored. They&rsquo;re stored in order of definition.</p>
<p>Method attributes are stored in a map by method signature, and each method
has it&rsquo;s own attributes that match the above structure. The method signature
is prefixed by <code>static</code> or <code>foreign static</code> as needed.</p>
<p>Let&rsquo;s see what that looks like:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
// Example.attributes.self =
// {
// null: { "key":[null] },
// group: { "key":[value, 32, false] }
// }
#!key
#ignored //compiled out
#!group(key=value, key=32, key=false)
class Example {
#!getter
getter {}
// { regular(_,_): { null: { regular:[null] } } }
#!regular
regular(arg0, arg1) {}
// { static other(): { null: { isStatic:[true] } } }
#!isStatic = true
static other() {}
// { foreign static example(): { null: { isForeignStatic:[32] } } }
#!isForeignStatic=32
foreign static example()
}
</pre>
<p><br><hr>
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<p><strong>The Wren Command-Line Interface</strong> is a tool you can run which gives you a way to run Wren code, and
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<p>Wren as a language is intentionally designed to be minimal. <br />
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<ul>
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<li>It&rsquo;s always a good idea to test the language you&rsquo;re making!</li>
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<ul>
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<h1>Directory Class</h1>
<p>A directory on the file system.</p>
<h2>Static Methods <a href="#static-methods" name="static-methods" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3>Directory.<strong>exists</strong>(path) <a href="#directory.exists(path)" name="directory.exists(path)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Whether a directory exists at <code>path</code>. This returns <code>false</code> for files or other
special file system entities.</p>
<h3>Directory.<strong>list</strong>(path) <a href="#directory.list(path)" name="directory.list(path)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Lists the contents of the directory at <code>path</code>. Returns a sorted list of path
strings for all of the contents of the directory.</p>
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<h1>FileFlags Class</h1>
<p>Contains constants for the various file flags used to open or create a file.
These correspond directly to the flags that can be passed to the POSIX
<a href="http://linux.die.net/man/2/open"><code>open()</code></a> syscall.</p>
<p>They are integers and can be bitwise or&rsquo;ed together to produce a composite
flag.</p>
<h2>Static Methods <a href="#static-methods" name="static-methods" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3>FileFlags.<strong>readOnly</strong> <a href="#fileflags.readonly" name="fileflags.readonly" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The file can be read from but not written. Equivalent to <code>O_RDONLY</code>.</p>
<h3>FileFlags.<strong>writeOnly</strong> <a href="#fileflags.writeonly" name="fileflags.writeonly" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The file can be written but not read from. Equivalent to <code>O_WRONLY</code>.</p>
<h3>FileFlags.<strong>readWrite</strong> <a href="#fileflags.readwrite" name="fileflags.readwrite" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The file can be both read from and written to. Equivalent to <code>O_RDWR</code>.</p>
<h3>FileFlags.<strong>sync</strong> <a href="#fileflags.sync" name="fileflags.sync" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Writes will block until the data has been physically written to the underling
hardware. This does <em>not</em> affect whether or the file API is synchronous. File
operations are always asynchronous in Wren and may allow other scheduled fibers
to run.</p>
<p>This is a lower-level flag that ensures that when a write completes, it has
been flushed all the way to disc.</p>
<h3>FileFlags.<strong>create</strong> <a href="#fileflags.create" name="fileflags.create" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Creates a new file if a file at the given path does not already exist.</p>
<h3>FileFlags.<strong>truncate</strong> <a href="#fileflags.truncate" name="fileflags.truncate" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>If the file already exists and can be written to, its previous contents are
discarded.</p>
<h3>FileFlags.<strong>exclusive</strong> <a href="#fileflags.exclusive" name="fileflags.exclusive" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Ensures that a new file must be created. If a file already exists at the given
path, this flag will cause the operation to fail.</p>
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<h1>File Class</h1>
<p>Lets you work with files on the file system. An instance of this class
represents an open file with a file descriptor.</p>
<p>When you are done with a file object, it&rsquo;s a good idea to explicitly close it.
If you don&rsquo;t, the GC will close it when the file is no longer used and gets
finalized, but that may take a while. In the meantime, leaving it open wastes
a file descriptor.</p>
<h2>Static Methods <a href="#static-methods" name="static-methods" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3>File.<strong>create</strong>(path, fn) <a href="#file.create(path,-fn)" name="file.create(path,-fn)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Opens the file at <code>path</code> for writing and passes it to <code>fn</code>. If there is already
a file at that path, it is truncated. After the function returns, the file is
automatically closed.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
File.create("numbers.txt") {|file|
file.writeBytes("one two three")
}
</pre>
<h3>File.<strong>delete</strong>(path) <a href="#file.delete(path)" name="file.delete(path)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Deletes the file at <code>path</code>.</p>
<h3>File.<strong>exists</strong>(path) <a href="#file.exists(path)" name="file.exists(path)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Whether a regular file exists at <code>path</code>. This returns <code>false</code> for directories
or other special file system entities.</p>
<h3>File.<strong>open</strong>(path, fn) <a href="#file.open(path,-fn)" name="file.open(path,-fn)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Opens the file at <code>path</code> for reading and passes it to <code>fn</code>. After the function
returns, the file is automatically closed.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
File.open("words.txt") {|file|
file.readBytes(5)
}
</pre>
<h3>File.<strong>read</strong>(path) <a href="#file.read(path)" name="file.read(path)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Reads the entire contents of the file at <code>path</code> and returns it as a string.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
File.read("words.txt")
</pre>
<p>No encoding or decoding is done. If the file is UTF-8, then the resulting
string will be a UTF-8 string. Otherwise, it will be a string of bytes in
whatever encoding the file uses.</p>
<h3>File.<strong>realPath</strong>(path) <a href="#file.realpath(path)" name="file.realpath(path)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Resolves <code>path</code>, traversing symlinks and removining any unneeded <code>./</code> and <code>../</code>
components. Returns the canonical absolute path to the file.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var path = "/some/./symlink/a/../b/file.txt"
System.print(File.realPath(path)) //> /real/path/a/file.txt
</pre>
<h3>File.<strong>size</strong>(path) <a href="#file.size(path)" name="file.size(path)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Returns the size in bytes of the contents of the file at <code>path</code>.</p>
<h2>Constructors <a href="#constructors" name="constructors" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3>File.<strong>create</strong>(path) <a href="#file.create(path)" name="file.create(path)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Opens the file at <code>path</code> for writing. If there is already a file at that path,
it is truncated.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var file = File.create("colors.txt")
file.writeBytes("chartreuse lime teal")
file.close()
</pre>
<h3>File.<strong>open</strong>(path) <a href="#file.open(path)" name="file.open(path)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Opens the file at <code>path</code> for reading. You are responsible for closing it when
done with it.</p>
<h2>Methods <a href="#methods" name="methods" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3><strong>descriptor</strong> <a href="#descriptor" name="descriptor" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The numeric file descriptor used to access the file.</p>
<h3><strong>isOpen</strong> <a href="#isopen" name="isopen" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Whether the file is still open or has been closed.</p>
<h3><strong>size</strong> <a href="#size" name="size" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The size of the contents of the file in bytes.</p>
<h3><strong>close</strong>() <a href="#close()" name="close()" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Closes the file. After calling this, you can&rsquo;t read or write from it.</p>
<h3><strong>readBytes</strong>(count) <a href="#readbytes(count)" name="readbytes(count)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Reads up to <code>count</code> bytes starting from the beginning of the file.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
// Assume this file contains "I am a file!".
File.open("example.txt") {|file|
System.print(file.readBytes(6)) //> I am a
}
</pre>
<h3><strong>readBytes</strong>(count, offset) <a href="#readbytes(count,-offset)" name="readbytes(count,-offset)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Reads up to <code>count</code> bytes starting at <code>offset</code> bytes from the beginning of
the file.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
// Assume this file contains "I am a file!".
File.open("example.txt") {|file|
System.print(file.readBytes(6, 2)) //> am a f
}
</pre>
<h3><strong>writeBytes</strong>(bytes) <a href="#writebytes(bytes)" name="writebytes(bytes)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Writes the raw bytes of the string <code>bytes</code> to the end of the file.</p>
<h3><strong>writeBytes</strong>(bytes, offset) <a href="#writebytes(bytes,-offset)" name="writebytes(bytes,-offset)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Writes the raw bytes of the string <code>bytes</code> to the to the file, starting at
<code>offset</code>. Any overlapping bytes already in the file at the offset are
overwritten.</p>
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<p>Provides access to operating system streams and the file system.</p>
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<h1>Stat Class</h1>
<p>A data structure describing the low-level details of a file system entry.</p>
<h2>Static Methods <a href="#static-methods" name="static-methods" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3>Stat.<strong>path</strong>(path) <a href="#stat.path(path)" name="stat.path(path)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>&ldquo;Stats&rdquo; the file or directory at <code>path</code>.</p>
<h2>Methods <a href="#methods" name="methods" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3><strong>blockCount</strong> <a href="#blockcount" name="blockcount" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The number of system blocks allocated on disk for the file.</p>
<h3><strong>blockSize</strong> <a href="#blocksize" name="blocksize" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The preferred block size in bytes for interacting with the file. It may vary
from file to file.</p>
<h3><strong>device</strong> <a href="#device" name="device" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The ID of the device containing the entry.</p>
<h3><strong>group</strong> <a href="#group" name="group" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Numeric group ID of the file&rsquo;s owner.</p>
<h3><strong>inode</strong> <a href="#inode" name="inode" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inode">inode</a> number of the entry.</p>
<h3><strong>isDirectory</strong> <a href="#isdirectory" name="isdirectory" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Whether the file system entity is a directory.</p>
<h3><strong>isFile</strong> <a href="#isfile" name="isfile" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Whether the file system entity is a regular file, as opposed to a directory or
other special entity.</p>
<h3><strong>linkCount</strong> <a href="#linkcount" name="linkcount" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The number of hard links to the entry.</p>
<h3><strong>mode</strong> <a href="#mode" name="mode" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>A bit field describing the entry&rsquo;s type and protection flags.</p>
<h3><strong>size</strong> <a href="#size" name="size" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The size of the entry in bytes.</p>
<h3><strong>specialDevice</strong> <a href="#specialdevice" name="specialdevice" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The device ID for the entry, if it&rsquo;s a special file.</p>
<h3><strong>user</strong> <a href="#user" name="user" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Numeric user ID of the file&rsquo;s owner.</p>
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<h1>Stdin Class</h1>
<p>The standard input stream.</p>
<h2>Static Methods <a href="#static-methods" name="static-methods" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3><strong>isRaw</strong> <a href="#israw" name="israw" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Returns <code>true</code> if stdin is in raw mode. When in raw mode, input is not echoed
or buffered, and all characters, even non-printing and control characters go
into stdin.</p>
<p>Defaults to <code>false</code>.</p>
<h3><strong>isRaw</strong>=(value) <a href="#israw=(value)" name="israw=(value)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Sets raw mode on or off.</p>
<h3><strong>isTerminal</strong> <a href="#isterminal" name="isterminal" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Returns <code>true</code> if Stdin is connected to a &ldquo;TTY&rdquo;. This is true when the user is
running Wren in an interactive terminal, and false if it its input is coming
from a pipe.</p>
<h3><strong>readByte</strong>() <a href="#readbyte()" name="readbyte()" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Reads one byte of input from stdin. Blocks the current fiber until a byte has
been received.</p>
<p>Returns the byte value as a number or <code>null</code> if stdin is closed.</p>
<p>Note that output is not automatically flushed when calling this. If you want to
display a prompt before reading input, you&rsquo;ll want to call <code>Stdout.flush()</code>
after printing the prompt.</p>
<h3><strong>readLine</strong>() <a href="#readline()" name="readline()" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Reads one line of input from stdin. Blocks the current fiber until a full line
of input has been received.</p>
<p>Returns the string of input or <code>null</code> if stdin is closed.</p>
<p>Note that output is not automatically flushed when calling this. If you want to
display a prompt before reading input, you&rsquo;ll want to call <code>Stdout.flush()</code>
after printing the prompt.</p>
</main>
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<p>Wren lives
<a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren">on GitHub</a>
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<h1>Stdout Class</h1>
<p>The standard output stream.</p>
<h2>Static Methods <a href="#static-methods" name="static-methods" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3><strong>flush()</strong> <a href="#flush()" name="flush()" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Flushes all buffered data to the stream. Ensures any data written to stdout
that is in the buffer gets written to the file or terminal that stdout is
connected to.</p>
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<h1>Module "os"</h1>
<p>The os module exposes classes for accessing capabilities provided by the
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<h1>Platform Class</h1>
<p>The Platform class exposes basic information about the operating system Wren is
running on top of.</p>
<h2>Static Methods <a href="#static-methods" name="static-methods" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3><strong>name</strong> <a href="#name" name="name" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The name of the platform. This roughly describes the operating system, and is
usually one of:</p>
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;iOS&rdquo;</li>
<li>&ldquo;Linux&rdquo;</li>
<li>&ldquo;OS X&rdquo;</li>
<li>&ldquo;POSIX&rdquo;</li>
<li>&ldquo;Unix&rdquo;</li>
<li>&ldquo;Windows&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
<p>If Wren was compiled for an unknown operating system, returns &ldquo;Unknown&rdquo;.</p>
<h3><strong>isPosix</strong> <a href="#isposix" name="isposix" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Returns <code>true</code> if the host operating system is known to support the POSIX
standard. This is true for Linux and other Unices, as well as the various Apple
operating systems.</p>
<h3><strong>isWindows</strong> <a href="#iswindows" name="iswindows" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Returns <code>true</code> if the host operating system is some flavor of Windows.</p>
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<h1>Process Class</h1>
<p>The Process class lets you work with operating system processes, including the
currently running one.</p>
<h2>Static Methods <a href="#static-methods" name="static-methods" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3><strong>allArguments</strong> <a href="#allarguments" name="allarguments" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The list of command-line arguments that were passed when the Wren process was
spawned. This includes the Wren executable itself, the path to the file being
run (if any), and any other options passed to Wren itself.</p>
<p>If you run:</p>
<pre><code>$ wren file.wren arg
</code></pre>
<p>This returns:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(Process.allArguments) //> ["wren", "file.wren", "arg"]
</pre>
<h3><strong>arguments</strong> <a href="#arguments" name="arguments" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The list of command-line arguments that were passed to your program when the
Wren process was spawned. This does not include arguments handled by Wren
itself.</p>
<p>If you run:</p>
<pre><code>$ wren file.wren arg
</code></pre>
<p>This returns:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(Process.arguments) //> ["arg"]
</pre>
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<h1>Module "scheduler"</h1>
<p>This module provides a vehicle to allow other operations to be performed asynchronously whilst waiting for the main operation to be completed.</p>
<p>It contains a single class:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="scheduler.html">Scheduler</a></li>
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<h1>Scheduler Class</h1>
<p>The Scheduler class maintains a list of fibers, to be started one after the other, when a signal to do so is received. The signal (a private method call) is typically transmitted by <em>long running</em> methods in the File or Timer classes which suspend the current fiber so that Wren can carry out other tasks in the meantime.</p>
<h2>Static Method <a href="#static-method" name="static-method" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3>Scheduler.<strong>add</strong>(callable) <a href="#scheduler.add(callable)" name="scheduler.add(callable)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Adds a new fiber to the scheduler&rsquo;s fibers list. This fiber calls <code>callable</code> and then transfers to the next fiber in the list, if there is one.</p>
<p><code>callable</code> is a function or other object which has a call() method.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var a = 3
Scheduler.add {
a = a * a
}
Scheduler.add {
a = a + 1
}
System.print(a) // still 3
Timer.sleep(3000) // wait 3 seconds
System.print(a) // now 3 * 3 + 1 = 10
</pre>
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<h1>Module "timer"</h1>
<p>This module provides a mechanism to suspend the current fiber for a given period of time either as a simple delay or to allow other operations to be performed asynchronously in the meantime.</p>
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<h1>Timer Class</h1>
<h2>Static Method <a href="#static-method" name="static-method" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<h3>Timer.<strong>sleep</strong>(milliseconds) <a href="#timer.sleep(milliseconds)" name="timer.sleep(milliseconds)" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Suspends the current fiber for the given number of milliseconds. It is a runtime error if this is not a non-negative number.</p>
<p>This method is often used in conjunction with the Scheduler class which runs any scheduled tasks in separate fibers whilst the current fiber is sleeping.</p>
<p>Note that this method also suspends the System.clock method which will not give the correct running time for a program as a result.</p>
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<h2>Wren CLI Usage</h2>
<hr />
<p>You can <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren-cli/releases">download a build for your OS from the releases page</a>.</p>
<h3>Interactive mode <a href="#interactive-mode" name="interactive-mode" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>If you just run <code>wren_cli</code> without any arguments, it starts the interpreter in
interactive mode, where you can type in a line of code, and it immediately executes
it. You can exit the interpreter using good old Ctrl-C or Ctrl-D.</p>
<p>Here&rsquo;s something to try:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
System.print("Hello, world!")
</pre>
<p>Or a little more exciting:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
for (i in 1..10) System.print("Counting up %(i)")
</pre>
<h3>Running scripts <a href="#running-scripts" name="running-scripts" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The standalone interpreter can also load scripts from files and run them. Just
pass the name of the script to <code>wren_cli</code>. Create a file named &ldquo;my_script.wren&rdquo; in
your favorite text editor and paste this into it:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
for (yPixel in 0...24) {
var y = yPixel / 12 - 1
for (xPixel in 0...80) {
var x = xPixel / 30 - 2
var x0 = x
var y0 = y
var iter = 0
while (iter < 11 && x0 * x0 + y0 * y0 <= 4) {
var x1 = (x0 * x0) - (y0 * y0) + x
var y1 = 2 * x0 * y0 + y
x0 = x1
y0 = y1
iter = iter + 1
}
System.write(" .-:;+=xX$& "[iter])
}
System.print("")
}
</pre>
<p>Now run:</p>
<pre><code>$ ./wren_cli my_script.wren
</code></pre>
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<h2>Concurrency</h2>
<p>Lightweight concurrency is a key feature of Wren and it is expressed using
<em>fibers</em>. They control how all code is executed, and take the place of
exceptions in <a href="error-handling.html">error handling</a>.</p>
<p>Fibers are a bit like threads except they are <em>cooperatively</em> scheduled. That
means Wren doesn&rsquo;t pause one fiber and switch to another until you tell it to.
You don&rsquo;t have to worry about context switches at random times and all of the
headaches those cause.</p>
<p>Wren takes care of all of the fibers in the VM, so they don&rsquo;t use OS thread
resources, or require heavyweight context switches. Each just needs a bit of
memory for its stack. A fiber will get garbage collected like any other object
when not referenced any more, so you can create them freely.</p>
<p>They are lightweight enough that you can, for example, have a separate fiber for
each entity in a game. Wren can handle thousands of them without breaking a
sweat. For example, when you run Wren in interactive mode, it creates a new
fiber for every line of code you type in.</p>
<h2>Creating fibers <a href="#creating-fibers" name="creating-fibers" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>All Wren code runs within the context of a fiber. When you first start a Wren
script, a main fiber is created for you automatically. You can spawn new fibers
using the Fiber class&rsquo;s constructor:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
System.print("This runs in a separate fiber.")
}
</pre>
<p>It takes a <a href="functions.html">function</a> containing the code the fiber should execute. The
function can take zero or one parameter, but no more than that. Creating the
fiber does not immediately run it. It just wraps the function and sits there,
waiting to be activated.</p>
<h2>Invoking fibers <a href="#invoking-fibers" name="invoking-fibers" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>Once you&rsquo;ve created a fiber, you run it by calling its <code>call()</code> method:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
fiber.call()
</pre>
<p>This suspends the current fiber and executes the called one until it reaches the
end of its body or until it passes control to yet another fiber. If it reaches
the end of its body, it is considered <em>done</em>:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
System.print("It's alive!")
}
System.print(fiber.isDone) //> false
fiber.call() //> It's alive!
System.print(fiber.isDone) //> true
</pre>
<p>When a called fiber finishes, it automatically passes control <em>back</em> to the
fiber that called it. It&rsquo;s a runtime error to try to call a fiber that is
already done.</p>
<h2>Yielding <a href="#yielding" name="yielding" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>The main difference between fibers and functions is that a fiber can be
suspended in the middle of its operation and then resumed later. Calling
another fiber is one way to suspend a fiber, but that&rsquo;s more or less the same
as one function calling another.</p>
<p>Things get interesting when a fiber <em>yields</em>. A yielded fiber passes control
<em>back</em> to the fiber that ran it, but <em>remembers where it is</em>. The next time the
fiber is called, it picks up right where it left off and keeps going.</p>
<p>You make a fiber yield by calling the static <code>yield()</code> method on Fiber:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
System.print("Before yield")
Fiber.yield()
System.print("Resumed")
}
System.print("Before call") //> Before call
fiber.call() //> Before yield
System.print("Calling again") //> Calling again
fiber.call() //> Resumed
System.print("All done") //> All done
</pre>
<p>Note that even though this program uses <em>concurrency</em>, it is still
<em>deterministic</em>. You can reason precisely about what it&rsquo;s doing and aren&rsquo;t at
the mercy of a thread scheduler playing Russian roulette with your code.</p>
<h2>Passing values <a href="#passing-values" name="passing-values" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>Calling and yielding fibers is used for passing control, but it can also pass
<em>data</em>. When you call a fiber, you can optionally pass a value to it.</p>
<p>If you create a fiber using a function that takes a parameter, you can pass a
value to it through <code>call()</code>:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {|param|
System.print(param)
}
fiber.call("Here you go") //> Here you go
</pre>
<p>If the fiber has yielded and is waiting to resume, the value you pass to call
becomes the return value of the <code>yield()</code> call when it resumes:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {|param|
System.print(param)
var result = Fiber.yield()
System.print(result)
}
fiber.call("First") //> First
fiber.call("Second") //> Second
</pre>
<p>Fibers can also pass values <em>back</em> when they yield. If you pass an argument to
<code>yield()</code>, that will become the return value of the <code>call()</code> that was used to
invoke the fiber:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
Fiber.yield("Reply")
}
System.print(fiber.call()) //> Reply
</pre>
<p>This is sort of like how a function call may return a value, except that a fiber
may return a whole sequence of values, one every time it yields.</p>
<h2>Full coroutines <a href="#full-coroutines" name="full-coroutines" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>What we&rsquo;ve seen so far is very similar to what you can do with languages like
Python and C# that have <em>generators</em>. Those let you define a function call that
you can suspend and resume. When using the function, it appears like a sequence
you can iterate over.</p>
<p>Wren&rsquo;s fibers can do that, but they can do much more. Like Lua, they are full
<em>coroutines</em>&mdash;they can suspend from anywhere in the callstack. The function
you use to create a fiber can call a method that calls another method that calls
some third method which finally calls yield. When that happens, <em>all</em> of those
method calls &mdash; the entire callstack &mdash; gets suspended. For example:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
(1..10).each {|i|
Fiber.yield(i)
}
}
</pre>
<p>Here, we&rsquo;re calling <code>yield()</code> from within a <a href="functions.html">function</a> being
passed to the <code>each()</code> method. This works fine in Wren because that inner
<code>yield()</code> call will suspend the call to <code>each()</code> and the function passed to it
as a callback.</p>
<h2>Transferring control <a href="#transferring-control" name="transferring-control" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>Fibers have one more trick up their sleeves. When you execute a fiber using
<code>call()</code>, the fiber tracks which fiber it will return to when it yields. This
lets you build up a chain of fiber calls that will eventually unwind back to
the main fiber when all of the called ones yield or finish.</p>
<p>This is usually what you want. But if you&rsquo;re doing something low level, like
writing your own scheduler to manage a pool of fibers, you may not want to treat
them explicitly like a stack.</p>
<p>For rare cases like that, fibers also have a <code>transfer()</code> method. This switches
execution to the transferred fiber and &ldquo;forgets&rdquo; the fiber that was transferred
<em>from</em>. The previous one is suspended, leaving it in whatever state it was in.
You can resume the previous fiber by explicitly transferring back to it, or even
calling it. If you don&rsquo;t, execution stops when the last transferred fiber
returns.</p>
<p>Where <code>call()</code> and <code>yield()</code> are analogous to calling and returning from
functions, <code>transfer()</code> works more like an unstructured goto. It lets you freely
switch control between a number of fibers, all of which act as peers to one
another.</p>
<p><br><hr>
<a class="right" href="error-handling.html">Error Handling &rarr;</a>
<a href="classes.html">&larr; Classes</a></p>
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<a href="http://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/">Bob Nystrom</a> and
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<main>
<h2>Contributing</h2>
<p>Like the bird, Wren&rsquo;s ecosystem is small but full of life. Almost everything is
under active development and there&rsquo;s lots to do. We&rsquo;d be delighted to have you
help.</p>
<p>The first thing to do is to join <a href="https://discord.gg/Kx6PxSX">the discord community</a> (or <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/wren-lang">the mailing list</a>) and say,
&ldquo;Hi&rdquo;. There are no strangers to Wren, just friends we haven&rsquo;t met yet.</p>
<h2>Growing the ecosystem <a href="#growing-the-ecosystem" name="growing-the-ecosystem" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>The simplest and often most helpful way to join the Wren party is to be a Wren
<em>user</em>. Create an application that embeds Wren. Write a library or a handy
utility in Wren. Add syntax highlighting support for Wren to your favorite text
editor. Share that stuff and it will help the next Wren user to come along.</p>
<p>If you do any of the above, let us know by adding it to <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/wiki">the wiki</a>. <br />
We like to keep track of:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/wiki/Applications">Applications</a> that host Wren as a scripting language.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/wiki/Modules">Modules</a> written in Wren that others can use.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/wiki/Language-Bindings">Language bindings</a> that let you interact with Wren from other
languages.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/wiki/Tools">Tools and utilities</a> that make it easier to be a Wren programmer.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Contributing to Wren <a href="#contributing-to-wren" name="contributing-to-wren" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>You&rsquo;re also more than welcome to contribute to Wren itself, both the core VM and
the command-line interpreter. The source is developed <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/">on GitHub</a>. Our
hope is that the codebase, tests, and <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/tree/main/doc/site">documentation</a> are easy to
understand and contribute to. If they aren&rsquo;t, that&rsquo;s a bug.</p>
<p>You can learn how to build wren on the <a href="getting-started.html#building-wren">getting started page</a>.</p>
<h3>Finding something to hack on <a href="#finding-something-to-hack-on" name="finding-something-to-hack-on" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>Between the <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/issues">issue tracker</a> and searching for <code>TODO</code> comments in the
code, it&rsquo;s pretty easy to find something that needs doing, though we don&rsquo;t
always do a good job of writing everything down.</p>
<p>If nothing there suits your fancy, new ideas are welcome as well! If you have an
idea for a significant change or addition, please file a <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/labels/proposal">proposal</a> to discuss
it before writing lots of code. Wren tries very <em>very</em> hard to be minimal which
means often having to say &ldquo;no&rdquo; to language additions, even really cool ones.</p>
<h3>Hacking on docs <a href="#hacking-on-docs" name="hacking-on-docs" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The <a href="/">documentation</a> is one of the easiest&mdash;and most
important!&mdash;parts of Wren to contribute to. The source for the site is
written in <a href="http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/">Markdown</a> and lives under <code>doc/site</code>. A
simple Python 3 script, <code>util/generate_docs.py</code>, converts that to HTML and CSS.</p>
<pre><code>$ python util/generate_docs.py
</code></pre>
<p>This generates the site in <code>build/docs/</code>. You can run any simple static web
server from there. Python includes one:</p>
<pre><code>$ cd build/docs
$ python -m http.server
</code></pre>
<p>Running that script every time you change a line of Markdown can be slow,
so there is also a file watching version that will automatically regenerate the
docs when you edit a file:</p>
<pre><code>$ python util/generate_docs.py --watch
</code></pre>
<h3>Hacking on the VM <a href="#hacking-on-the-vm" name="hacking-on-the-vm" class="header-anchor">#</a></h3>
<p>The basic process is simple:</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p><strong>Make sure you can build and run the tests locally.</strong> It&rsquo;s good to ensure
you&rsquo;re starting from a happy place before you poke at the code. Running the
tests is as simple as <a href="getting-started.html#building-wren">building the vm project</a>,
which generates <code>bin/wren_test</code> and then running the following python 3 script:</p>
<pre><code>$ python util/test.py
</code></pre>
<p>If there are no failures, you&rsquo;re good to go.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong><a href="https://help.github.com/articles/fork-a-repo/">Fork the repo</a> so you can change it locally.</strong> Please make your
changes in separate <a href="https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/comparing-workflows/centralized-workflow">feature branches</a> to make things a little easier.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Change the code.</strong> Please follow the style of the surrounding code. That
basically means <code>camelCase</code> names, <code>{</code> on the next line, keep within 80
columns, and two spaces of indentation. If you see places where the existing
code is inconsistent, let us know.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Write some tests for your new functionality.</strong> They live under <code>test/</code>.
Take a look at some existing tests to get an idea of how to define
expectations.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Make sure the tests all pass, both the old ones and your new ones.</strong></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Add your name and email to the <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/tree/main/AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a> file if you haven&rsquo;t already.</strong></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Send a <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/pulls">pull request</a>.</strong> Pat yourself on the back for contributing to a
fun open source project! </p>
</li>
</ol>
<h2>Getting help <a href="#getting-help" name="getting-help" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>If at any point you have questions, feel free to <a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/issues">file an issue</a> or ask
on the <a href="https://discord.gg/Kx6PxSX">discord community</a> (or the <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/wren-lang">mailing list</a>). If you&rsquo;re a Redditor, try the
<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/wren_lang/">/r/wren_lang</a> subreddit. You can also email me directly (<code>robert</code> at
<code>stuffwithstuff.com</code>) if you want something less public.</p>
</main>
</div>
<footer>
<div class="page">
<div class="main-column">
<p>Wren lives
<a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren">on GitHub</a>
&mdash; Made with &#x2764; by
<a href="http://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/">Bob Nystrom</a> and
<a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/blob/main/AUTHORS">friends</a>.
</p>
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<h1><a href="./">wren</a></h1>
<h2>a classy little scripting language</h2>
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<h2>Control Flow</h2>
<p>Control flow is used to determine which chunks of code are executed and how many
times. <em>Branching</em> statements and expressions decide whether or not to execute
some code and <em>looping</em> ones execute something more than once.</p>
<h2>Truth <a href="#truth" name="truth" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>All control flow is based on <em>deciding</em> whether or not to do something. This
decision depends on some expression&rsquo;s value. We take the entire universe of
possible objects and divide them into two buckets: some we consider &ldquo;true&rdquo; and
the rest are &ldquo;false&rdquo;. If the expression results in a value in the true bucket,
we do one thing. Otherwise, we do something else.</p>
<p>Obviously, the boolean <code>true</code> is in the &ldquo;true&rdquo; bucket and <code>false</code> is in
&ldquo;false&rdquo;, but what about values of other types? The choice is ultimately
arbitrary, and different languages have different rules. Wren&rsquo;s rules follow
Ruby:</p>
<ul>
<li>The boolean value <code>false</code> is false.</li>
<li>The null value <code>null</code> is false.</li>
<li>Everything else is true.</li>
</ul>
<p>This means <code>0</code>, empty strings, and empty collections are all considered &ldquo;true&rdquo;
values.</p>
<h2>If statements <a href="#if-statements" name="if-statements" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>The simplest branching statement, <code>if</code> lets you conditionally skip a chunk of
code. It looks like this:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
if (ready) System.print("go!")
</pre>
<p>That evaluates the parenthesized expression after <code>if</code>. If it&rsquo;s true, then the
statement after the condition is evaluated. Otherwise it is skipped. Instead of
a statement, you can have a <a href="syntax.html#blocks">block</a>:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
if (ready) {
System.print("getSet")
System.print("go!")
}
</pre>
<p>You may also provide an <code>else</code> branch. It will be executed if the condition is
false:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
if (ready) System.print("go!") else System.print("not ready!")
</pre>
<p>And, of course, it can take a block too:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
if (ready) {
System.print("go!")
} else {
System.print("not ready!")
}
</pre>
<h2>Logical operators <a href="#logical-operators" name="logical-operators" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>Unlike most other <a href="method-calls.html#operators">operators</a> in Wren which are just a special syntax for
<a href="method-calls.html">method calls</a>, the <code>&amp;&amp;</code> and <code>||</code> operators are special. This is because they
only conditionally evaluate the right operand&mdash;they short-circuit.</p>
<p>A <code>&amp;&amp;</code> (&ldquo;logical and&rdquo;) expression evaluates the left-hand argument. If it&rsquo;s
false, it returns that value. Otherwise it evaluates and returns the right-hand
argument.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(false && 1) //> false
System.print(1 && 2) //> 2
</pre>
<p>A <code>||</code> (&ldquo;logical or&rdquo;) expression is reversed. If the left-hand argument is
<em>true</em>, it&rsquo;s returned, otherwise the right-hand argument is evaluated and
returned:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(false || 1) //> 1
System.print(1 || 2) //> 1
</pre>
<h2>The conditional operator <code>?:</code> <a href="#the-conditional-operator-" name="the-conditional-operator-" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>Also known as the &ldquo;ternary&rdquo; operator since it takes three arguments, Wren has
the little &ldquo;if statement in the form of an expression&rdquo; you know and love from C
and similar languages.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(1 != 2 ? "math is sane" : "math is not sane!")
</pre>
<p>It takes a condition expression, followed by <code>?</code>, followed by a then
expression, a <code>:</code>, then an else expression. Just like <code>if</code>, it evaluates the
condition. If true, it evaluates and returns the then expression. Otherwise
it does the else expression.</p>
<h2>While statements <a href="#while-statements" name="while-statements" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>It&rsquo;s hard to write a useful program without executing some chunk of code
repeatedly. To do that, you use looping statements. There are two in Wren, and
they should be familiar if you&rsquo;ve used other imperative languages.</p>
<p>The simplest, a <code>while</code> statement executes a chunk of code as long as a
condition continues to hold. For example:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
// Hailstone sequence.
var n = 27
while (n != 1) {
if (n % 2 == 0) {
n = n / 2
} else {
n = 3 * n + 1
}
}
</pre>
<p>This evaluates the expression <code>n != 1</code>. If it is true, then it executes the
following body. After that, it loops back to the top, and evaluates the
condition again. It keeps doing this as long as the condition evaluates to
something true.</p>
<p>The condition for a while loop can be any expression, and must be surrounded by
parentheses. The body of the loop is usually a curly block but can also be a
single statement:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var n = 27
while (n != 1) if (n % 2 == 0) n = n / 2 else n = 3 * n + 1
</pre>
<h2>For statements <a href="#for-statements" name="for-statements" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>While statements are useful when you want to loop indefinitely or according to
some complex condition. But in most cases, you&rsquo;re looping through
a <a href="lists.html">list</a>, a series of numbers, or some other &ldquo;sequence&rdquo; object.
That&rsquo;s what <code>for</code> is, uh, for. It looks like this:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
for (beatle in ["george", "john", "paul", "ringo"]) {
System.print(beatle)
}
</pre>
<p>A <code>for</code> loop has three components:</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>A <em>variable name</em> to bind. In the example, that&rsquo;s <code>beatle</code>. Wren will create
a new variable with that name whose scope is the body of the loop.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A <em>sequence expression</em>. This determines what you&rsquo;re looping over. It gets
evaluated <em>once</em> before the body of the loop. In this case, it&rsquo;s a list
literal, but it can be any expression.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A <em>body</em>. This is a curly block or a single statement. It gets executed once
for each iteration of the loop.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h2>Break statements <a href="#break-statements" name="break-statements" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>Sometimes, right in the middle of a loop body, you decide you want to bail out
and stop. To do that, you can use a <code>break</code> statement. It&rsquo;s just the <code>break</code>
keyword all by itself. That immediately exits out of the nearest enclosing
<code>while</code> or <code>for</code> loop.</p>
<pre class="snippet">
for (i in [1, 2, 3, 4]) {
System.print(i) //> 1
if (i == 3) break //> 2
} //> 3
</pre>
<h2>Continue statements <a href="#continue-statements" name="continue-statements" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>During the execution of a loop body, you might decide that you want to skip the
rest of this iteration and move on to the next one. You can use a <code>continue</code>
statement to do that. It&rsquo;s just the <code>continue</code> keyword all by itself. Execution
will immediately jump to the beginning of the next loop iteration (and check the
loop conditions).</p>
<pre class="snippet">
for (i in [1, 2, 3, 4]) {
if (i == 2) continue //> 1
System.print(i) //> 3
} //> 4
</pre>
<h2>Numeric ranges <a href="#numeric-ranges" name="numeric-ranges" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>Lists are one common use for <code>for</code> loops, but sometimes you want to walk over a
sequence of numbers, or loop a number of times. For that, you can create a
<a href="values.html#ranges">range</a>, like so:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
for (i in 1..100) {
System.print(i)
}
</pre>
<p>This loops over the numbers from 1 to 100, including 100 itself. If you want to
leave off the last value, use three dots instead of two:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
for (i in 1...100) {
System.print(i)
}
</pre>
<p>This looks like some special &ldquo;range&rdquo; syntax in the <code>for</code> loop, but it&rsquo;s actually
just a pair of operators. The <code>..</code> and <code>...</code> syntax are infix &ldquo;range&rdquo; operators.
Like <a href="method-calls.html#operators">other operators</a>, they are special syntax for a regular method
call. The number type implements them and returns a <a href="values.html#ranges">range object</a> that knows
how to iterate over a series of numbers.</p>
<h2>The iterator protocol <a href="#the-iterator-protocol" name="the-iterator-protocol" class="header-anchor">#</a></h2>
<p>Lists and ranges cover the two most common kinds of loops, but you should also
be able to define your own sequences. To enable that, the semantics of <code>for</code>
are defined in terms of an &ldquo;iterator protocol&rdquo;. The loop itself doesn&rsquo;t know
anything about lists or ranges, it just knows how to call two particular
methods on the object that resulted from evaluating the sequence expression.</p>
<p>When you write a loop like this:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
for (i in 1..100) {
System.print(i)
}
</pre>
<p>Wren sees it something like this:</p>
<pre class="snippet">
var iter_ = null
var seq_ = 1..100
while (iter_ = seq_.iterate(iter_)) {
var i = seq_.iteratorValue(iter_)
System.print(i)
}
</pre>
<p>First, Wren evaluates the sequence expression and stores it in a hidden
variable (written <code>seq_</code> in the example but in reality it doesn&rsquo;t have a name
you can use). It also creates a hidden &ldquo;iterator&rdquo; variable and initializes it
to <code>null</code>.</p>
<p>Each iteration, it calls <code>iterate()</code> on the sequence, passing in the current
iterator value. (In the first iteration, it passes in <code>null</code>.) The sequence&rsquo;s
job is to take that iterator and advance it to the next element in the
sequence. (Or, in the case where the iterator is <code>null</code>, to advance it to the
<em>first</em> element). It then returns either the new iterator, or <code>false</code> to
indicate that there are no more elements.</p>
<p>If <code>false</code> is returned, Wren exits out of the loop and we&rsquo;re done. If anything
else is returned, that means that we have advanced to a new valid element. To
get that, Wren then calls <code>iteratorValue()</code> on the sequence and passes in the
iterator value that it just got from calling <code>iterate()</code>. The sequence uses
that to look up and return the appropriate element.</p>
<p>The built-in <a href="lists.html">List</a> and <a href="values.html#ranges">Range</a> types implement
<code>iterate()</code> and <code>iteratorValue()</code> to walk over their respective sequences. You
can implement the same methods in your classes to make your own types iterable.</p>
<p><br><hr>
<a class="right" href="variables.html">Variables &rarr;</a>
<a href="method-calls.html">&larr; Method Calls</a></p>
</main>
</div>
<footer>
<div class="page">
<div class="main-column">
<p>Wren lives
<a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren">on GitHub</a>
&mdash; Made with &#x2764; by
<a href="http://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/">Bob Nystrom</a> and
<a href="https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/blob/main/AUTHORS">friends</a>.
</p>
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@ -1,78 +0,0 @@
Q: Can we use fibers for error-handling?
The goal here is to avoid adding support for exception handling if we're already
going to support fibers. A potential bonus would be being able to have
restartable error-handling.
The general idea is that instead of putting code in a "try" block, you throw it
onto a new fiber. If an error occurs, that fiber is paused, and returns control
back to the spawning fiber. The parent fiber can then decipher the error and
either abandon the fiber, or try to fix the error and resume somehow.
The first question is what kinds of errors is this useful for. For things like
parsing strings where failure is common and error-handling needs to be
lightweight, I think using fibers is too heavy, both in performance and code.
A better answer there is to lean on dynamic typing and return null on parse
failure.
On the other hand, it might be nice to be able to resume here if the code that
provided the string is far away and you don't want to have to manually propagate
the error out.
Programmatic errors like invalid argument types should halt the fiber but the
programmer will not want to resume that at runtime. Using the mechanism here is
fine since it would then dump a stack trace, etc. But it won't take advantage
of resuming.
Resuming is probably useful for things like IO errors where the error can't be
easily predicted beforehand but where you may want to handle it gracefully. For
example, if a file can't be opened, the caller may want to wait a while and
try again.
--
After thinking about it, maybe resuming is a bridge too far. Erlang's model is
that a failure just kills the process. I'll note that Erlang does have try and
catch, though.
The goals for error-handling in a scripting language are:
0. Have simple semantics and implementation.
1. Make it easy for developers to track down programmatic errors so they can
fix them. This means bugs like wrong argument types should fail immediately
and loudly, and should provide context (a callstack) about where the error
occurred.
2. For runtime errors like parsing an invalid string or opening a missing file,
the program should be able to easily detect the error at handle it.
3. It *may* be useful for programmers to be able to trap all errors and try to
keep the program alive, or at least log the error in a meaningful way. When
you have user-defined scripts, or a lot of code, or code authored by
non-technical people, it's nice if a failure in one part can be reported but
not take down the entire system.
Two close-at-hand examples:
- The REPL. A bug in code in the REPL shouldn't kill the whole REPL session.
- The test framework. In order to write tests in Wren that test programmatic
runtime errors, we need to be able to detect them and output something.
The test runner could just parse the error output when the entire process
dies, but that means you can only have one error test per test file.
Given those, I'm thinking:
1. Programmatic errors take down the entire fiber and dump a callstack.
Normally, they will also take down the parent fiber and so on until the
entire program goes down.
2. Runtime errors return error codes (or null). Things like parsing a string to
a number, etc. should just return an error that you are responsible for
handling.
3. When handing off control to a fiber, there is a "guarded run" method that
will run the fiber. If it fails with a programmatic error, the invoked fiber
dies, but the parent does not. It gets the callstack and error as some sort
of object it can poke at.

View File

@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
Q: Can fields be implicitly declared?
The idea is that just using a name starting with "_" somewhere in a class
automatically defines a field with that name. Implicit fields are particularly
nice because it means they don't have to be defined all before methods. (Since
we have a single-pass compiler, we would have to otherwise a method could
only refer to previously defined fields.)
One potential problem is with nested classes. This is more important if we
consider a module effectively a class. Consider:
class Outer {
foo {
_blah = "value"
}
class Inner {
IO.write(_blah) // Does this declare field in Inner, or access Outer?
}
}
Looking at this, though, I think there's already a question how referring to an
outer field would work. Having an instance of Inner doesn't imply you also have
an instance of Outer. We definitely don't want to recapitulate inner classes
in Java.
Q: What about static fields?
A: Different naming convention? __foo?

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@ -1,65 +0,0 @@
This is the number of times each instruction was executed when running the
delta_blue benchmark:
3753021 CODE_LOAD_LOCAL
2233991 CODE_RETURN
2151580 CODE_LOAD_FIELD_THIS
2121398 CODE_CALL_1
1827535 CODE_CALL_0
1328364 CODE_POP
1136064 CODE_JUMP_IF
715071 CODE_LOAD_GLOBAL
428374 CODE_STORE_FIELD_THIS
424999 CODE_NULL
355344 CODE_STORE_LOCAL
341762 CODE_LOOP
118855 CODE_CONSTANT
93048 CODE_CALL_2
75280 CODE_AND
59920 CODE_JUMP
16842 CODE_LIST
16660 CODE_TRUE
10040 CODE_OR
8200 CODE_LOAD_UPVALUE
8140 CODE_SUPER_1
6540 CODE_FALSE
6076 CODE_STORE_GLOBAL
4000 CODE_SUPER_3
2020 CODE_SUPER_2
2000 CODE_SUPER_0
2000 CODE_CALL_5
2000 CODE_CALL_3
160 CODE_CLOSURE
74 CODE_METHOD_INSTANCE
11 CODE_CLASS
4 CODE_METHOD_STATIC
0 CODE_SUPER_9
0 CODE_SUPER_8
0 CODE_SUPER_7
0 CODE_SUPER_6
0 CODE_SUPER_5
0 CODE_SUPER_4
0 CODE_SUPER_16
0 CODE_SUPER_15
0 CODE_SUPER_14
0 CODE_SUPER_13
0 CODE_SUPER_12
0 CODE_SUPER_11
0 CODE_SUPER_10
0 CODE_STORE_UPVALUE
0 CODE_STORE_FIELD
0 CODE_LOAD_FIELD
0 CODE_IS
0 CODE_CLOSE_UPVALUE
0 CODE_CALL_9
0 CODE_CALL_8
0 CODE_CALL_7
0 CODE_CALL_6
0 CODE_CALL_4
0 CODE_CALL_16
0 CODE_CALL_15
0 CODE_CALL_14
0 CODE_CALL_13
0 CODE_CALL_12
0 CODE_CALL_11
0 CODE_CALL_10

View File

@ -1,261 +0,0 @@
So we need some syntax to distinguish between a relative import and a logical
import. I'm not sure which way to go, and I'd like some feedback (or possibly
other alternate ideas I haven't considered).
My two favorites are:
```
// Use
use "relative/path"
import "logical/path"
// Node-style
import "./relative/path"
import "logical/path"
```
If you folks are OK with "use", that's my preference. But otherwise, the Node
style will definitely work too. I'm open to other ideas as well, including a few
below, but I'd like to not bikeshed this forever.
## Background
There are four general approaches we can take:
### Use a modifier ("modifier")
Both kinds of imports start with `import`, but then we use a second keyword
afterwards to identify either a relative or logical import. We could use *two*
keywords -- one for each kind -- but that's unnecessarily verbose. Instead, we
use the presence or absence of the keyword to distinguish. In other words:
```
import foo "string"
import "string"
```
The specific questions we have to answer are:
1. Which kind of import gets the keyword? Ideally, the most common kind of
import would be the one that doesn't need an extra keyword.
2. What keyword? This is surprisingly hard. Probably some kind of preposition.
### Use different keywords ("keyword")
Instead of using `import` for both logical and relative imports, we could have
two keywords, one for each kind. The specific questions to answer then are:
1. Which kind of import gets `import`?
2. What's the other keyword?
### Use different syntax for the path ("syntax")
Instead of always using a string literal to identify what's being imported, we
could use a different kind of token or tokens for the different kinds of import.
For example, a string literal for one kind, and an identifier token for the
other:
import identifier
import "string literal"
The specific questions are:
1. Which kind of import uses a string literal?
2. What's the syntax for the other kind?
### Use a signifier in the import string itself to distinguish ("string")
An import is always `import` followed by a string literal. Then we use some
specific markers inside the string literal itself to distinguish the two kinds.
For example, Node says that an import string starting with "./" or "../" is
relative and other import strings are logical.
The specific question to answer is what kind of signifier we'd use. I think
Node's convention is the only real contender here, though.
One feature this style has that none of the others do is that it means the
language syntax itself has no notion of logical and relative imports. This
means there is no overhead or complexity for host applications where that
distinction isn't meaningful.
## Contenders
These are options I'm open to, in roughly descending order of preference:
### Node-style (string)
If the string starts with "./" or "../", it's relative.
```
import "./relative/path"
import "logical/path"
```
This is how Node works, so there's prior art. It keeps the language completely
simple. It does feel sort of arbitrary and magical to me, but it's the simplest,
most expedient solution.
### Use (keyword)
The `use` keyword is for relative imports, `import` is for logical.
```
use "relative/path"
import "logical/path"
```
The `use` keyword comes from Pascal, but that's not very widely known. I kind
of like this. It's short, and `use` feels "nearer" to me than "import" so it
has the right connotation. (You can't "use" something unless you have it near
to hand.)
It adds a little complexity to the language and VM. We have to support both
keywords and pass that "use versus import" bit through the name resolution
process. But that's pretty minor.
### Slashes (syntax)
If the path is a string literal, it's relative. Otherwise, it is a
slash-separated series of unquoted identifiers.
```
import "relative/path"
import logical/path
```
This means you can't (easily) use reserved words as names of logical imports.
This was my initial pitch. I still like how it looks, but I seem to be in the
minority.
### Relative (modifier)
The `relative` modifier is for relative imports.
```
import relative "relative/path"
import "logical/path"
```
It's explicit, which is good. It is unfortunately verbose. I think `relative`
is too useful of a word to make into a reserved word, which means it would have
to be a contextual keyword (i.e. treated like a reserved word after `import`
but behaving like a regular identifier elsewhere). I'm not generally a fan of
contextual keywords—they tend to make things like syntax highlighters more
difficult to create—so I try to avoid them.
## Rejected
I considered these ideas, but don't think they are good enough approaches for
various reasons:
### Package identifier (syntax)
If an unquoted identifier appears before the import string, then it's a logical
import within that package. Otherwise, it's relative.
```
import "relative/path"
import logical "path"
```
This was one of my initial ideas. It has the same problem as other unquoted
imports in that it makes it harder to have odd package names. It means the VM
has to understand this syntax and figure out how to display package names in
stack traces and stuff, so there is some extra complexity involved.
The form where you have both a package name and a relative path within that
package is pretty unusual and likely unintuitive to users.
### Dotted (syntax)
If the path is a string literal, it's relative. Otherwise, it is a
dot-separated series of unquoted identifiers.
```
import "relative/path"
import logical.path
```
Similar to slashes, but using dots. This helps make logical imports look more
visually distinct from relative ones. But it also makes them look more similar
to getter calls, which they aren't related to at all.
### Include (keyword)
The `include` keyword is for relative imports, `import` is for logical.
```
include "relative/path"
import "logical/path"
```
Ruby uses `include` for applying mixins. "Include" reads to me more like some
kind of transclusion thing, so it feels a little weird.
### Require (keyword)
The `require` keyword is for relative imports, `import` is for logical.
```
require "relative/path"
import "logical/path"
```
Node uses "require" and ES6 uses "import" so this is kind of confusing. Ruby
uses `require` and `require_relative`, so using `require` for a relative import
is kind of confusing. Lua also uses `require`, but for both relative and
logical. Overall, this feels murky and unhelpful to me.
### Angle-brackets (syntax)
As in C/C++, an import string can be in angle brackets or quotes. Angle brackets
are for logical imports, quotes for relative.
```
import "relative/path"
import <logical/path>
```
Hard pass. It requires context-sensitive tokenization (!) in C and we definitely
don't want to go there.
### URI scheme (string)
An import string starting with "package:" and maybe "wren:" is treated as
logical, like they are URIs with an explicit scheme. Others are relative.
```
import "relative/path"
import "package:logical/path"
import "wren:random"
```
This is (roughly) how Dart works. I'm not a fan. I think it's too verbose for
logical imports.
### Package (modifier)
A `package` modifier indicates a logical import. Others are relative.
```
import "relative/path"
import package "logical/path"
```
Pretty long, and I'm not too crazy about baking "package" into the language and
VM.
### From (modifier)
A `from` modifier indicates, uh, one kind of import.
```
import "some/path"
import from "other/path"
```
It looks nice, but it's totally unclear to me whether logical imports should
get `from` or relative ones. Also kind of confusing in that Python and ES6 use
`from` in their notation for importing explicit variables from a module (where
Wren uses `for`).

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@ -1,144 +0,0 @@
## wrenInterpret()
You can already call out to a foreign method or constructor from within an
execution that was started using `wrenInterpret()`, so I think that's fine.
`wrenInterpret()` doesn't use the API stack at all.
## wrenCall()
Normally, when using `wrenCall()` to start executing some code, the API slots
are at the very bottom of the fiber's stack and the fiber has no other
callframes until execution begins.
When a foreign method or constructor is called, there *are* callframes on the
fiber's stack. There must be, because that's where the arguments to the foreign
method are.
So, if you `wrenCall()`, which eventually calls a foreign method, the same fiber
will be used for the API twice. This is currently broken. The reason it's broken
is that `callForeign()` and `createForeign()` store the old apiStack pointer
(the one used for the initial `wrenCall()`) in a local variable and then restore
it when the foreign call completes. If a GC or stack grow occurs in the middle
of that, we end up restoring a bad pointer.
But I don't think we need to preserve apiStack for the `wrenCall()` anyway. As
soon as the user calls `wrenCall()` and it starts running, we no longer need to
track the number of slots allocated for the API. All that matters is that the
one return value is available at the end.
I think this means it *should* be fairly easy to support:
wrenCall() -> wren code -> foreign method
## Foreign calls
The interesting one is whether you can call `wrenInterpret()` or `wrenCall()`
from within a foreign method. If we're going to allow re-entrancy at all, it
would be nice to completely support it. I do think there are practical uses
for this.
Calling `wrenInterpret()` should already work, though I don't think it's tested.
Calling `wrenCall()` is probably broken. It will try to re-use the slots that
are already set up for the foreign call and then who knows what happens if you
start to execute.
I think a key part of the problem is that we implicitly create or reuse the API
stack as soon as you start messing with slots. So if there already happens to
be an API stack -- because you're in the middle of a foreign method -- it will
incorrectly reuse it when you start preparing for the `wrenCall()`.
An obvious fix is to add a new function like `wrenPrepareCall()` that explicitly
creates a new API stack -- really a new fiber -- for you to use. We still have
to figure out how to keep track of the current API stack and fiber for the
foreign call so that we can return to it.
**TODO: more thinking here...**
If I can figure this out, it means we can do:
foreign method -> C code -> wrenCall()
## Nested foreign calls
If we compose the above it leads to the question of whether you can have
multiple nested foreign calls in-progress at the same time. Can you have a C
stack like:
wrenCall()
runInterpreter()
foreignCall()
wrenCall()
runInterpreter()
foreignCall()
...
This does *not* mean there is a single Wren stack that contains multiple
foreign calls. Since each `wrenCall()` begins a new fiber, any given Wren stack
can only ever have a single foreign API call at the top of the stack. I think
that's a good invariant.
I believe we should support the above. This means that the core
`runInterpreter()` C function is itself re-entrant. So far, I've always assumed
it would not be, so it probably breaks some assumptions. I'll have to think
through. The main thing that could be problematic is the local variables inside
`runInterpreter()`, but I believe `STORE_FRAME()` and `LOAD_FRAME()` take care
of those. We just need to make sure they get called before any re-entrancy can
happen. That probably means calling them before we invoke a foreign method.
I'll have to write some tests and see what blows up for this.
## Calling re-entrant fibers
Where it gets really confusing is how re-entrant calls interact with fibers.
For example, say you:
wrenCall() -> creates Fiber #1
runInterpreter() -> runs Fiber #1
some Wren code stores current fiber in a variable
foreignCall()
wrenCall() -> creates Fiber #2
runInterpreter() -> runs Fiber #2
some Wren code calls or transfers to Fiber #1
What happens in this scenario? We definitely want to prevent it. We already
detect and prevent the case where you call a fiber that's already called in the
current *Wren* stack, so we should be able to do something in the above case
too.
Now that I think about it, you can probably already get yourself in a weird
state if you grab the root fiber and call it. Yeah, I justed tested. This:
var root = Fiber.current
Fiber.new {
root.call()
System.print(1)
}.call()
System.print(2)
Segfaults the VM. :( It actually dies when the called child fiber *returns*. The
root call successfully continues executing the root fiber (which is super
weird). Then that completes and control returns to the spawned fiber. Then
*that* completes and tries to return control to the root fiber, but the root is
already done, and it blows up. So the above prints "2" then "1" then dies.
(If either of the `call()` calls are change to `transfer()`, the script runs
without any problems because then it never tries to unwind back through the
root fiber which already completed.)
To fix this, when `runInterpreter()` begins executing a root fiber (either from
`wrenCall()` or `wrenInterpret()`), we need to mark it in some way so that it
can't be called or transferred to.
## Suspending during re-entrancy
Maybe the weird conceptual case is when you suspend a fiber while there are
multiple re-entrant calls to `runInterpreter()` on the C stack. Ideall, they
would all magically return, but that's obviously not feasible.
I guess what will/should happen is that just the innermost one suspends. It's
up to the host to handle that fact. I need to think about this more, add some
tests, and work through it.
I think we'll probably want to add another WrenInterpretResult case for
suspension so that the host can tell that's what happened.

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@ -1,146 +0,0 @@
var baz = "top level"
class Foo {
bar {
baz
_baz
}
baz { "getter" }
_baz { "private getter" }
this {
_baz = "field"
}
}
Given `_foo`, how do we tell if it is:
1. A call to a private getter
2. Accessing a private field
3. Tearing off a reference to a private method
It's not 3 because of arity overloading. Wren doesn't really have method
tear-off because of this.)
This is hard because the getter may not be defined yet. One option is:
It's always a call to a private getter. After the class is defined, we see if
there are any private getters that were not implemented and define implicit
getters for them that return fields.
That's weird if you take into account setters, though. Consider:
class Foo {
a { IO.write(_prop) }
_prop = value { ... }
}
For first reference to `_prop`, compile it to getter call. Then see setter
defined for it, so we no longer implicitly make a field. But there's no getter,
so now the above call will fail.
Probably do want call to fail here, so that may be OK.
---
Given `_foo(arg)`, how do we tell if it is:
1. A call to a private method
2. A call to a private getter, which returns a field that's a fn, and invoking
it.
Since arity is part of the name, the answer here is 1.
---
Given `foo(arg)` inside a class, how do we tell if it is:
1. A call to a method on this.
2. Accessing a field `foo` on this, which returns a fn, and invoking it.
3. Calling a getter `foo` on this, which returns a fn, and invoking it.
4. A call to a top-level fn.
Let's just dismiss 3. Since arity affects naming, `foo(arg)` and `(foo)(arg)`
are really different things in Wren. The parentheses and args are effectively
part of the name.
That covers 2 as well. If we ditch top level fns, we're left with 1. This is
good, I think. It means the common case of calling methods on yourself is nice
and terse.
---
Given `foo` inside a class, how do we tell if it is:
1. Accessing a field on this.
2. Calling a getter on this.
3. Accessing a global variable.
4. Accessing a top-level getter.
5. Accessing a local variable.
We can probably ditch 4. We can ditch 1 because Wren doesn't have public fields.
Because both getters and global variables can be used before they are defined,
we can't determine statically (in a single pass compiler) if there is a global
variable or getter named `foo` in order to disambiguate. Even if we could, we'd
still have to answer the ambiguous case where it's both.
If we assume it's a global and the user wants a getter, they can always do
`this.foo` to be explicit. If we assume it's getter, how would they indicate a
global?
One option is to have a different naming convention for globals, like a
capitalized initial variable. That lines up with class names at the top level
anyway. It just means if we have variables for imported modules, we'll want to
capitalize those.
We still have to distinguish locals, but since those are declared before use, we
can determine that statically. I.e. locals will shadow implicit getters.
---
OK, so here's one proposal:
class MyClass {
method {
_foo // access field
_foo(arg) // not valid
foo // local var or getter on this
foo(arg) // method on this
Foo // global variable
}
}
This is simple, and straightforward to compile. Using capitalization for globals
is a bit weird, and not having private methods is a bummer, but maybe simplicity
is the right answer.
Here's another:
class MyClass {
method {
_foo // private getter on this
_foo(arg) // private method on this
foo // local var or getter on this
foo(arg) // method on this
Foo // global variable
}
}
To get rid of the weird capitalization rule for globals, one option is to not
allow forward references to globals. That would break mutually recursive
references to classes, though:
class A {
foo { B.new }
}
class B {
foo { A.new }
}
So, not a fan of that.
Ignoring that, the main difference between the two proposals is the second has
private methods. Since the first proposal is practically a subset of the second,
let's start with that one first.

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@ -1,76 +0,0 @@
Q1: What does this resolve to:
foo(arg)
It could be:
1. this.foo(arg)
2. EnclosingClass.foo(arg) // i.e. a static method call
3. a call to a top-level function foo()
If we adopt the idea that a module is just a class definition (with some
syntactic differences) and classes can be nested, then 3 really means "a call
to a static method on the class surrounding the enclosing class".
I *don't* think we want the answer to the question to vary based on the name
in question. We can't rely on name resolution to disambiguate because we don't
know the full set of surrounding names in a single pass compiler. Also, it's
semantically squishier.
I think the right answer is 1, it's an implicit call on this. That's what you
want most often, I think. For imported modules, we could import them with a
"prefix" (really import them as objects bound to named variables), so calling
a top-level function in another module would be something like:
someModule.foo(arg)
This leaves the question of how *do* you call top level functions in your own
module? I.e., how do we call foo here:
def foo(arg) { IO.write("called foo!") }
class SomeClass {
bar {
// Want to call foo here...
}
}
This is analogous to:
class SomeModule {
static foo(arg) { IO.write("called foo!") }
class SomeClass {
bar {
// Want to call foo here...
}
}
}
The obvious solution is to use the class name:
class SomeModule {
static foo(arg) { IO.print("called foo!") }
class SomeClass {
bar {
SomeModule.foo(arg)
}
}
}
Which just leaves the question of what the class name of a top-level "module
class" is.
Idea: it's unnamed, so you just use a leading ".":
def foo(arg) { IO.print("called foo!") }
class SomeClass {
bar {
.foo(arg)
}
}
This mirrors C++'s unnamed scope thing:
::foo(arg);

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@ -1,478 +0,0 @@
# Smarter Imports
**Note: This is now mostly implemented, though the implementation differs
somewhat from this original proposal.**
Here's a proposal for improving how imported modules are identified and found
to hopefully help us start growing an ecosystem of reusable Wren code. Please
do [let me know][list] what you think!
[list]: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/wren-lang
## Motivation
As [others][210] [have][325] [noted][346], the way imports work in Wren,
particularly how the CLI resolves them, makes it much too hard to reuse code.
This proposal aims to improve that. It doesn't intend to fix *everything* about
imports and the module system, but should leave the door open for later
improvements.
[210]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/issues/210
[325]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/issues/325
[346]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/issues/346
### Relative imports
Today, it's hard to reuse your own code unless you literally dump everything in
a single directory. Say you have:
```text
script_a.wren
useful_stuff/
script_b.wren
thing_1.wren
thing_2.wren
```
`script_a.wren` and `script_b.wren` are both scripts you can run directly from
the CLI. They would both like to use `thing_1.wren`, which in turn imports
`thing_2.wren`. What does `thing_1.wren` look like? If you do:
```scala
// thing_1.wren
import "thing_2"
```
Then it works fine if you run `script_b.wren` from the `useful_stuff/`
directory. But if you try to run `script_a.wren` from the top level directory,
then it looks for `thing_2.wren` *there* and fails to find it. If you change the
import to:
```scala
// thing_1.wren
import "useful_stuff/thing_2"
```
Then `script_a.wren` works, but now `script_b.wren` is broken. The problem is
that all imports are treated as relative to the directory containing the
*initial script* you run. That means you can't reuse modules from scripts that
live in different directories.
In this example, if feels like imports should be treated as relative to the
file that contains the import statement. Often you want to specify, "Here is
*where* this other module is, relative to where *I* am."
### Logical imports
If we make imports relative, is that enough? Should *all* imports be relative? I
don't think so. First of all, some modules are not even on the file system.
There is no relative path that will take you to "random" — it's built into the
VM itself. Likewise, "io" is baked into the CLI.
Today, when you write:
```scala
import "io"
```
You aren't saying *where* that module should be found, you're saying *what*
module you want. Assuming we get a package manager at some point, these kinds of
"logical" imports will be common. So I want these too.
If you look at other langauges' package managers, you'll find many times a
single package offers a number of separate libraries you can use. So I also
want to support logical imports that contain a path too — the import would say
both *what* package to look in and *where* in that package to look.
### Only logical imports?
Given some kind of package-y import syntax, could we get rid of relative imports
and use those for everything? You'd treat your own program like it was itself
some kind of package and anything you wanted to import in it you'd import
relative to your app's root directory.
The problem is that the "root directory" for your program's "package" isn't
well-defined. We could say it's always the same directory as the script you're
running, but that's probably too limiting. You may want to run scripts that live
in subdirectories.
We could walk up the parent directories looking for some kind of "manifest" file
that declares "the root of the package is here", but that seems like a lot of
hassle if you just want to create a couple of text files and start getting some
code running. So, for your own programs, I think it's nice to still support
"pure" relative imports.
### Ambiguity?
OK, so we want both relative imports and logical imports. Can we use the same
syntax for both? We could allow, say:
```scala
import "a/b"
```
And the semantics would be:
1. Look for a module "a/b.wren" relative to the file containing the import. If
found, use it.
2. Otherwise, look inside some "package" directory for a package named "a" and
a module named "b.wren" inside it. If found use that.
3. Otherwise, look for a built in module named "a".
This is pretty much how things work now, but I don't think it's a good idea.
Relative imports will tend to be short — often single words like "utils".
Assuming we get a healthy package ecosystem at some point, the chances of one of
those colliding with a logical import name are high.
Also, when reading code, I think it's important to be able to easily tell "this
import is from my own program" without having to know the names of all of the
files and directories in the program.
## Proposal
OK, so here's my goals:
1. A way to import a module relative to the one containing the import.
2. A way to import a module from some named logical package, possibly at a
specific path within that package.
3. Distinct syntaxes for each of these.
I tried a few different ideas, and my favorite is:
### Relative imports
Relative imports use the existing syntax:
```scala
// Relative path.
import "ast/expr"
```
This looks for the file `ast/expr.wren` relative to the directory containing the
module that has this import statement in it.
You can also walk out of directories if you need to import a module in a parent
folder:
```scala
import "../../other/stuff"
```
### Logical imports
If you want to import a module from some named logical entity, you use an
*unquoted* identifier:
```scala
import random
```
Being unquoted means the names must be valid Wren identifiers and can't be
reserved words. I think that's OK. It would confuse the hell out of people if
you had a library named "if". I think the above *looks* nice, and the fact that
it's not quoted sends a signal (to me at least) that the name is a "what" more
than a "where".
If you want to import a specific module within a logical entity, you can have a
series of slash-separate identifiers after the name:
```scala
import wrenalyzer/ast/expr
```
This imports module "ast/expr" from "wrenalyzer".
## Implementation
That's the proposed syntax and basic semantics. The way we actually implement it
is tricky because Wren is both a standalone interpreter you can run on the
command line and an embedded scripting language. We have to figure out what goes
into the VM and what lives in the CLI, and the interface between the two.
### VM
As usual, I want to keep the VM minimal and free of policy. We do need to add
support for the new unquoted syntax. The more significant change is to the API
the VM uses to talk to the host app when a module is imported. The VM doesn't
know how to actually load modules. When it executes an import statement, it
calls:
```c
char* loadModuleFn(WrenVM* vm, const char* name);
```
The VM tells the host app the import string and the host app returns the code.
In order to distinguish relative imports (quoted) from an identical unquoted
name and path, we need to pass in an extra to bit to tell the host whether there
were quotes or not.
The more challenging change (and the reason I didn't support them when I first
added imports to Wren) is relative imports. There are two tricky parts:
First, the host app doesn't have enough context to resolve a relative import.
Right now, the VM only passes in the import string. It doesn't tell which module
*contains* that import string, so the host has no way of knowing what that
import should be relative *to*.
That's easy to fix. We have the VM pass in the name of the module that contains
the import.
The harder problem is **canonicalization**. When you import the same module
twice, the VM ensures it is only executed once and both places use the same
module data. This is important to ensure you don't get confusing things like
duplicate static state or other weird side effects.
To do that, the VM needs to be able to tell when two imports refer to the "same"
module. Right now, it uses the import string itself. If two imports use the same
string, they are the same module.
With relative imports, that is no longer valid. Consider:
```text
script_a.wren
useful_stuff/
thing_1.wren
thing_2.wren
```
Now imagine those files contain:
```scala
// script_a.wren
import "useful_stuff/thing_1"
import "useful_stuff/thing_2"
// useful_stuff/thing_1.wren
import "thing_2"
// useful_stuff/thing_2.wren
// Stuff...
```
Both `script_a.wren` and `thing_1` import `thing_2`, but the import *strings*
are different. The VM needs to be able to figure out that those two imports
refer to the same module. I don't want path manipulation logic in the VM, so it
will delegate to the host app for that as well.
Given the import string and the name of the module containing it, the host app
produces a "fully-qualified" or "canonical" name for the imported module. It is
*that* resulting string that the VM uses to tell if two imports resolve to the
same module. (It's also the string it uses in things like stack traces.)
This means importing becomes a three stage process:
1. First the VM asks the host to resolve an import. It gives it the (previously
resolved) name of the module containing the import, the imports string, and
whether or not it was quoted. The host app returns a canonical string for
that import.
2. The VM checks to see if a module with that canonical name has already been
imported. If so, it reuses that and its done.
3. Otherwise, it circles back and asks the host for the source of the module
with that given canonical name. It compiles and executes that and goes from
there.
So we add a new callback to the embedding API. Something like:
```c
char* resolveModuleFn(WrenVM* vm,
// Canonical name of the module containing the import.
const char* importer,
// The import string.
const char* path,
// Whether the path name was quoted.
bool isQuoted);
```
The VM invokes this for step one above. The other two steps are the existing
loading logic but now using the canonicalized string.
### CLI
All of the policy lives over in the CLI (or in your app if you are embedding the
VM). You are free to use whatever canonicalization policy makes sense for you.
For the CLI, and for the policy described up in motivation, it's something like
this:
* Imports are slash-separated paths. Resolving a relative path is normal path
joining relative to the directory containing the import. So if you're
importing "a/b" from "c/d" (which is a file named "d.wren" in a directory
"c"), then the canonical name is "c/a/b" and the file is "c/a/b.wren".
".." and "." are allowed and are normalized. So these imports all resolve
to the same module:
```scala
import "a/b/c"
import "a/./b/./c"
import "a/d/../b/c"
```
* If an import is quoted, the path is considered relative to the importing
module's path, and is in the same package as the importing module.
So, if the current file is "a/b/c.wren" in package "foo" then these are
equivalent:
```scala
import "d/e"
import foo/a/b/d/e
```
* If an import is unquoted, the first identifier is the logical "package"
containing the module, and the remaining components are the path within that
package. The canonicalized string is the logical name, a colon, then the
resolved full path to the import (without the ".wren" file extension).
So if you import:
```scala
import wrenalyzer/ast/expr
```
The canonical name is "wrenalyzer:ast/expr".
* If an import is a single unquoted name, the CLI implicitly uses the name as
the module to look for within that package. These are equivalent:
```scala
import foo
import foo/foo
```
We could use some default name like "module" instead of the package name,
similar to Python, but I think this is actually a little more usable in
practice. If you're hacking on a bunch of packages at the same time, it's
annoying if every tab in your text editor just says "module.wren".
* The canonicalized string for the main script or a module imported using a
relative path from the main script is just the normalized file path,
probably relative to the working directory.
* Since colon is used to separate the name from path, path components with
colons are not allowed.
### Finding logical imports
The last remaining piece is how the CLI physically locates logical imports. If
you write:
```scala
import foo
```
Where does it look for "foo"? Of course, if "foo" is built into the VM like
"random", then that's easy. Likewise, if it's built into the CLI like "io",
that's easy too.
Otherwise, it will try to find it on the file system. We don't have a package
manager yet, so we need some kind of simple policy so you can "hand-author" the
layout a package manager would produce. Borrowing from Node, the basic idea is
pretty simple.
To find a logical import, the CLI starts in the directory that contains the main
script (not the directory containing the module doing the import), and looks for
a directory named "wren_modules". If not found there, it starts walking up
parent directories until it finds one. If it does, it looks for the logical
import inside there. So, if you import "foo", it will try to find
"wren_modules/foo/foo.wren".
Once it finds a "wren_modules" directory, it uses that one directory for all
logical imports. You can't scatter stuff across multiple "wren_modules" folders
at different levels of the hierarchy. If it can't find a "wren_modules"
directory, or it can't find the requested module inside the directory, the
import fails.
This means that to reuse someone else's Wren "package" (or your own for that
matter), you can just stick a "wren_modules" directory next to the main script
for your app or in some parent directory. Inside that "wren_modules" directory,
copy in the package you want to reuse. If that package in turn uses other
packages, copy those into the *same* "wren_modules" directory. In other words,
the transitive dependencies get flattened. This is important to handle shared
dependencies between packages without duplication.
You only need to worry about all of this if you actually have logical imports.
If you just have a couple of files that import each other, you can use straight
relative imports and everything just works.
## Migration
OK, that's the plan. How do we get there? I've start hacking on the
implementation a little and, so far, it seems straightforward. Honestly, it will
probably take less time than I spent writing this up.
The tricky part is that this is a breaking change. All of your existing quoted
import strings will mean something different. We definitely *can* and will make
breaking changes in Wren, so that's OK, but I'd like to minimize the pain. Right
now, Wren is currently at version 0.1.0. I'll probably consider the commit right
before I start landing this to be the "official" 0.1.0 release and then the
import changes will land in "0.2.0". I'll work in a branch off main until
everything looks solid and then merge it in.
If you have existing Wren code that you run on the CLI and that contains
imports, you'll probably need to tweak them.
If you are hosting Wren in your own app, the imports are fine since your app
has control over how they resolve. But you will have to fix your app a little
since the import embedding API is going to change to deal with canonicalization.
I think I can make it so that if you don't provide a canonicalization callback,
then the original import string is treated as the canonical string and you
fall back to the current behavior.
## Alternatives
Having both quoted and unquoted import strings is a little funny, but it's the
best I could come up with. For what it's worth, I [borrowed it from
Racket][racket].
[racket]: https://docs.racket-lang.org/guide/module-basics.html
I considered a couple of other ideas which are potentially on the table if
most of you don't dig the main proposal:
### Node-style
In Node, [all imports are quoted][node]. To distinguish between relative and
logical imports, relative imports always start with "./". In Wren, it would be:
[node]: https://nodejs.org/api/modules.html
```scala
import "./something/relative"
import "logical/thing"
```
This is simpler than the main proposal since there are no syntax changes and we
don't need to push the "was quoted?" bit through the embedding API. But I find
the "./" pretty unintuitive especially if you're not steeped in the UNIX
tradition. Even if you are, it's weird that you *need* to use "./" when it means
nothing to the filesystem.
### Unquoted identifiers
The other idea I had was to allow both an unquoted identifier and a quoted
path, like:
```scala
import wrenalyzer "ast/expr"
```
The unquoted name is the logical part — the package name. The quoted part is
the path within that logical package. If you omit the unquoted name, it's a
straight relative import. If you have a name but no path, it's desugars to use
the name as the path.
This is a little more complex because we have to pass around the name and path
separately between the VM and the host app during canonicalization. If we want
the canonicalized form to keep those separate as well, then the way we keep
track of previously-loaded modules needs to get more complex too. Likewise the
way we show stack traces, etc.
The main proposal gloms everything into a single string using ":" to separate
the logical name part from the path. That's a little arbitrary, but it keeps
the VM a good bit simpler and means the idea of there being a "package name" is
pure host app policy.

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^title Hello Wren
4 Feb 2019
---
Welcome to the new Wren development blog!
Around November 2018 on the Wren mailing list, munificent announced that a new maintainer is taking over the development and maintainence of the Wren language. [The original post is here, with all the details.](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/wren-lang/cMUwij-NIn0)
In short, [I'm (ruby0x1)](https://github.com/ruby0x1) taking over from [Bob (munificent)](https://github.com/munificent) as maintainer, but Bob is sticking around as a contributor!
### The Wren blog
One of the first things I felt Wren needed going forward is a consistent and centralized place to talk about the language. The existing design choices and goals, and especially the future and evolution of Wren are something a lot of people want to read about, in detail. Now we have a place to do exactly that!
The blog will be keeping in the spirit of Wren by remaining simple. Posts are just regular markdown files in the repository alongside the rest of the site, and are considered part of the documentation.
Since Wren as a project aims to help others learn, having the in depth thought processes, development details and technical intricacy be documented in the same place, over a timeline, is valuable.
### What's next for Wren?
First and foremost, I wanted to state explicitly that **Wren is going to be changing** but it is **not going to become something else**.
Wren attracted me as a language because of what it _is_, not because it isn't {_other language_}. If I wanted to use {_other language_} I would have, but I chose Wren because I wanted what it was.
So, Wren is going to be changing in ways that align with it's existing design intentions. Staying small, simple, learnable and hackable is all vital to what makes Wren valuable, and will remain.
We're just as excited as you are to get to longer term changes and fun tweaks (we have lots of work done already in local projects like [the debugger](https://i.imgur.com/dazexnY.gifv)). There's plenty of ideas we've tried since we've been [using Wren full time](https://luxeengine.com) the last 2.5+ years, and can't wait to get started with bring those into the main branch (and optional modules). There's a lot to do!
In the next blog I want to try talk a bit more about the short to medium term goals and roadmap (rather than mixing it here with the meta/hello world post). Be sure to keep an eye out for that one, as it has more juicy details on what we're gonna get up to.
There are immediate term goals, though.
### First steps
I think it's important to reset the baseline before we shake things up too much. Think of it as a ramp up to gain momentum, rather than running into a china store with arms flailing.
- We're gonna clear out a bit of backlog, tidying up issues and PRs
- Tidy up the website a bit, visually and structurally
- Make sure all documentation is up to date with the current development
- Tag 0.2.0 with a list of relevant changes since 0.1.0
Once we tag 0.2.0, we'll be in a good place to move forward. And, everything up until now will have a well defined checkpoint preserved, if people want to refer to it.
### Steps so far
Since the announcement and transition, I've been making my way through all the mailing list posts, issues and PRs in the backlog and reading all the way back to the early days.
I've also been talking to community members one on one and getting personal experiences and thoughts on Wren. Forming a full picture will help us since we'll have an overview of what's most relevant (and what isn't) as time has passed, and gives us actionable things to do for the next milestone. I think it's an important step.
We've also been investigating some of the PRs with the community to get those sorted out, since they're in the way.
Lastly, I've already done a bit of clean up on the website and documentation theme, added a new logo, and of course added the blog.
### Thanks!
Lastly, I wanted to say thanks to munificent, the community and all the contributors that have made Wren possible to this point. It's a wonderful thing and I look forward to seeing where we take it, together.
I hope you'll join us on the journey!
### More
- [The Wren Blog RSS](http://wren.io/blog/rss.xml)
- Join the [discord community](https://discord.gg/Kx6PxSX)
- Visit the [wren-lang organization](https://github.com/wren-lang) on GitHub.
- Follow [@munificentbob](https://twitter.com/munificentbob) or [@ruby0x1](https://twitter.com/ruby0x1) on twitter

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^title 0.2.0 and beyond
30 Sep 2019
---
### 0.2.0 is here
It's time to tag a release!
Let's check our goals from [the last blog post](0-hello-wren.html):
- <s>We're gonna clear out a bit of backlog, tidying up issues and PRs</s>
- <s>Tidy up the website a bit, visually and structurally</s>
- <s>Make sure all documentation is up to date with the current development</s>
- <s>Tag 0.2.0 with a list of relevant changes since 0.1.0</s>
So far so good.
### Backlog
Clearing out the issues on a repo after some time has passed is always a bit tricky.
Many issues are outdated (or unrelated), and some need a proper response. Some are related to future ideals, things that will take a while to get to. Some are related to the Wren CLI. It can be difficult to reason about the state of the tasks when they're all over the place, so we've been consolidating.
The good news is the issue list has been drastically reduced, 70+ issues being closed (or resolved). Around 21 of those are marked for future consideration, and 23 moved to the Wren CLI repository. More consolidation will still continue.
**The goal is that the active issues are as relevant as possible in the immediate term.**
A tricky but important aspect to mention here is the perception of closing an issue...
A closed issue doesn't necessarily mean anything final, it's just a categorization tool!
The other categorization tool which operates _within_ open/closed categories, is the _label_. Labels allow us to distinguish clearly the different types of issues, which makes open/closed less binary and more nuanced and rich. We rely on both to make sense of the list.
For example, discussions of future tasks, ideas or goals [are tagged `future`](https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/issues?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=is%3Aissue+label%3Afuture+). Now we can refer to them later, and re-open them when they become active and relevant again.
**We're in this together.**
Please don't be discouraged if an issue is closed! Discussion is absolutely encouraged and ideas, proposals and input is very necessary. Feel free to keep a discussion going, even if the issue it's attached to has been marked as closed.
### 0.2.0
We've been hammering away on Wren since 0.1.0 for quite a while. The [change list on GitHub](https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/compare/0.1.0...5338275dcdd97fd8d9fc614f420a645500836a59) is too long to display!
Most importantly, before we start iterating on the language further, I wanted to make sure we had a checkpoint to look back to. That's largely what 0.2.0 is about.
There's quite a lot of good changes, with **290 commits from 41 contributors!**
Thanks to everyone getting involved, every little bit has helped Wren, no matter how small the contribution.
### 0.3.0
With 0.2.0 wrapped up, our next release won't be as far away this time.
**The primary goal for 0.3.0 is separating the VM from the CLI.**
This includes updated documentation, splitting the source repos, migrating all the tests, issues and more.
All the code and documentation will still be easy to access in one place, but clarity around Wren as a project will improve a lot.
The migration has already started, you can [find the wren-cli repository here](https://github.com/wren-lang/wren-cli).
I'm working on some of the refactoring on the [wren-cli-refactor branch.](https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/tree/wren-cli-refactor)
With that, we'll also have a cleaner build process for the CLI.
On some platforms (Windows especially), there have been several pain points, these will be addressed.
There's also gonna be an additional build target, namely emscripten, so we can easily run Wren examples on the Wren website and documentation.
And finally, we'll have some proper prebuilt releases with 0.3.0.
I know many people have just wanted to grab an executable and give the language a go, but that hasn't been an option.
We'll fix that with 0.3.0.
The 0.3.0 goals in simple form:
- VM / CLI split
- Build consistency/reliablity
- Web build for embedding in docs
- Prebuilt releases
### Beyond
I don't have any concrete plans for 0.4.0 right now, but once the dust settles from 0.3.0 we'll have a clearer view.
There's definitely things in the pipeline though, I've been playing with [adding compound assignments like `+=`](https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/pull/701).
More details about in development features and fixes can be found on the repo in the meantime.
Thanks for reading!
### More
- [The Wren Blog RSS](http://wren.io/blog/rss.xml)
- Join the [discord community](https://discord.gg/Kx6PxSX)
- Visit the [wren-lang organization](https://github.com/wren-lang) on GitHub to get involved.
- Follow the developers [@munificentbob](https://twitter.com/munificentbob) or [@ruby0x1](https://twitter.com/ruby0x1) on twitter

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^title 0.3.0 released!
5 June 2020
---
In this post we'll cover 0.3.0 and the goals for 0.4.0 [#](#goals-for-0.4.0).
## About the 0.3.0 release
Let's revisit our goals from [the last blog post](1-0.2.0-and-beyond.html),
and mark what we managed to get done:
- <s>VM / CLI split</s> [#](#vm--cli-split)
- <s>Build consistency/reliablity</s> [#](#build-consistencyreliability)
- <s>Web build for embedding in docs</s> [#](#web-build-for-embedding-in-docs)
- <s>Prebuilt releases</s> [#](#prebuilt-releases)
## The details
### VM / CLI split
With 0.3.0 we've separated the CLI from the Wren repo,
and updated the docs to make the distinction clearer.
The [CLI now has its own corner of the docs](../cli), so that the modules
and API docs aren't overlapped like before. This opens up space for the
CLI to get better, fuller documentation, and removes confusion about
built in modules vs ones that are in the CLI only.
The code structure is clearer, too, and all the tests and utils are now specific.
### Build consistency/reliability
Previously, builds on Windows could be a little fickle, and there was sometimes
issues with the dependencies on the CLI side.
To solve this, premake is now used to generate platform specific project files that
'just work', making it a one step process to build the VM or CLI. Both projects
now have a `projects/` folder which includes ready to go project files for primary platforms.
<small>The original `Makefile` and `util/wren.mk` no longer exist, so there might be some work needed
to reintegrate if you relied on those. You can find the updated makefile in `projects/make/`, or `projects/make.mac/`.</small>
The **amalgamated build** was fixed too, so that embedding in your own project is as simple as
including a single c file (and the `wren.h` header).
On the **CLI** side, the pre-build steps were removed and dependencies vendored in repo,
so that the project just builds with less potential points of error, especially across platforms.
And finally the **docs**! Previously [SASS](https://sass-lang.com/) was used, and code highlighting
was done at generation time using pygments, a python code highlighter. Both of these dependencies
have been removed, code highlighting is now done on the client side instead (see another reason why below).
The benefit here that it is now _easy_ to edit the docs, just a simple python command, no setup!
### Web build for embedding in docs
The goal was two part here, one is to have a page to just try out Wren.
Type in some code, run it. That's the first big step and we've now got that on the docs page.
<h4><a href="../try" target="_blank" class="dark-link">Try Wren directly in your browser!</a></h4>
This should work on desktop or mobile, and will continue to be improved over time.
The second part of that goal is having the VM available to make examples on each page interactive.
This is implemented, _but not activated on any pages yet_.
In the near future inline doc examples will have a small button that you can
press to see the code result right there, live. Since there's a lot of examples,
and sometimes they're fragments of code that don't run in isolation,
it will take time to propagate it through the pages.
Mainly, I didn't want this to hold up 0.3.0, but expect to start seeing it soon.
### Prebuilt releases
In addition to the browser based build that removes a barrier to trying out Wren,
Wren CLI has prebuilt binaries for Mac, Windows and Linux now! This gives
an easy path to just tinkering with Wren before embedding it.
---
## Goals for 0.4.0
With 0.4.0 the goal is to address a couple of bigger todos, but also to push the language
itself, and the embedding experience forward.
You can see some of the [work in progress tasks](https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Aopen+label%3A0.4.0) here,
but there's a few things I'd like to resolve in 0.4.0.
**Compound operators**
I've really missed having `+=` and friends,
so I've been working on a (broken, wip) [PR here](https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/pull/701).
I've since had a better idea to implement it and will hope to address that in 0.4.0.
**Chained methods ('fluent interfaces')**
Currently in Wren it's required that the period (`.`) be on the same line as the method.
<pre class="snippet">
example.
some().
functions().
here()
</pre>
This isn't as elegant as we'd want for this form of API,
so **in 0.4.0 the goal is** allowing a newline, as you'd expect:
<pre class="snippet">
example
.some()
.functions()
.here()
</pre>
This doesn't seem like a big deal but when your calls are wider,
longer and possibly accept block functions. It's hard to read,
and can be less fun to track down a missing `.` in a big chunk of code.
<pre class="snippet">
example.
some {|args, and, stuff|
...
}.
here()
</pre>
**C Side APIs**
Some APIs for dealing with `Map` have been proposed several times,
it's time to bring that into the API. There's some additions for `List` as well,
like a helper to set an element in a list.
**Other goals**
There's a few more things but I'm still exploring their viability.
Keep an eye on the [PRs/issues](https://github.com/wren-lang/wren) or the [0.4.0 label](https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Aopen+label%3A0.4.0) to see when they're discussed.
## Till next time
---
- [The Wren Blog RSS](http://wren.io/blog/rss.xml)
- Join the [discord community](https://discord.gg/Kx6PxSX)
- Visit the [wren-lang organization](https://github.com/wren-lang) on GitHub to get involved.
- Follow the developers [@munificentbob](https://twitter.com/munificentbob) or [@ruby0x1](https://twitter.com/ruby0x1) on twitter

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^title Development blogs
[<h3>0.3.0 released!</h3>](2-0.3.0-released.html)
> <date>5 June 2020</date> • 0.3.0 release info! Plus some notes and goals for the next release, 0.4.0.
[<h3>0.2.0 and beyond</h3>](1-0.2.0-and-beyond.html)
> <date>30 Sep 2019</date> • Checkpoints, and the plans for 0.3.0.
[<h3>System.print("hello wren")</h3>](0-hello-wren.html)
> <date>4 Feb 2019</date> • A short post introducing the blog, the new maintainer, and the immediate term plans for Wren.

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^title Classes
Every value in Wren is an object, and every object is an instance of a class.
Even `true` and `false` are full-featured objects&mdash;instances of the
[Bool][] class.
[bool]: modules/core/bool.html
Classes define an objects *behavior* and *state*. Behavior is defined by
[*methods*][method calls] which live in the class. Every object of the same
class supports the same methods. State is defined in *fields*, whose values are
stored in each instance.
[method calls]: method-calls.html
## Defining a class
Classes are created using the `class` keyword, unsurprisingly:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {}
</pre>
This creates a class named `Unicorn` with no methods or fields.
## Methods
To let our unicorn do stuff, we need to give it methods.
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
prance() {
System.print("The unicorn prances in a fancy manner!")
}
}
</pre>
This defines a `prance()` method that takes no arguments. To add parameters, put
their names inside the parentheses:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
prance(where, when) {
System.print("The unicorn prances in %(where) at %(when).")
}
}
</pre>
Since the number of parameters is part of a method's [signature][] a class can
define multiple methods with the same name:
[signature]: method-calls.html#signature
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
prance() {
System.print("The unicorn prances in a fancy manner!")
}
prance(where) {
System.print("The unicorn prances in %(where).")
}
prance(where, when) {
System.print("The unicorn prances in %(where) at %(when).")
}
}
</pre>
It's often natural to have the same conceptual operation work with different
sets of arguments. In other languages, you'd define a single method for the
operation and have to check for missing optional arguments. In Wren, they are
different methods that you implement separately.
In addition to named methods with parameter lists, Wren has a bunch of other
different syntaxes for methods. Your classes can define all of them.
### Getters
A getter leaves off the parameter list and the parentheses:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
// Unicorns are always fancy.
isFancy { true }
}
</pre>
### Setters
A setter has `=` after the name, followed by a single parenthesized parameter:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
rider=(value) {
System.print("I am being ridden by %(value).")
}
}
</pre>
By convention, the parameter is usually named `value` but you can call it
whatever makes your heart flutter.
### Operators
Prefix operators, like getters, have no parameter list:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
- {
System.print("Negating a unicorn is weird.")
}
}
</pre>
Infix operators, like setters, have a single parenthesized parameter for the
right-hand operand:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
-(other) {
System.print("Subtracting %(other) from a unicorn is weird.")
}
}
</pre>
A subscript operator puts the parameters inside square brackets and can have
more than one:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
[index] {
System.print("Unicorns are not lists!")
}
[x, y] {
System.print("Unicorns are not matrices either!")
}
}
</pre>
Unlike with named methods, you can't define a subscript operator with an empty
parameter list.
As the name implies, a subscript setter looks like a combination of a subscript
operator and a setter:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
[index]=(value) {
System.print("You can't stuff %(value) into me at %(index)!")
}
}
</pre>
## Method Scope
Up to this point, "[scope][]" has been used to talk exclusively about
[variables][]. In a procedural language like C, or a functional one like Scheme,
that's the only kind of scope there is. But object-oriented languages like Wren
introduce another kind of scope: *object scope*. It contains the methods that
are available on an object. When you write:
[scope]: variables.html#scope
[variables]: variables.html
<pre class="snippet">
unicorn.isFancy
</pre>
You're saying "look up the method `isFancy` in the scope of the object
`unicorn`&rdquo;. In this case, the fact that you want to look up a *method*
`isFancy` and not a *variable* `isFancy` is explicit. That's what `.` does and
the object to the left of the period is the object you want to look up the
method on.
### `this`
Things get more interesting when you're inside the body of a method. When the
method is called on some object and the body is being executed, you often need
to access that object itself. You can do that using `this`.
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
name { "Francis" }
printName() {
System.print(this.name) //> Francis
}
}
</pre>
The `this` keyword works sort of like a variable, but has special behavior. It
always refers to the instance whose method is currently being executed. This
lets you invoke methods on "yourself".
It's an error to refer to `this` outside of a method. However, it's perfectly
fine to use it inside a [function][] declared *inside* a method. When you do,
`this` still refers to the instance whose *method* is being called:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
name { "Francis" }
printNameThrice() {
(1..3).each {
// Use "this" inside the function passed to each().
System.print(this.name) //> Francis
} //> Francis
} //> Francis
}
</pre>
[function]: functions.html
This is unlike Lua and JavaScript which can "forget" `this` when you create a
callback inside a method. Wren does what you want here and retains the
reference to the original object.
(In technical terms, a function's closure includes `this`. Wren can do this
because it makes a distinction between methods and functions.)
### Implicit `this`
Using `this.` every time you want to call a method on yourself works, but it's
tedious and verbose, which is why some languages don't require it. You can do a
"self send" by calling a method (or getter or setter) without any explicit
receiver:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
name { "Francis" }
printName() {
System.print(name) //> Francis
}
}
</pre>
Code like this gets tricky when there is also a variable outside of the class
with the same name. Consider:
<pre class="snippet">
var name = "variable"
class Unicorn {
name { "Francis" }
printName() {
System.print(name) // ???
}
}
</pre>
Should `printName()` print "variable" or "Francis"? A method body has a foot in
each of two worlds. It is surrounded by the lexical scope where it's defined in
the program, but it also has the object scope of the methods on `this`.
Which scope wins? Every language has to decide how to handle this and there
is a surprising plethora of approaches. Wren's approach to resolving a name
inside a method works like this:
1. If there is a local variable inside the method with that name, that wins.
2. Else, if the name starts with a lowercase letter, treat it like a method on
`this`.
3. Otherwise, look for a variable with that name in the surrounding scope.
So, in the above example, we hit case #2 and it prints "Francis". Distinguishing
self sends from outer variables based on the *case* of the first letter in the
name probably seems crazy but it works surprisingly well. Method names are
lowercase in Wren. Class names are capitalized.
Most of the time, when you're in a method and want to access a name from outside
of the class, it's usually the name of some other class. This rule makes that
work.
Here's an example that shows all three cases:
<pre class="snippet">
var shadowed = "surrounding"
var lowercase = "surrounding"
var Capitalized = "surrounding"
class Scope {
shadowed { "object" }
lowercase { "object" }
Capitalized { "object" }
test() {
var shadowed = "local"
System.print(shadowed) //> local
System.print(lowercase) //> object
System.print(Capitalized) //> surrounding
}
}
</pre>
It's a bit of a strange rule, but Ruby works more or less the same way.
## Constructors
We've seen how to define kinds of objects and how to declare methods on them.
Our unicorns can prance around, but we don't actually *have* any unicorns to do
it. To create *instances* of a class, we need a *constructor*. You define one
like so:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
construct new(name, color) {
System.print("My name is " + name + " and I am " + color + ".")
}
}
</pre>
The `construct` keyword says we're defining a constructor, and `new` is its
name. In Wren, all constructors have names. The word "new" isn't special to
Wren, it's just a common constructor name.
To make a unicorn now, we call the constructor method on the class itself:
<pre class="snippet">
var fred = Unicorn.new("Fred", "palomino")
</pre>
Giving constructors names is handy because it means you can have more than one,
and each can clarify how it creates the instance:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
construct brown(name) {
System.print("My name is " + name + " and I am brown.")
}
}
var dave = Unicorn.brown("Dave")
</pre>
Note that we have to declare a constructor because, unlike some other
languages, Wren doesn't give you a default one. This is useful because some
classes aren't designed to be constructed. If you have an abstract base class
that just contains methods to be inherited by other classes, it doesn't need
and won't have a constructor.
Like other methods, constructors can obviously have arguments, and can be
overloaded by [arity](#signature). A constructor *must* be a named method with
a (possibly empty) argument list. Operators, getters, and setters cannot be
constructors.
A constructor is actually a pair of methods. You get a method on the class:
<pre class="snippet">
Unicorn.brown("Dave")
</pre>
That creates the new instance, then it invokes the *initializer* on that
instance. This is where the constructor body you defined gets run.
This distinction is important because it means inside the body of the
constructor, you can access `this`, assign [fields](#fields), call superclass
constructors, etc.
## Fields
All state stored in instances is stored in *fields*. Each field has a name
that starts with an underscore.
<pre class="snippet">
class Rectangle {
area { _width * _height }
// Other stuff...
}
</pre>
Here, `_width` and `_height` in the `area` [getter](classes.html#methods) refer
to fields on the rectangle instance. You can think of them like `this.width`
and `this.height` in other languages.
When a field name appears, Wren looks for the nearest enclosing class and looks
up the field on the instance of that class. Field names cannot be used outside
of an instance method. They *can* be used inside a [function](functions.html)
in a method. Wren will look outside any nested functions until it finds an
enclosing method.
Unlike [variables](variables.html), fields are implicitly declared by simply
assigning to them. If you access a field before it has been initialized, its
value is `null`.
### Encapsulation
All fields are *private* in Wren&mdash;an object's fields can only be directly
accessed from within methods defined on the object's class.
In short, if you want to make a property of an object visible,
**you need to define a getter to expose it**:
<pre class="snippet">
class Rectangle {
width { _width }
height { _height }
// ...
}
</pre>
To allow outside code to modify the field,
**you need to provide setters to provide access**:
<pre class="snippet">
class Rectangle {
width=(value) { _width = value }
height=(value) { _height = value }
}
</pre>
This might be different from what you're used to, so here are two important facts:
- You can't access fields from a base class.
- You can't access fields on another instance of your own class.
Here is an example in code:
<pre class="snippet">
class Shape {
construct new() {
_shape = "none"
}
}
class Rectangle is Shape {
construct new() {
//This will print null!
//_shape from the parent class is private,
//we are reading `_shape` from `this`,
//which has not been set, so returns null.
System.print("I am a %(_shape)")
//a local variable, all variables are private
_width = 10
var other = Rectangle.new()
//other._width is not accessible from here,
//even though we are also a rectangle. The field
//is private, and other._width is invalid syntax!
}
}
...
</pre>
One thing we've learned in the past forty years of software engineering is that
encapsulating state tends to make code easier to maintain, so Wren defaults to
keeping your object's state pretty tightly bundled up. Don't feel that you have
to or even should define getters or setters for most of your object's fields.
## Metaclasses and static members
**TODO**
### Static fields
A name that starts with *two* underscores is a *static* field. They work
similar to [fields](#fields) except the data is stored on the class itself, and
not the instance. They can be used in *both* instance and static methods.
<pre class="snippet">
class Foo {
construct new() {}
static setFromStatic(a) { __a = a }
setFromInstance(a) { __a = a }
static printFromStatic() {
System.print(__a)
}
printFromInstance() {
System.print(__a)
}
}
</pre>
Just like instance fields, static fields are initially `null`:
<pre class="snippet">
Foo.printFromStatic() //> null
</pre>
They can be used from static methods:
<pre class="snippet">
Foo.setFromStatic("first")
Foo.printFromStatic() //> first
</pre>
And also instance methods. When you do so, there is still only one static field
shared among all instances of the class:
<pre class="snippet">
var foo1 = Foo.new()
var foo2 = Foo.new()
foo1.setFromInstance("second")
foo2.printFromInstance() //> second
</pre>
## Inheritance
A class can inherit from a "parent" or *superclass*. When you invoke a method
on an object of some class, if it can't be found, it walks up the chain of
superclasses looking for it there.
By default, any new class inherits from Object, which is the superclass from
which all other classes ultimately descend. You can specify a different parent
class using `is` when you declare the class:
<pre class="snippet">
class Pegasus is Unicorn {}
</pre>
This declares a new class Pegasus that inherits from Unicorn.
Note that you should not create classes that inherit from the built-in types
(Bool, Num, String, Range, List). The built-in types expect their internal bit
representation to be very specific and get horribly confused when you invoke one
of the inherited built-in methods on the derived type.
The metaclass hierarchy does *not* parallel the regular class hierarchy. So, if
Pegasus inherits from Unicorn, Pegasus's metaclass does not inherit from
Unicorn's metaclass. In more prosaic terms, this means that static methods are
not inherited.
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
// Unicorns cannot fly. :(
static canFly { false }
}
class Pegasus is Unicorn {}
Pegasus.canFly //! Static methods are not inherited.
</pre>
This also means constructors are not inherited:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
construct new(name) {
System.print("My name is " + name + ".")
}
}
class Pegasus is Unicorn {}
Pegasus.new("Fred") //! Pegasus does not define new().
</pre>
Each class gets to control how it may be constructed independently of its base
classes. However, constructor *initializers* are inherited since those are
instance methods on the new object.
This means you can do `super` calls inside a constructor:
<pre class="snippet">
class Unicorn {
construct new(name) {
System.print("My name is " + name + ".")
}
}
class Pegasus is Unicorn {
construct new(name) {
super(name)
}
}
Pegasus.new("Fred") //> My name is Fred
</pre>
## Super
**TODO: Integrate better into page. Should explain this before mentioning
super above.**
Sometimes you want to invoke a method on yourself, but using methods defined in
one of your [superclasses](classes.html#inheritance). You typically do this in
an overridden method when you want to access the original method being
overridden.
To do that, you can use the special `super` keyword as the receiver in a method
call:
<pre class="snippet">
class Base {
method() {
System.print("base method")
}
}
class Derived is Base {
method() {
super.method() //> base method
}
}
</pre>
You can also use `super` without a method name inside a constructor to invoke a
base class constructor:
<pre class="snippet">
class Base {
construct new(arg) {
System.print("base got " + arg)
}
}
class Derived is Base {
construct new() {
super("value") //> base got value
}
}
</pre>
<br><hr>
<a class="right" href="concurrency.html">Concurrency &rarr;</a>
<a href="functions.html">&larr; Functions</a>

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@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
^title Wren CLI
---
## What is it?
**The Wren Command-Line Interface** is a tool you can run which gives you a way to run Wren code, and
also includes modules for talking to the operating system&mdash;file IO,
networking, stuff like that. It depends on [libuv][] for that
functionality.
Wren as a language is intentionally designed to be minimal.
That includes the built in language features, the standard library and the VM itself.
In order to access files, networks and other IO, you'd need to make a tool _using_ the language VM.
That's what the CLI project is! It is not bundled as part of the wren project,
instead it is its own project as a standalone tool you can run.
It exposes its own standard library and modules that may be of interest
if looking for a general purpose single binary scriptable tool.
Wren CLI is a work in progress, and contributions are welcome to make it more useful over time.
## Why does it exist?
- It's fun to make things.
- It's always a good idea to test the language you're making!
- Interest was expressed in a scriptable tool using the Wren language.
- It's helpful for others to learn from, since it is a real world usage example showing several concepts.
[libuv]: http://libuv.org/

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@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
^title CLI Modules
The Wren CLI executable extends the built in language modules with its own,
which offer access to IO and other facilities for scripting.
The CLI modules are deeply tied to [libuv][], each other, and other internals
of the command-line app, so can't easily be separated out and pulled into host
applications that want to embed Wren. Scripts written for the CLI then,
are specific to the CLI unless another host implements the same API.
[libuv]: http://libuv.org
* [io](io)
* [os](os)
* [scheduler](scheduler)
* [timer](timer)

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@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
^title Directory Class
A directory on the file system.
## Static Methods
### Directory.**exists**(path)
Whether a directory exists at `path`. This returns `false` for files or other
special file system entities.
### Directory.**list**(path)
Lists the contents of the directory at `path`. Returns a sorted list of path
strings for all of the contents of the directory.

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@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
^title FileFlags Class
Contains constants for the various file flags used to open or create a file.
These correspond directly to the flags that can be passed to the POSIX
[`open()`][open] syscall.
[open]: http://linux.die.net/man/2/open
They are integers and can be bitwise or'ed together to produce a composite
flag.
## Static Methods
### FileFlags.**readOnly**
The file can be read from but not written. Equivalent to `O_RDONLY`.
### FileFlags.**writeOnly**
The file can be written but not read from. Equivalent to `O_WRONLY`.
### FileFlags.**readWrite**
The file can be both read from and written to. Equivalent to `O_RDWR`.
### FileFlags.**sync**
Writes will block until the data has been physically written to the underling
hardware. This does *not* affect whether or the file API is synchronous. File
operations are always asynchronous in Wren and may allow other scheduled fibers
to run.
This is a lower-level flag that ensures that when a write completes, it has
been flushed all the way to disc.
### FileFlags.**create**
Creates a new file if a file at the given path does not already exist.
### FileFlags.**truncate**
If the file already exists and can be written to, its previous contents are
discarded.
### FileFlags.**exclusive**
Ensures that a new file must be created. If a file already exists at the given
path, this flag will cause the operation to fail.

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@ -1,138 +0,0 @@
^title File Class
Lets you work with files on the file system. An instance of this class
represents an open file with a file descriptor.
When you are done with a file object, it's a good idea to explicitly close it.
If you don't, the GC will close it when the file is no longer used and gets
finalized, but that may take a while. In the meantime, leaving it open wastes
a file descriptor.
## Static Methods
### File.**create**(path, fn)
Opens the file at `path` for writing and passes it to `fn`. If there is already
a file at that path, it is truncated. After the function returns, the file is
automatically closed.
<pre class="snippet">
File.create("numbers.txt") {|file|
file.writeBytes("one two three")
}
</pre>
### File.**delete**(path)
Deletes the file at `path`.
### File.**exists**(path)
Whether a regular file exists at `path`. This returns `false` for directories
or other special file system entities.
### File.**open**(path, fn)
Opens the file at `path` for reading and passes it to `fn`. After the function
returns, the file is automatically closed.
<pre class="snippet">
File.open("words.txt") {|file|
file.readBytes(5)
}
</pre>
### File.**read**(path)
Reads the entire contents of the file at `path` and returns it as a string.
<pre class="snippet">
File.read("words.txt")
</pre>
No encoding or decoding is done. If the file is UTF-8, then the resulting
string will be a UTF-8 string. Otherwise, it will be a string of bytes in
whatever encoding the file uses.
### File.**realPath**(path)
Resolves `path`, traversing symlinks and removining any unneeded `./` and `../`
components. Returns the canonical absolute path to the file.
<pre class="snippet">
var path = "/some/./symlink/a/../b/file.txt"
System.print(File.realPath(path)) //> /real/path/a/file.txt
</pre>
### File.**size**(path)
Returns the size in bytes of the contents of the file at `path`.
## Constructors
### File.**create**(path)
Opens the file at `path` for writing. If there is already a file at that path,
it is truncated.
<pre class="snippet">
var file = File.create("colors.txt")
file.writeBytes("chartreuse lime teal")
file.close()
</pre>
### File.**open**(path)
Opens the file at `path` for reading. You are responsible for closing it when
done with it.
## Methods
### **descriptor**
The numeric file descriptor used to access the file.
### **isOpen**
Whether the file is still open or has been closed.
### **size**
The size of the contents of the file in bytes.
### **close**()
Closes the file. After calling this, you can't read or write from it.
### **readBytes**(count)
Reads up to `count` bytes starting from the beginning of the file.
<pre class="snippet">
// Assume this file contains "I am a file!".
File.open("example.txt") {|file|
System.print(file.readBytes(6)) //> I am a
}
</pre>
### **readBytes**(count, offset)
Reads up to `count` bytes starting at `offset` bytes from the beginning of
the file.
<pre class="snippet">
// Assume this file contains "I am a file!".
File.open("example.txt") {|file|
System.print(file.readBytes(6, 2)) //> am a f
}
</pre>
### **writeBytes**(bytes)
Writes the raw bytes of the string `bytes` to the end of the file.
### **writeBytes**(bytes, offset)
Writes the raw bytes of the string `bytes` to the to the file, starting at
`offset`. Any overlapping bytes already in the file at the offset are
overwritten.

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@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
^title Module "io"
Provides access to operating system streams and the file system.
* [Directory](directory.html)
* [File](file.html)
* [Stat](stat.html)
* [Stdin](stdin.html)
* [Stdout](stdout.html)

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@ -1,63 +0,0 @@
^title Stat Class
A data structure describing the low-level details of a file system entry.
## Static Methods
### Stat.**path**(path)
"Stats" the file or directory at `path`.
## Methods
### **blockCount**
The number of system blocks allocated on disk for the file.
### **blockSize**
The preferred block size in bytes for interacting with the file. It may vary
from file to file.
### **device**
The ID of the device containing the entry.
### **group**
Numeric group ID of the file's owner.
### **inode**
The [inode][] number of the entry.
[inode]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inode
### **isDirectory**
Whether the file system entity is a directory.
### **isFile**
Whether the file system entity is a regular file, as opposed to a directory or
other special entity.
### **linkCount**
The number of hard links to the entry.
### **mode**
A bit field describing the entry's type and protection flags.
### **size**
The size of the entry in bytes.
### **specialDevice**
The device ID for the entry, if it's a special file.
### **user**
Numeric user ID of the file's owner.

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@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
^title Stdin Class
The standard input stream.
## Static Methods
### **isRaw**
Returns `true` if stdin is in raw mode. When in raw mode, input is not echoed
or buffered, and all characters, even non-printing and control characters go
into stdin.
Defaults to `false`.
### **isRaw**=(value)
Sets raw mode on or off.
### **isTerminal**
Returns `true` if Stdin is connected to a "TTY". This is true when the user is
running Wren in an interactive terminal, and false if it its input is coming
from a pipe.
### **readByte**()
Reads one byte of input from stdin. Blocks the current fiber until a byte has
been received.
Returns the byte value as a number or `null` if stdin is closed.
Note that output is not automatically flushed when calling this. If you want to
display a prompt before reading input, you'll want to call `Stdout.flush()`
after printing the prompt.
### **readLine**()
Reads one line of input from stdin. Blocks the current fiber until a full line
of input has been received.
Returns the string of input or `null` if stdin is closed.
Note that output is not automatically flushed when calling this. If you want to
display a prompt before reading input, you'll want to call `Stdout.flush()`
after printing the prompt.

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@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
^title Stdout Class
The standard output stream.
## Static Methods
### **flush()**
Flushes all buffered data to the stream. Ensures any data written to stdout
that is in the buffer gets written to the file or terminal that stdout is
connected to.

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@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
^title Module "os"
The os module exposes classes for accessing capabilities provided by the
underlying operating system.
* [Platform](platform.html)
* [Process](process.html)

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@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
^title Platform Class
The Platform class exposes basic information about the operating system Wren is
running on top of.
## Static Methods
### **name**
The name of the platform. This roughly describes the operating system, and is
usually one of:
* "iOS"
* "Linux"
* "OS X"
* "POSIX"
* "Unix"
* "Windows"
If Wren was compiled for an unknown operating system, returns "Unknown".
### **isPosix**
Returns `true` if the host operating system is known to support the POSIX
standard. This is true for Linux and other Unices, as well as the various Apple
operating systems.
### **isWindows**
Returns `true` if the host operating system is some flavor of Windows.

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@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
^title Process Class
The Process class lets you work with operating system processes, including the
currently running one.
## Static Methods
### **allArguments**
The list of command-line arguments that were passed when the Wren process was
spawned. This includes the Wren executable itself, the path to the file being
run (if any), and any other options passed to Wren itself.
If you run:
$ wren file.wren arg
This returns:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(Process.allArguments) //> ["wren", "file.wren", "arg"]
</pre>
### **arguments**
The list of command-line arguments that were passed to your program when the
Wren process was spawned. This does not include arguments handled by Wren
itself.
If you run:
$ wren file.wren arg
This returns:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(Process.arguments) //> ["arg"]
</pre>

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@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
^title Module "scheduler"
**TODO**
* [Scheduler](scheduler.html)

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@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
^title Scheduler Class
**TODO**
## Methods
**TODO**

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@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
^title Module "timer"
**TODO**
* [Timer](timer.html)

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^title Timer Class
**TODO**
## Methods
**TODO**

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@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
^title Wren CLI Usage
---
You can [download a build for your OS from the releases page](https://github.com/wren-lang/wren-cli/releases).
### Interactive mode
If you just run `wren_cli` without any arguments, it starts the interpreter in
interactive mode, where you can type in a line of code, and it immediately executes
it. You can exit the interpreter using good old Ctrl-C or Ctrl-D.
Here's something to try:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print("Hello, world!")
</pre>
Or a little more exciting:
<pre class="snippet">
for (i in 1..10) System.print("Counting up %(i)")
</pre>
### Running scripts
The standalone interpreter can also load scripts from files and run them. Just
pass the name of the script to `wren_cli`. Create a file named "my_script.wren" in
your favorite text editor and paste this into it:
<pre class="snippet">
for (yPixel in 0...24) {
var y = yPixel / 12 - 1
for (xPixel in 0...80) {
var x = xPixel / 30 - 2
var x0 = x
var y0 = y
var iter = 0
while (iter < 11 && x0 * x0 + y0 * y0 <= 4) {
var x1 = (x0 * x0) - (y0 * y0) + x
var y1 = 2 * x0 * y0 + y
x0 = x1
y0 = y1
iter = iter + 1
}
System.write(" .-:;+=xX$& "[iter])
}
System.print("")
}
</pre>
Now run:
$ ./wren_cli my_script.wren

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@ -1,194 +0,0 @@
^title Concurrency
Lightweight concurrency is a key feature of Wren and it is expressed using
*fibers*. They control how all code is executed, and take the place of
exceptions in [error handling](error-handling.html).
Fibers are a bit like threads except they are *cooperatively* scheduled. That
means Wren doesn't pause one fiber and switch to another until you tell it to.
You don't have to worry about context switches at random times and all of the
headaches those cause.
Wren takes care of all of the fibers in the VM, so they don't use OS thread
resources, or require heavyweight context switches. Each just needs a bit of
memory for its stack. A fiber will get garbage collected like any other object
when not referenced any more, so you can create them freely.
They are lightweight enough that you can, for example, have a separate fiber for
each entity in a game. Wren can handle thousands of them without breaking a
sweat. For example, when you run Wren in interactive mode, it creates a new
fiber for every line of code you type in.
## Creating fibers
All Wren code runs within the context of a fiber. When you first start a Wren
script, a main fiber is created for you automatically. You can spawn new fibers
using the Fiber class's constructor:
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
System.print("This runs in a separate fiber.")
}
</pre>
It takes a [function][] containing the code the fiber should execute. The
function can take zero or one parameter, but no more than that. Creating the
fiber does not immediately run it. It just wraps the function and sits there,
waiting to be activated.
[function]: functions.html
## Invoking fibers
Once you've created a fiber, you run it by calling its `call()` method:
<pre class="snippet">
fiber.call()
</pre>
This suspends the current fiber and executes the called one until it reaches the
end of its body or until it passes control to yet another fiber. If it reaches
the end of its body, it is considered *done*:
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
System.print("It's alive!")
}
System.print(fiber.isDone) //> false
fiber.call() //> It's alive!
System.print(fiber.isDone) //> true
</pre>
When a called fiber finishes, it automatically passes control *back* to the
fiber that called it. It's a runtime error to try to call a fiber that is
already done.
## Yielding
The main difference between fibers and functions is that a fiber can be
suspended in the middle of its operation and then resumed later. Calling
another fiber is one way to suspend a fiber, but that's more or less the same
as one function calling another.
Things get interesting when a fiber *yields*. A yielded fiber passes control
*back* to the fiber that ran it, but *remembers where it is*. The next time the
fiber is called, it picks up right where it left off and keeps going.
You make a fiber yield by calling the static `yield()` method on Fiber:
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
System.print("Before yield")
Fiber.yield()
System.print("Resumed")
}
System.print("Before call") //> Before call
fiber.call() //> Before yield
System.print("Calling again") //> Calling again
fiber.call() //> Resumed
System.print("All done") //> All done
</pre>
Note that even though this program uses *concurrency*, it is still
*deterministic*. You can reason precisely about what it's doing and aren't at
the mercy of a thread scheduler playing Russian roulette with your code.
## Passing values
Calling and yielding fibers is used for passing control, but it can also pass
*data*. When you call a fiber, you can optionally pass a value to it.
If you create a fiber using a function that takes a parameter, you can pass a
value to it through `call()`:
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {|param|
System.print(param)
}
fiber.call("Here you go") //> Here you go
</pre>
If the fiber has yielded and is waiting to resume, the value you pass to call
becomes the return value of the `yield()` call when it resumes:
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {|param|
System.print(param)
var result = Fiber.yield()
System.print(result)
}
fiber.call("First") //> First
fiber.call("Second") //> Second
</pre>
Fibers can also pass values *back* when they yield. If you pass an argument to
`yield()`, that will become the return value of the `call()` that was used to
invoke the fiber:
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
Fiber.yield("Reply")
}
System.print(fiber.call()) //> Reply
</pre>
This is sort of like how a function call may return a value, except that a fiber
may return a whole sequence of values, one every time it yields.
## Full coroutines
What we've seen so far is very similar to what you can do with languages like
Python and C# that have *generators*. Those let you define a function call that
you can suspend and resume. When using the function, it appears like a sequence
you can iterate over.
Wren's fibers can do that, but they can do much more. Like Lua, they are full
*coroutines*&mdash;they can suspend from anywhere in the callstack. The function
you use to create a fiber can call a method that calls another method that calls
some third method which finally calls yield. When that happens, *all* of those
method calls &mdash; the entire callstack &mdash; gets suspended. For example:
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
(1..10).each {|i|
Fiber.yield(i)
}
}
</pre>
Here, we're calling `yield()` from within a [function](functions.html) being
passed to the `each()` method. This works fine in Wren because that inner
`yield()` call will suspend the call to `each()` and the function passed to it
as a callback.
## Transferring control
Fibers have one more trick up their sleeves. When you execute a fiber using
`call()`, the fiber tracks which fiber it will return to when it yields. This
lets you build up a chain of fiber calls that will eventually unwind back to
the main fiber when all of the called ones yield or finish.
This is usually what you want. But if you're doing something low level, like
writing your own scheduler to manage a pool of fibers, you may not want to treat
them explicitly like a stack.
For rare cases like that, fibers also have a `transfer()` method. This switches
execution to the transferred fiber and "forgets" the fiber that was transferred
*from*. The previous one is suspended, leaving it in whatever state it was in.
You can resume the previous fiber by explicitly transferring back to it, or even
calling it. If you don't, execution stops when the last transferred fiber
returns.
Where `call()` and `yield()` are analogous to calling and returning from
functions, `transfer()` works more like an unstructured goto. It lets you freely
switch control between a number of fibers, all of which act as peers to one
another.
<br><hr>
<a class="right" href="error-handling.html">Error Handling &rarr;</a>
<a href="classes.html">&larr; Classes</a>

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^title Contributing
Like the bird, Wren's ecosystem is small but full of life. Almost everything is
under active development and there's lots to do. We'd be delighted to have you
help.
The first thing to do is to join [the discord community][discord] (or [the mailing list][list]) and say,
"Hi". There are no strangers to Wren, just friends we haven't met yet.
## Growing the ecosystem
The simplest and often most helpful way to join the Wren party is to be a Wren
*user*. Create an application that embeds Wren. Write a library or a handy
utility in Wren. Add syntax highlighting support for Wren to your favorite text
editor. Share that stuff and it will help the next Wren user to come along.
If you do any of the above, let us know by adding it to [the wiki][wiki].
We like to keep track of:
[wiki]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/wiki
* [Applications][] that host Wren as a scripting language.
* [Modules][] written in Wren that others can use.
* [Language bindings][] that let you interact with Wren from other
languages.
* [Tools and utilities][] that make it easier to be a Wren programmer.
[applications]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/wiki/Applications
[modules]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/wiki/Modules
[language bindings]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/wiki/Language-Bindings
[tools and utilities]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/wiki/Tools
## Contributing to Wren
You're also more than welcome to contribute to Wren itself, both the core VM and
the command-line interpreter. The source is developed [on GitHub][github]. Our
hope is that the codebase, tests, and [documentation][docs] are easy to
understand and contribute to. If they aren't, that's a bug.
You can learn how to build wren on the [getting started page](getting-started.html#building-wren).
### Finding something to hack on
Between the [issue tracker][issue] and searching for `TODO` comments in the
code, it's pretty easy to find something that needs doing, though we don't
always do a good job of writing everything down.
If nothing there suits your fancy, new ideas are welcome as well! If you have an
idea for a significant change or addition, please file a [proposal][] to discuss
it before writing lots of code. Wren tries very *very* hard to be minimal which
means often having to say "no" to language additions, even really cool ones.
### Hacking on docs
The [documentation][] is one of the easiest&mdash;and most
important!&mdash;parts of Wren to contribute to. The source for the site is
written in [Markdown][] and lives under `doc/site`. A
simple Python 3 script, `util/generate_docs.py`, converts that to HTML and CSS.
[documentation]: /
[markdown]: http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/
$ python util/generate_docs.py
This generates the site in `build/docs/`. You can run any simple static web
server from there. Python includes one:
$ cd build/docs
$ python -m http.server
Running that script every time you change a line of Markdown can be slow,
so there is also a file watching version that will automatically regenerate the
docs when you edit a file:
$ python util/generate_docs.py --watch
### Hacking on the VM
The basic process is simple:
1. **Make sure you can build and run the tests locally.** It's good to ensure
you're starting from a happy place before you poke at the code. Running the
tests is as simple as [building the vm project](getting-started.html#building-wren),
which generates `bin/wren_test` and then running the following python 3 script:
$ python util/test.py
If there are no failures, you're good to go.
2. **[Fork the repo][fork] so you can change it locally.** Please make your
changes in separate [feature branches][] to make things a little easier on
me.
3. **Change the code.** Please follow the style of the surrounding code. That
basically means `camelCase` names, `{` on the next line, keep within 80
columns, and two spaces of indentation. If you see places where the existing
code is inconsistent, let us know.
4. **Write some tests for your new functionality.** They live under `test/`.
Take a look at some existing tests to get an idea of how to define
expectations.
5. **Make sure the tests all pass, both the old ones and your new ones.**
6. **Add your name and email to the [AUTHORS][] file if you haven't already.**
7. **Send a [pull request][].** Pat yourself on the back for contributing to a
fun open source project! I'll take it from here and hopefully we'll get it
landed smoothly.
## Getting help
If at any point you have questions, feel free to [file an issue][issue] or ask
on the [discord community][discord] (or the [mailing list][list]). If you're a Redditor, try the
[/r/wren_lang][subreddit] subreddit. You can also email me directly (`robert` at
`stuffwithstuff.com`) if you want something less public.
[mit]: http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
[github]: https://github.com/wren-lang/
[fork]: https://help.github.com/articles/fork-a-repo/
[docs]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/tree/main/doc/site
[issue]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/issues
[proposal]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/labels/proposal
[feature branches]: https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/comparing-workflows/centralized-workflow
[authors]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/tree/main/AUTHORS
[pull request]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/pulls
[list]: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/wren-lang
[subreddit]: https://www.reddit.com/r/wren_lang/
[discord]: https://discord.gg/Kx6PxSX

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@ -1,275 +0,0 @@
^title Control Flow
Control flow is used to determine which chunks of code are executed and how many
times. *Branching* statements and expressions decide whether or not to execute
some code and *looping* ones execute something more than once.
## Truth
All control flow is based on *deciding* whether or not to do something. This
decision depends on some expression's value. We take the entire universe of
possible objects and divide them into two buckets: some we consider "true" and
the rest are "false". If the expression results in a value in the true bucket,
we do one thing. Otherwise, we do something else.
Obviously, the boolean `true` is in the "true" bucket and `false` is in
"false", but what about values of other types? The choice is ultimately
arbitrary, and different languages have different rules. Wren's rules follow
Ruby:
* The boolean value `false` is false.
* The null value `null` is false.
* Everything else is true.
This means `0`, empty strings, and empty collections are all considered "true"
values.
## If statements
The simplest branching statement, `if` lets you conditionally skip a chunk of
code. It looks like this:
<pre class="snippet">
if (ready) System.print("go!")
</pre>
That evaluates the parenthesized expression after `if`. If it's true, then the
statement after the condition is evaluated. Otherwise it is skipped. Instead of
a statement, you can have a [block](syntax.html#blocks):
<pre class="snippet">
if (ready) {
System.print("getSet")
System.print("go!")
}
</pre>
You may also provide an `else` branch. It will be executed if the condition is
false:
<pre class="snippet">
if (ready) System.print("go!") else System.print("not ready!")
</pre>
And, of course, it can take a block too:
<pre class="snippet">
if (ready) {
System.print("go!")
} else {
System.print("not ready!")
}
</pre>
## Logical operators
Unlike most other [operators][] in Wren which are just a special syntax for
[method calls][], the `&&` and `||` operators are special. This is because they
only conditionally evaluate right operand&mdash;they short-circuit.
[operators]: method-calls.html#operators
[method calls]: method-calls.html
A `&&` ("logical and") expression evaluates the left-hand argument. If it's
false, it returns that value. Otherwise it evaluates and returns the right-hand
argument.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(false && 1) //> false
System.print(1 && 2) //> 2
</pre>
A `||` ("logical or") expression is reversed. If the left-hand argument is
*true*, it's returned, otherwise the right-hand argument is evaluated and
returned:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(false || 1) //> 1
System.print(1 || 2) //> 1
</pre>
## The conditional operator `?:`
Also known as the "ternary" operator since it takes three arguments, Wren has
the little "if statement in the form of an expression" you know and love from C
and its brethren.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(1 != 2 ? "math is sane" : "math is not sane!")
</pre>
It takes a condition expression, followed by `?`, followed by a then
expression, a `:`, then an else expression. Just like `if`, it evaluates the
condition. If true, it evaluates and returns the then expression. Otherwise
it does the else expression.
## While statements
It's hard to write a useful program without executing some chunk of code
repeatedly. To do that, you use looping statements. There are two in Wren, and
they should be familiar if you've used other imperative languages.
The simplest, a `while` statement executes a chunk of code as long as a
condition continues to hold. For example:
<pre class="snippet">
// Hailstone sequence.
var n = 27
while (n != 1) {
if (n % 2 == 0) {
n = n / 2
} else {
n = 3 * n + 1
}
}
</pre>
This evaluates the expression `n != 1`. If it is true, then it executes the
following body. After that, it loops back to the top, and evaluates the
condition again. It keeps doing this as long as the condition evaluates to
something true.
The condition for a while loop can be any expression, and must be surrounded by
parentheses. The body of the loop is usually a curly block but can also be a
single statement:
<pre class="snippet">
var n = 27
while (n != 1) if (n % 2 == 0) n = n / 2 else n = 3 * n + 1
</pre>
## For statements
While statements are useful when you want to loop indefinitely or according to
some complex condition. But in most cases, you're looping through
a [list](lists.html), a series of numbers, or some other "sequence" object.
That's what `for` is, uh, for. It looks like this:
<pre class="snippet">
for (beatle in ["george", "john", "paul", "ringo"]) {
System.print(beatle)
}
</pre>
A `for` loop has three components:
1. A *variable name* to bind. In the example, that's `beatle`. Wren will create
a new variable with that name whose scope is the body of the loop.
2. A *sequence expression*. This determines what you're looping over. It gets
evaluated *once* before the body of the loop. In this case, it's a list
literal, but it can be any expression.
3. A *body*. This is a curly block or a single statement. It gets executed once
for each iteration of the loop.
## Break statements
Sometimes, right in the middle of a loop body, you decide you want to bail out
and stop. To do that, you can use a `break` statement. It's just the `break`
keyword all by itself. That immediately exits out of the nearest enclosing
`while` or `for` loop.
<pre class="snippet">
for (i in [1, 2, 3, 4]) {
System.print(i) //> 1
if (i == 3) break //> 2
} //> 3
</pre>
## Continue statements
During the execution of a loop body, you might decide that you want to skip the
rest of this iteration and move on to the next one. You can use a `continue`
statement to do that. It's just the `continue` keyword all by itself. Execution
will immediately jump to the beginning of the next loop iteration (and check the
loop conditions).
<pre class="snippet">
for (i in [1, 2, 3, 4]) {
System.print(i) //> 1
if (i == 2) continue //> 3
} //> 4
</pre>
## Numeric ranges
Lists are one common use for `for` loops, but sometimes you want to walk over a
sequence of numbers, or loop a number of times. For that, you can create a
[range](values.html#ranges), like so:
<pre class="snippet">
for (i in 1..100) {
System.print(i)
}
</pre>
This loops over the numbers from 1 to 100, including 100 itself. If you want to
leave off the last value, use three dots instead of two:
<pre class="snippet">
for (i in 1...100) {
System.print(i)
}
</pre>
This looks like some special "range" syntax in the `for` loop, but it's actually
just a pair of operators. The `..` and `...` syntax are infix "range" operators.
Like [other operators][operators], they are special syntax for a regular method
call. The number type implements them and returns a [range object][] that knows
how to iterate over a series of numbers.
[range object]: values.html#ranges
## The iterator protocol
Lists and ranges cover the two most common kinds of loops, but you should also
be able to define your own sequences. To enable that, the semantics of `for`
are defined in terms of an "iterator protocol". The loop itself doesn't know
anything about lists or ranges, it just knows how to call two particular
methods on the object that resulted from evaluating the sequence expression.
When you write a loop like this:
<pre class="snippet">
for (i in 1..100) {
System.print(i)
}
</pre>
Wren sees it something like this:
<pre class="snippet">
var iter_ = null
var seq_ = 1..100
while (iter_ = seq_.iterate(iter_)) {
var i = seq_.iteratorValue(iter_)
System.print(i)
}
</pre>
First, Wren evaluates the sequence expression and stores it in a hidden
variable (written `seq_` in the example but in reality it doesn't have a name
you can use). It also creates a hidden "iterator" variable and initializes it
to `null`.
Each iteration, it calls `iterate()` on the sequence, passing in the current
iterator value. (In the first iteration, it passes in `null`.) The sequence's
job is to take that iterator and advance it to the next element in the
sequence. (Or, in the case where the iterator is `null`, to advance it to the
*first* element). It then returns either the new iterator, or `false` to
indicate that there are no more elements.
If `false` is returned, Wren exits out of the loop and we're done. If anything
else is returned, that means that we have advanced to a new valid element. To
get that, Wren then calls `iteratorValue()` on the sequence and passes in the
iterator value that it just got from calling `iterate()`. The sequence uses
that to look up and return the appropriate element.
The built-in [List](lists.html) and [Range](values.html#ranges) types implement
`iterate()` and `iteratorValue()` to walk over their respective sequences. You
can implement the same methods in your classes to make your own types iterable.
<br><hr>
<a class="right" href="variables.html">Variables &rarr;</a>
<a href="method-calls.html">&larr; Method Calls</a>

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^title Calling C from Wren
When we are ensconced within the world of Wren, the external C world is
"foreign" to us. There are two reasons we might want to bring some foreign
flavor into our VM:
* We want to execute code written in C.
* We want to store raw C data.
Since Wren is object-oriented, behavior lives in methods, so for the former we
have **foreign methods**. Likewise, data lives in objects, so for the latter, we
define **foreign classes**. This page is about the first, foreign methods. The
[next page][] covers foreign classes.
[next page]: /embedding/storing-c-data.html
A foreign method looks to Wren like a regular method. It is defined on a Wren
class, it has a name and signature, and calls to it are dynamically dispatched.
The only difference is that the *body* of the method is written in C.
A foreign method is declared in Wren like so:
<pre class="snippet">
class Math {
foreign static add(a, b)
}
</pre>
The `foreign` keyword tells Wren that the method `add()` is declared on `Math`,
but implemented in C. Both static and instance methods can be foreign.
## Binding Foreign Methods
When you call a foreign method, Wren needs to figure out which C function to
execute. This process is called *binding*. Binding is performed on-demand by the
VM. When a class that declares a foreign method is executed -- when the `class`
statement itself is evaluated -- the VM asks the host application for the C
function that should be used for the foreign method.
It does this through the `bindForeignMethodFn` callback you give it when you
first [configure the VM][config]. This callback isn't the foreign method itself.
It's the binding function your app uses to *look up* foreign methods.
[config]: configuring-the-vm.html
Its signature is:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenForeignMethodFn bindForeignMethodFn(
WrenVM* vm,
const char* module,
const char* className,
bool isStatic,
const char* signature);
</pre>
Every time a foreign method is first declared, the VM invokes this callback. It
passes in the module containing the class declaration, the name of the class
containing the method, the method's signature, and whether or not it's a static
method. In the above example, it would pass something like:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
bindForeignMethodFn(vm, "main", "Math", true, "add(_,_)");
</pre>
When you configure the VM, you give it a C callback that looks up the
appropriate function for the given foreign method and returns a pointer to it.
Something like:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenForeignMethodFn bindForeignMethod(
WrenVM* vm,
const char* module,
const char* className,
bool isStatic,
const char* signature)
{
if (strcmp(module, "main") == 0)
{
if (strcmp(className, "Math") == 0)
{
if (isStatic && strcmp(signature, "add(_,_)") == 0)
{
return mathAdd; // C function for Math.add(_,_).
}
// Other foreign methods on Math...
}
// Other classes in main...
}
// Other modules...
}
</pre>
This implementation is pretty tedious, but you get the idea. Feel free to do
something more clever here in your host application.
The important part is that it returns a pointer to a C function to use for that
foreign method. Wren does this binding step *once* when the class definition is
first executed. It then keeps the function pointer you return and associates it
with that method. This way, *calls* to the foreign method are fast.
## Implementing a Foreign Method
All C functions for foreign methods have the same signature:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void foreignMethod(WrenVM* vm);
</pre>
Arguments passed from Wren are not passed as C arguments, and the method's
return value is not a C return value. Instead -- you guessed it -- we go through
the [slot array][].
[slot array]: /embedding/slots-and-handles.html
When a foreign method is called from Wren, the VM sets up the slot array with
the receiver and arguments to the call. As in calling Wren from C, the receiver
object is in slot zero, and arguments are in consecutive slots after that.
You use the slot API to read those arguments, and then perform whatever work you
want to in C. If you want the foreign method to return a value, place it in slot
zero. Like so:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void mathAdd(WrenVM* vm)
{
double a = wrenGetSlotDouble(vm, 1);
double b = wrenGetSlotDouble(vm, 2);
wrenSetSlotDouble(vm, 0, a + b);
}
</pre>
While your foreign method is executing, the VM is completely suspended. No other
fibers run until your foreign method returns. You should *not* try to resume the
VM from within a foreign method by calling `wrenCall()` or `wrenInterpret()`.
The VM is not re-entrant.
This covers foreign behavior, but what about foreign *state*? For that, we need
a foreign *class*...
<a class="right" href="storing-c-data.html">Storing C Data &rarr;</a>
<a href="calling-wren-from-c.html">&larr; Calling Wren from C</a>

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^title Calling Wren from C
From C, we can tell Wren to do stuff by calling `wrenInterpret()`, but that's
not always the ideal way to drive the VM. First of all, it's slow. It has to
parse and compile the string of source code you give it. Wren has a pretty fast
compiler, but that's still a good bit of work.
It's also not an effective way to communicate. You can't pass arguments to
Wren&mdash;at least, not without doing something nasty like converting them to
literals in a string of source code&mdash;and you can't get a result value back.
`wrenInterpret()` is great for loading code into the VM, but it's not the best
way to execute code that's already been loaded. What we want to do is invoke
some already compiled chunk of code. Since Wren is an object-oriented language,
"chunk of code" means a [method][], not a [function][].
[method]: ../method-calls.html
[function]: ../functions.html
The C API for doing this is `wrenCall()`. In order to invoke a Wren method from
C, we need a few things:
* **The method to call.** Wren is dynamically typed, so this means we'll look it
up by name. Further, since Wren supports overloading by arity, we actually
need its entire [signature][].
[signature]: ../method-calls.html#signature
* **The receiver object to invoke the method on.** The receiver's class
determines which method is actually called.
* **The arguments to pass to the method.**
We'll tackle these one at a time.
### Getting a Method Handle
When you run a chunk of Wren code like this:
<pre class="snippet">
object.someMethod(1, 2, 3)
</pre>
At runtime, the VM has to look up the class of `object` and find a method there
whose signature is `someMethod(_,_,_)`. This sounds like it's doing some string
manipulation&mdash;at the very least hashing the signature&mdash;every time a
method is called. That's how many dynamic languages work.
But, as you can imagine, that's pretty slow. So, instead, Wren does as much of
that work at compile time as it can. When it's compiling the above code to
bytecode, it takes that method signature a converts it to a *method symbol*, a
number that uniquely identifes that method. That's the only part of the process
that requires treating a signature as a string.
At runtime, the VM just looks for the method *symbol* in the receiver's class's
method table. In fact, the way it's implemented today, the symbol is simply the
array index into the table. That's [why method calls are so fast][perf] in Wren.
[perf]: ../performance.html
It would be a shame if calling a method from C didn't have that same speed
benefit. To achieve that, we split the process of calling a method into two
steps. First, we create a handle that represents a "compiled" method signature:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenHandle* wrenMakeCallHandle(WrenVM* vm, const char* signature);
</pre>
That takes a method signature as a string and gives you back an opaque handle
that represents the compiled method symbol. Now you have a *reusable* handle
that can be used to very quickly call a certain method given a receiver and some
arguments.
This is just a regular WrenHandle, which means you can hold onto it as long as
you like. Typically, you'd call this once outside of your application's
performance critical loops and reuse it as long as you need. It is us up to you
to release it when you no longer need it by calling `wrenReleaseHandle()`.
## Setting Up a Receiver
OK, we have a method, but who are we calling it on? We need a receiver, and as
you can probably guess after reading the [last section][], we give that to Wren
by storing it in a slot. In particular, **the receiver for a method call goes in
slot zero.**
Any object you store in that slot can be used as a receiver. You could even call
`+` on a number by storing a number in there if you felt like it.
[last section]: slots-and-handles.html
Needing a receiver to call some Wren code from C might feel strange. C is
procedural, so it's natural to want to just invoke a bare *function* from Wren,
but Wren isn't procedural. Instead, if you want to define some executable
operation that isn't logically tied to a specific object, the natural way is to
define a static method on an appropriate class.
For example, say we're making a game engine. From C, we want to tell the game
engine to update all of the entities each frame. We'll keep track of the list of
entities within Wren, so from C, there's no obvious object to call `update(_)`
on. Instead, we'll just make it a static method:
<pre class="snippet">
class GameEngine {
static update(elapsedTime) {
// ...
}
}
</pre>
Often, when you call a Wren method from C, you'll be calling a static method.
But, even then, you need a receiver. Now, though, the receiver is the *class
itself*. Classes are first class objects in Wren, and when you define a named
class, you're really declaring a variable with the class's name and storing a
reference to the class object in it.
Assuming you declared that class at the top level, the C API [gives you a way to
look it up][variable]. We can get a handle to the above class like so:
[variable]: slots-and-handles.html#looking-up-variables
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
// Load the class into slot 0.
wrenEnsureSlots(vm, 1);
wrenGetVariable(vm, "main", "GameEngine", 0);
</pre>
We could do this every time we call `update()`, but, again, that's kind of slow
because we're looking up "GameEngine" by name each time. A faster solution is to
create a handle to the class once and use it each time:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
// Load the class into slot 0.
wrenEnsureSlots(vm, 1);
wrenGetVariable(vm, "main", "GameEngine", 0);
WrenHandle* gameEngineClass = wrenGetSlotHandle(vm, 0);
</pre>
Now, each time we want to call a method on GameEngine, we store that value back
in slot zero:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
wrenSetSlotHandle(vm, 0, gameEngineClass);
</pre>
Just like we hoisted `wrenMakeCallHandle()` out of our performance critical
loop, we can hoist the call to `wrenGetVariable()` out. Of course, if your code
isn't performance critical, you don't have to do this.
## Passing Arguments
We've got a receiver in slot zero now, next we need to pass in any other
arguments. In our GameEngine example, that's just the elapsed time. Method
arguments go in consecutive slots after the receiver. So the elapsed time goes
into slot one. You can use any of the slot functions to set this up. For the
example, it's just:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
wrenSetSlotDouble(vm, 1, elapsedTime);
</pre>
## Calling the Method
We have all of the data in place, so all that's left is to pull the trigger and
tell the VM to start running some code:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenInterpretResult wrenCall(WrenVM* vm, WrenHandle* method);
</pre>
It takes the method handle we created using `wrenMakeCallHandle()`. Now Wren
starts running code. It looks up the method on the receiver, executes it and
keeps running until either the method returns or a fiber [suspends][].
[suspends]: ../modules/core/fiber.html#fiber.suspend()
`wrenCall()` returns the same WrenInterpretResult enum as `wrenInterpret()` to
tell you if the method completed successfully or a runtime error occurred.
(`wrenCall()` never returns `WREN_ERROR_COMPILE` since it doesn't compile
anything.)
## Getting the Return Value
When `wrenCall()` returns, it leaves the slot array in place. In slot zero, you
can find the method's return value, which you can access using any of the slot
reading functions. If you don't need the return value, you can ignore it.
This is how you drive Wren from C, but how do you put control in Wren's hands?
For that, you'll need the next section...
<a class="right" href="calling-c-from-wren.html">Calling C From Wren &rarr;</a>
<a href="slots-and-handles.html">&larr; Slots and Handles</a>

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^title Configuring the VM
When you create a Wren VM, you tweak it by passing in a pointer to a
WrenConfiguration structure. Since Wren has no global state, you can configure
each VM differently if your application happens to run multiple.
The struct looks like:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
typedef struct
{
WrenReallocateFn reallocateFn;
WrenLoadModuleFn loadModuleFn;
WrenBindForeignMethodFn bindForeignMethodFn;
WrenBindForeignClassFn bindForeignClassFn;
WrenWriteFn writeFn;
WrenErrorFn errorFn;
size_t initialHeapSize;
size_t minHeapSize;
int heapGrowthPercent;
} WrenConfiguration;
</pre>
Most fields have useful defaults, which you can (and should) initialize by
calling:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
wrenInitConfiguration(&configuration);
</pre>
Calling this ensures that your VM doesn't get uninitialized configuration when
new fields are added to WrenConfiguration. Here is what each field does, roughly
categorized:
## Binding
The VM is isolated from the outside world. These callbacks let the VM request
access to imported code and foreign functionality.
### **`loadModuleFn`**
This is the callback Wren uses to load an imported module. The VM itself does
not know how to talk to the file system, so when an `import` statement is
executed, it relies on the host application to locate and read the source code
for a module.
The signature of this function is:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenLoadModuleResult loadModule(WrenVM* vm, const char* name)
</pre>
When a module is imported, Wren calls this and passes in the module's name. The
host should return the source code for that module in a `WrenLoadModuleResult` struct.
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenLoadModuleResult myLoadModule(WrenVM* vm, const char* name) {
WrenLoadModuleResult result = {0};
result.source = getSourceForModule(name);
return result;
}
</pre>
The module loader is only be called once for any given module name. Wren caches
the result internally so subsequent imports of the same module use the
previously loaded code.
If your host application isn't able to load a module with some name, it should
make sure the `source` value is `NULL` when returned. Wren will then report that as a runtime error.
If you don't use any `import` statements, you can leave the `loadModuleFn` field in
the configuration set to `NULL` (the default).
Additionally, the `WrenLoadModuleResult` allows us to add a callback for when Wren is
done with the `source`, so we can free the memory if needed.
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
static void loadModuleComplete(WrenVM* vm,
const char* module,
WrenLoadModuleResult result)
{
if(result.source) {
//for example, if we used malloc to allocate
our source string, we use free to release it.
free((void*)result.source);
}
}
WrenLoadModuleResult myLoadModule(WrenVM* vm, const char* name) {
WrenLoadModuleResult result = {0};
result.onComplete = loadModuleComplete;
result.source = getSourceForModule(name);
return result;
}
</pre>
### **`bindForeignMethodFn`**
The callback Wren uses to find a foreign method and bind it to a class. See
[this page][foreign method] for details. If your application defines no foreign
methods, you can leave this `NULL`.
[foreign method]: /embedding/calling-c-from-wren.html
### **`bindForeignClassFn`**
The callback Wren uses to find a foreign class and get its foreign methods. See
[this page][foreign class] for details. If your application defines no foreign
classes, you can leave this `NULL`.
[foreign class]: /embedding/storing-c-data.html
## Diagnostics
These let you wire up some minimal output so you can tell if your code is doing
what you expect.
### **`writeFn`**
This is the callback Wren uses to output text when `System.print()` or the other
related functions are called. This is the minimal connection the VM has with the
outside world and lets you do rudimentary "printf debugging". Its signature is:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void write(WrenVM* vm, const char* text)
</pre>
Wren does *not* have a default implementation for this. It's up to you to wire
it up to `printf()` or some other way to show the text. If you leave it `NULL`,
calls to `System.print()` and others silently do nothing.
### **`errorFn`**
Wren uses this callback to report compile time and runtime errors. Its signature
is:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void error(
WrenVM* vm,
WrenErrorType type,
const char* module,
int line,
const char* message)
</pre>
The `type` parameter is one of:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
typedef enum
{
// A syntax or resolution error detected at compile time.
WREN_ERROR_COMPILE,
// The error message for a runtime error.
WREN_ERROR_RUNTIME,
// One entry of a runtime error's stack trace.
WREN_ERROR_STACK_TRACE
} WrenErrorType;
</pre>
When a compile error occurs, `errorFn` is called once with type
`WREN_ERROR_COMPILE`, the name of the module and line where the error occurs,
and the error message.
Runtime errors include stack traces. To handle this, Wren first calls `errorFn`
with `WREN_ERROR_RUNTIME`, no module or line, and the runtime error's message.
After that, it calls `errorFn` again using type `WREN_ERROR_STACK_TRACE`, once
for each line in the stack trace. Each of those calls has the module and line
where the method or function is defined and `message` is the name of the method
or function.
If you leave this `NULL`, Wren does not report any errors.
## Memory Management
These fields control how the VM allocates and manages memory.
### **`reallocateFn`**
This lets you provide a custom memory allocation function. Its signature is:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void* reallocate(void* memory, size_t newSize, void* userData)
</pre>
Wren uses this one function to allocate, grow, shrink, and deallocate memory.
When called, `memory` is the existing pointer to the block of memory if an
allocation is being changed or freed. If Wren is requesting new memory, then
`memory` is `NULL`.
`newSize` is the number of bytes of memory being requested. If memory is being
freed, this is zero. Your callback should allocate the proper amount of memory
and return it.
If you don't provide a custom allocator, the VM uses a default one that relies
on `realloc` and `free`.
### **`initialHeapSize`**
This defines the total number of bytes of memory the VM will allocate before
triggering the first garbage collection. Setting this to a smaller number
reduces the amount of memory Wren will have allocated at one time, but causes it
to collect garbage more frequently.
If you set this to zero, Wren uses a default size of 10MB.
### **`minHeapSize`**
After a garbage collection occurs, the threshold for the *next* collection is
determined based on the number of bytes remaining in use. This allows Wren to
grow or shrink its memory usage automatically based on how much memory is
actually needed.
This can be used to ensure that the heap does not get *too* small, which can
in turn lead to a large number of collections afterwards as the heap grows
back to a usable size.
If zero, this defaults to 1MB.
### **`heapGrowthPercent`**
Wren tunes the rate of garbage collection based on how much memory is still in
use after a collection. This number controls that. It determines the amount of
additional memory Wren will use after a collection, as a percentage of the
current heap size.
For example, say that this is 50. After a garbage collection, there are 400
bytes of memory still in use. That means the next collection will be triggered
after a total of 600 bytes are allocated (including the 400 already in use.)
Setting this to a smaller number wastes less memory, but triggers more
frequent garbage collections.
If set to zero, the VM uses a default of 50.
<a href="storing-c-data.html">&larr; Storing C Data</a>

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^title Embedding
Wren is designed to be a scripting language that lives inside a host
application, so the embedding API is as important as any of its language
features. Designing this API well requires satisfying several constraints:
1. **Wren is dynamically typed, but C is not.** A variable can hold a value of
any type in Wren, but that's definitely not the case in C unless you define
some sort of variant type, which ultimately just kicks the problem down the
road. Eventually, we have to move data across the boundary between statically and dynamically typed code.
2. **Wren uses garbage collection, but C manages memory manually.** GC adds a
few constraints on the API. The VM must be able to find every Wren object
that is still usable, even if that object is being referenced from native C
code. Otherwise, Wren could free an object that's still in use.
Also, we ideally don't want to let native C code see a bare pointer to a
chunk of memory managed by Wren. Many garbage collection strategies involve
[moving objects][] in memory. If we allow C code to point directly to an
object, that pointer will be left dangling when the object moves. Wren's GC
doesn't move objects today, but we would like to keep that option for the
future.
3. **The embedding API needs to be fast.** Users may add layers of abstraction
on top of the API to make it more pleasant to work with, but the base API
defines the *maximum* performance you can get out of the system. It's the
bottom of the stack, so there's no way for a user to optimize around it if
it's too slow. There is no lower level alternative.
4. **We want the API to be pleasant to use.** This is the last constraint
because it's the softest. Of course, we want a beautiful, usable API. But we
really *need* to handle the above, so we're willing to make things a bit more
of a chore to reach the first three goals.
[moving objects]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracing_garbage_collection#Copying_vs._mark-and-sweep_vs._mark-and-don.27t-sweep
Fortunately, we aren't the first people to tackle this. If you're familiar with
[Lua's C API][lua], you'll find Wren's similar.
[lua]: https://www.lua.org/pil/24.html
### Performance and safety
When code is safely snuggled within the confines of the VM, it's pretty safe.
Method calls are dynamically checked and generate runtime errors which can be
caught and handled. The stack grows if it gets close to overflowing. In general,
when you're within Wren code, it tries very hard to avoid crashing and burning.
This is why you use a high level language after all&mdash;it's safer and more
productive than C. C, meanwhile, really assumes you know what you're doing. You
can cast pointers in invalid ways, misinterpret bits, use memory after freeing
it, etc. What you get in return is blazing performance. Many of the reasons C is
fast are because it takes all the governors and guardrails off.
Wren's embedding API defines the border between those worlds, and takes on some
of the characteristics of C. When you call any of the embedding API functions,
it assumes you are calling them correctly. If you invoke a Wren method from C
that expects three arguments, it trusts that you gave it three arguments.
In debug builds, Wren has assertions to check as many things as it can, but in
release builds, Wren expects you to do the right thing. This means you need to
take care when using the embedding API, just like you do in all C code you
write. In return, you get an API that is quite fast.
## Including Wren
There are two (well, three) ways to get the Wren VM into your program:
1. **Link to the static or dynamic library.** When you [build Wren][build], it
generates both shared and static libraries in `lib` that you can link to.
2. **Include the source directly in your application.** If you want to include
the source directly in your program, you don't need to run any build steps.
Just add the source files in `src/vm` to your project. They should compile
cleanly as C99 or C++98 or anything later.
[build]: ../getting-started.html
In either case, you also want to add `src/include` to your include path so you
can find the [public header for Wren][wren.h]:
[wren.h]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/blob/main/src/include/wren.h
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
#include "wren.h"
</pre>
Wren depends only on the C standard library, so you don't usually need to link
to anything else. On some platforms (at least BSD and Linux) some of the math
functions in `math.h` are implemented in a separate library, [libm][], that you
have to explicitly link to.
[libm]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_mathematical_functions#libm
If your program is in C++ but you are linking to the Wren library compiled as C,
this header handles the differences in calling conventions between C and C++:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
#include "wren.hpp"
</pre>
## Creating a Wren VM
Once you've integrated the code into your executable, you need to create a
virtual machine. To do that, you create a `WrenConfiguration` object and
initialize it.
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenConfiguration config;
wrenInitConfiguration(&config);
</pre>
This gives you a basic configuration that has reasonable defaults for
everything. We'll [learn more][configuration] about what you can configure later,
but for now we'll just add the `writeFn`, so that we can print text.
First we need a function that will do something with the output
that Wren sends us from `System.print` (or `System.write`). *Note that it doesn't
include a newline in the output.*
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void writeFn(WrenVM* vm, const char* text) {
printf("%s", text);
}
</pre>
And then, we update the configuration to point to it.
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenConfiguration config;
wrenInitConfiguration(&config);
config.writeFn = &writeFn;
</pre>
[configuration]: configuring-the-vm.html
With this ready, you can create the VM:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenVM* vm = wrenNewVM(&config);
</pre>
This allocates memory for a new VM and initializes it. The Wren C implementation
has no global state, so every single bit of data Wren uses is bundled up inside
a WrenVM. You can have multiple Wren VMs running independently of each other
without any problems, even concurrently on different threads.
`wrenNewVM()` stores its own copy of the configuration, so after calling it, you
can discard the WrenConfiguration struct you filled in. Now you have a live
VM, waiting to run some code!
## Executing Wren code
You execute a string of Wren source code like so:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenInterpretResult result = wrenInterpret(
vm,
"my_module",
"System.print(\"I am running in a VM!\")");
</pre>
The string is a series of one or more statements separated by newlines. Wren
copies the string, so you can free it after calling this. When you call
`wrenInterpret()`, Wren first compiles your source to bytecode. If an error
occurs, it returns immediately with `WREN_RESULT_COMPILE_ERROR`.
Otherwise, Wren spins up a new [fiber][] and executes the code in that. Your
code can in turn spawn whatever other fibers it wants. It keeps running fibers
until they all complete or one [suspends].
[fiber]: ../concurrency.html
[suspends]: ../modules/core/fiber.html#fiber.suspend()
If a [runtime error][] occurs (and another fiber doesn't handle it), Wren aborts
fibers all the way back to the main one and returns `WREN_RESULT_RUNTIME_ERROR`.
Otherwise, when the last fiber successfully returns, it returns
`WREN_RESULT_SUCCESS`.
[runtime error]: ../error-handling.html
All code passed to `wrenInterpret()` runs in a special "main" module. That way,
top-level names defined in one call can be accessed in later ones. It's similar
to a REPL session.
## Shutting down a VM
Once the party is over and you're ready to end your relationship with a VM, you
need to free any memory it allocated. You do that like so:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
wrenFreeVM(vm);
</pre>
After calling that, you obviously cannot use the `WrenVM*` you passed to it
again. It's dead.
Note that Wren will yell at you if you still have any live [WrenHandle][handle]
objects when you call this. This makes sure you haven't lost track of any of
them (which leaks memory) and you don't try to use any of them after the VM has
been freed.
## A complete example
Below is a complete example of the above.
You can find this file in the [example](https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/blob/main/example/embedding/main.c) folder.
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
//For more details, visit https://wren.io/embedding/
#include <stdio.h>
#include "wren.h"
static void writeFn(WrenVM* vm, const char* text)
{
printf("%s", text);
}
void errorFn(WrenVM* vm, WrenErrorType errorType,
const char* module, const int line,
const char* msg)
{
switch (errorType)
{
case WREN_ERROR_COMPILE:
{
printf("[%s line %d] [Error] %s\n", module, line, msg);
} break;
case WREN_ERROR_STACK_TRACE:
{
printf("[%s line %d] in %s\n", module, line, msg);
} break;
case WREN_ERROR_RUNTIME:
{
printf("[Runtime Error] %s\n", msg);
} break;
}
}
int main()
{
WrenConfiguration config;
wrenInitConfiguration(&config);
config.writeFn = &writeFn;
config.errorFn = &errorFn;
WrenVM* vm = wrenNewVM(&config);
const char* module = "main";
const char* script = "System.print(\"I am running in a VM!\")";
WrenInterpretResult result = wrenInterpret(vm, module, script);
switch (result) {
case WREN_RESULT_COMPILE_ERROR:
{ printf("Compile Error!\n"); } break;
case WREN_RESULT_RUNTIME_ERROR:
{ printf("Runtime Error!\n"); } break;
case WREN_RESULT_SUCCESS:
{ printf("Success!\n"); } break;
}
wrenFreeVM(vm);
}
</pre>
[handle]: slots-and-handles.html#handles
Next, we'll learn to make that VM do useful stuff...
<a class="right" href="slots-and-handles.html">Slots and Handles &rarr;</a>

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^title Slots and Handles
With `wrenInterpret()`, we can execute code, but that code can't do anything
particularly interesting. By default, the VM is isolated from the rest of the
world, so pretty much all it can do is turn your laptop into a lap warmer.
To make our Wren code *useful*, the VM needs to communicate with the outside
world. Wren uses a single unified set of functions for passing data into and out
of the VM. These functions are based on two fundamental concepts: **slots** and
**handles**.
## The Slot Array
When you want to send data to Wren, read data from it, or generally monkey
around with Wren objects from C, you do so by going through an array of slots.
Think of it as a shared message board that both the VM and your C code leave
notes on for the other side to process.
The array is zero-based, and each slot can hold a value of any type. It is
dynamically sized, but it's your responsibility to ensure there are enough slots
*before* you use them. You do this by calling:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
wrenEnsureSlots(WrenVM* vm, int slotCount);
</pre>
This grows the slot array if needed to ensure that many slots are available. If
it's already big enough, this does nothing. You'll typically call this once
before populating the slots with data that you want to send to Wren.
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
wrenEnsureSlots(vm, 4);
// Can now use slots 0 through 3, inclusive.
</pre>
After you ensure an array of slots, you can only rely on them being there until
you pass control back to Wren. That includes calling `wrenCall()` or
`wrenInterpret()`, or returning from a [foreign method][].
[foreign method]: calling-c-from-wren.html
If you read or write from a slot that you haven't ensured is valid, Wren makes
no guarantees about what will happen. I've heard rumors of smoke and feathers
flying out of a user's computer.
If you want to see how big the slot array is, use:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
int wrenGetSlotCount(WrenVM* vm);
</pre>
It returns the number of slots in the array. Note that this may be higher than
the size you've ensured. Wren reuses the memory for this array when possible,
so you may get one bigger than you need if it happened to be laying around.
When Wren [calls your C code][] and passes data to you, it ensures there are
enough slots for the objects it is sending you.
[calls your c code]: calling-c-from-wren.html
### Writing slots
Once you have some slots, you store data in them using a number of functions all
named `wrenSetSlot<type>()` where `<type>` is the kind of data. We'll start with
the simple ones:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void wrenSetSlotBool(WrenVM* vm, int slot, bool value);
void wrenSetSlotDouble(WrenVM* vm, int slot, double value);
void wrenSetSlotNull(WrenVM* vm, int slot);
</pre>
Each of these takes a primitive C value and converts it to the corresponding
[Wren value][]. (Since Wren's [native number type][] *is* a double, there's not
really much *conversion* going on, but you get the idea.)
[wren value]: ../values.html
[native number type]: ../values.html#numbers
You can also pass string data to Wren:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void wrenSetSlotBytes(WrenVM* vm, int slot,
const char* bytes, size_t length);
void wrenSetSlotString(WrenVM* vm, int slot,
const char* text);
</pre>
Both of these copy the bytes into a new [String][] object managed by Wren's
garbage collector, so you can free your copy of it after you call this. The
difference between the two is that `wrenSetSlotBytes()` takes an explicit
length. Since Wren strings may contain arbitrary byte values, including the null
byte, this lets you pass those in. It's also a little faster to use this for
regular strings if you happen to know the length. The latter calculates the
length of the string using `strlen()`.
[string]: ../values.html#strings
### Reading slots
You can, of course, also pull data out of slots. Here are the simple ones:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
bool wrenGetSlotBool(WrenVM* vm, int slot);
double wrenGetSlotDouble(WrenVM* vm, int slot);
</pre>
These take a Wren value of the corresponding type and convert it to its raw C
representation. For strings, we have:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
const char* wrenGetSlotString(WrenVM* vm, int slot);
const char* wrenGetSlotBytes(WrenVM* vm, int slot,
int* length);
</pre>
These return a pointer to the first byte of the string. If you want to know the
length, the latter stores it in the variable pointed to by `length`. Both of
these return a direct pointer to the bytes managed by Wren. You should not hold
on to this pointer for long. Wren does not promise that it won't move or free
the data.
With these functions, you are going from dynamically typed Wren data to
statically typed C. It's up to *you* to ensure that you read a value as the
correct type. If you read a number from a slot that currently holds a string,
you're gonna have a bad time.
Fortunately, you usually know what type of data you have in a slot. If not, you
can ask:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenType wrenGetSlotType(WrenVM* vm, int slot);
</pre>
This returns an enum defining what type of value is in the slot. It only covers
the primitive values that are supported by the C API. Things like ranges and
instances of classes come back as `WREN_TYPE_UNKNOWN`. If you want to move that
kind of data between Wren and C, you'll have to pull the object apart into
simple primitive values first or use a [foreign class][].
[foreign class]: storing-c-data.html
### Looking up variables
There are a few other utility functions that move data into and out of slots.
Here's the first:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void wrenGetVariable(WrenVM* vm, const char* module,
const char* name, int slot);
</pre>
This looks up a top level variable with the given name in the module with the
given name and stores its value in the given slot. Note that classes are just
objects stored in variables too, so you can use this to look up a class by its
name. Handy for calling static methods on it.
Like any method that works with strings, this one is a bit slow. It has to hash
the name and look it up in the module's string table. You might want to avoid
calling this in the middle of a hot loop where performance is critical. Instead,
it's faster to look up the variable once outside the loop and store a reference
to the object using a [handle](#handles).
### Working with lists
The slot array is fine for moving a fixed number of objects between Wren and
C, but sometimes you need to shuttle a larger or dynamically-sized ball of
stuff. [List objects][lists] work well for that, so the C API lets you work
with them directly.
[lists]: ../lists.html
You can create a new empty list from C using:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void wrenSetSlotNewList(WrenVM* vm, int slot);
</pre>
It stores the resulting list in the given slot. If you have a list in a
slot&mdash;either one you created from C or from Wren&mdash;you can add elements
to it using:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void wrenInsertInList(WrenVM* vm, int listSlot, int index,
int elementSlot);
</pre>
That's a lot of int parameters:
* `listSlot` is the slot where the list object is stored. That's the list you'll
be modifying. If you created the list from C, it will be the slot you passed
to `wrenSetSlotNewList()`.
* `index` is the index within the list where you want to insert the element.
Just like from within Wren, you can use a negative number to count back from
the end, so `-1` appends to the list.
* `elementSlot` identifies the slot where the value you want to insert in the
list can be found.
This API means getting a value from C into a list is a two step operation. First
you move the value into a slot, then you take it from the slot and insert it in
the list. This is kind of tedious, but it lets us use the same set of functions
for moving values into slots of each primitive type. Otherwise, we'd need
`wrenInsertInListDouble()`, `wrenInsertInListBool()`, etc.
## Handles
Slots are pretty good for shuttling primitive data between C and Wren, but they
have two limitations:
1. **They are short-lived.** As soon as you execute some more Wren code, the
slot array is invalidated. You can't use a slot to persistently keep track
of some object.
2. **They only support primitive types.** A slot can hold a value of any type,
but the C API we've seen so far doesn't let you *do* anything with values
that aren't simple primitive ones. If you want to grab a reference to,
say, an instance of some class, how do you do it?
To address those, we have handles. A handle wraps a reference to an object of
any kind&mdash;strings, numbers, instances of classes, collections, whatever.
You create a handle using this:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenHandle* wrenGetSlotHandle(WrenVM* vm, int slot);
</pre>
This takes the object stored in the given slot, creates a new WrenHandle to wrap
it, and returns a pointer to it back to you. You can send that wrapped object
back to Wren by calling:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void wrenSetSlotHandle(WrenVM* vm, int slot, WrenHandle* handle);
</pre>
Note that this doesn't invalidate your WrenHandle. You can still keep using it.
### Retaining and releasing handles
A handle is an opaque wrapper around an object of any type, but just as
important, it's a *persistent* one. When Wren gives you a pointer to a
WrenHandle, it guarantees that that pointer remains valid. You can keep it
around as long as you want. Even if a garbage collection occurs, Wren will
ensure the handle and the object it wraps are kept safely in memory.
Internally, Wren keeps a list of all of the WrenHandles that have been created.
That way, during garbage collection, it can find them all and make sure their
objects aren't freed. But what if you don't want it to be kept around any more?
Since C relies on manual memory management, WrenHandle does too. When you are
done with one, you must explicitly release it by calling:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void wrenReleaseHandle(WrenVM* vm, WrenHandle* handle);
</pre>
This does not immediately delete the wrapped object&mdash;after all, there may
be other references to the same object in the program. It just invalidates the
WrenHandle wrapper itself. After you call this, you cannot use that pointer
again.
You must release every WrenHandle you've created before shutting down the VM.
Wren warns you if you don't, since it implies you've probably leaked a resource
somewhere.
Now we know how to pass values between Wren and C, but we don't know how to
actually *do* anything with them. Next, we'll learn how to use slots to pass
parameters to a Wren method from C...
<a class="right" href="calling-wren-from-c.html">Calling Wren from C &rarr;</a>
<a href="index.html">&larr; Introduction</a>

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@ -1,389 +0,0 @@
^title Storing C Data
An embedded language often needs to work with native data. You may want a
pointer to some memory managed in the C heap, or maybe you want to store a chunk
of data more efficiently than Wren's dynamism allows. You may want a Wren object
that represents a native resource like a file handle or database connection.
For those cases, you can define a **foreign class**, a chimera whose state is
half Wren and half C. It is a real Wren class with a name, constructor, and
methods. You can define methods on it written in Wren, or [foreign methods][]
written in C. It produces real Wren objects that you can pass around, do `is`
checks on, etc. But it also wraps a blob of raw memory that is opaque to Wren
but accessible from C.
[foreign methods]: calling-c-from-wren.html
## Defining a Foreign Class
You define one like so:
<pre class="snippet">
foreign class Point {
// ...
}
</pre>
The `foreign` keyword tells Wren to loop in the host application when it
constructs instances of the class. The host tells Wren how many bytes of extra
memory the foreign instance should contain and in return, Wren gives the host
the opportunity to initialize that data.
To talk to the host app, Wren needs a C function it can call when it constructs
an instance of the foreign class. This function is found through a binding
process similar to [how foreign methods are bound][bind]. When you [configure
the VM][], you set the `bindForeignClassFn` field in WrenConfiguration to point
to a C callback you define. Its signature must be:
[bind]: calling-c-from-wren.html#binding-foreign-methods
[configure the vm]: configuring-the-vm.html
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenForeignClassMethods bindForeignClass(
WrenVM* vm, const char* module, const char* className);
</pre>
Wren invokes this callback once when a foreign class declaration is executed.
Wren passes in the name of the module containing the foreign class, and the name
of the class being declared. The host's responsibility is to return one of these
structs:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
typedef struct
{
WrenForeignMethodFn allocate;
WrenFinalizerFn finalize;
} WrenForeignClassMethods;
</pre>
It's a pair of function pointers. The first, `allocate`, is called by Wren
whenever an instance of the foreign class is created. (We'll get to the optional
`finalize` callback later.) The allocation callback has the same signature as a
foreign method:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void allocate(WrenVM* vm);
</pre>
## Initializing an Instance
When you create an instance of a foreign class by calling one its
[constructors][], Wren invokes the `allocate` callback you gave it when binding
the foreign class. Your primary responsibility in that callback is to tell Wren
how many bytes of raw memory you need. You do that by calling:
[constructors]: ../classes.html#constructors
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void* wrenSetSlotNewForeign(WrenVM* vm,
int slot, int classSlot, size_t size);
</pre>
Like other [slot manipulation functions][slot], it both reads from and writes to
the slot array. It has a few parameters to make it more general purpose since it
can also be used in other foreign methods:
[slot]: slots-and-handles.html
* The `slot` parameter is the destination slot where the new foreign object
should be placed. When you're calling this in a foreign class's allocate
callback, this should be 0.
* The `classSlot` parameter is the slot where the foreign class being
constructed can be found. When the VM calls an allocate callback for a
foreign class, the class itself is already in slot 0, so you'll pass 0 for
this too.
* Finally, the `size` parameter is the interesting one. Here, you pass in the
number of extra raw bytes of data you want the foreign instance to store.
This is the memory you get to play with from C.
So, for example, if you wanted to create a foreign instance that contains eight
bytes of C data, you'd call:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void* data = wrenSetSlotNewForeign(vm, 0, 0, 8);
</pre>
The value returned by `wrenSetSlotNewForeign()` is the raw pointer to the
requested bytes. You can cast that to whatever C type makes sense (as long as it
fits within the requested number of bytes) and initialize it as you see fit.
Any parameters passed to the constructor are also available in subsequent slots
in the slot array. That way you can initialize the foreign data based on values
passed to the constructor from Wren.
After the allocate callback returns, the class's constructor in Wren is run and
execution proceeds like normal. From here on out, within Wren, it appears you
have a normal instance of a class. It just happens to have some extra bytes
hiding inside it that can be accessed from foreign methods.
## Accessing Foreign Data
Typically, the way you make use of the data stored in an instance of a foreign
class is through other foreign methods. Those are usually defined on the same
foreign class, but can be defined on other classes as well. Wren doesn't care.
Once you have a foreign instance in a slot, you can access the raw bytes it
stores by calling:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void* wrenGetSlotForeign(WrenVM* vm, int slot);
</pre>
You pass in the slot index containing the foreign object and it gives you back a
pointer to the raw memory the object wraps. As usual, the C API doesn't do any
type or bounds checking, so it's on you to make sure the object in that slot
actually *is* an instance of a foreign class and contains as much memory as you
access.
Given that void pointer, you can now freely read and modify the data it points
to. They're your bits, Wren just holds them for you.
## Freeing Resources
If your foreign instances are just holding memory and you're OK with Wren's
garbage collector managing the lifetime of that memory, then you're done. Wren
will keep the bytes around as long as there is still a reference to them. When
the instance is no longer reachable, eventually the garbage collector will do
its thing and free the memory.
But, often, your foreign data refers to some resource whose lifetime needs to
be explicitly managed. For example, if you have a foreign object that wraps an
open file handle, you need to ensure that handle doesn't get left open when the
GC frees the foreign instance.
Of course, you can (and usually should) add a method on your foreign class, like
`close()` so the user can explicitly release the resource managed by the object.
But if they forget to do that and the object is no longer reachable, you want to
make sure the resource isn't leaked.
To that end, you can also provide a *finalizer* function when binding the
foreign class. That's the other callback in the WrenForeignClassMethods struct.
If you provide that callback, then Wren will invoke it when an instance of your
foreign class is about to be freed by the garbage collector. This gives you one
last chance to clean up the object's resources.
Because this is called during the middle of a garbage collection, you do not
have unfettered access to the VM. It's not like a normal foreign method where
you can monkey around with slots and other stuff. Doing that while the GC is
running could leave Wren in a weird state.
Instead, the finalize callback's signature is only:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void finalize(void* data);
</pre>
Wren gives you the pointer to your foreign function's memory, and that's it. The
*only* thing you should do inside a finalizer is release any external resources
referenced by that memory.
## A Full Example
That's a lot to take in, so let's walk through a full example of a foreign class
with a finalizer and a couple of methods. We'll do a File class that wraps the
C standard file API.
In Wren, the class we want looks like this:
<pre class="snippet">
foreign class File {
construct create(path) {}
foreign write(text)
foreign close()
}
</pre>
So you can create a new file given a path. Once you have one, you can write to
it and then explicitly close it if you want. We also need to make sure the file
gets closed if the user forgets to and the GC cleans up the object.
### Setting up the VM
Over in the host, first we'll set up the VM:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
#include "wren.h"
int main(int argc, const char* argv[])
{
WrenConfiguration config;
wrenInitConfiguration(&config);
config.bindForeignClassFn = bindForeignClass;
config.bindForeignMethodFn = bindForeignMethod;
WrenVM* vm = wrenNewVM(&config);
wrenInterpret(vm, "my_module", "some code...");
return 0;
}
</pre>
### Binding the foreign class
We give the VM two callbacks. The first is for wiring up the foreign class
itself:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenForeignClassMethods bindForeignClass(
WrenVM* vm, const char* module, const char* className)
{
WrenForeignClassMethods methods;
if (strcmp(className, "File") == 0)
{
methods.allocate = fileAllocate;
methods.finalize = fileFinalize;
}
else
{
// Unknown class.
methods.allocate = NULL;
methods.finalize = NULL;
}
return methods;
}
</pre>
When our binding callback is invoked for the File class, we return the allocate
and finalize functions the VM should call. Allocation looks like:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
#include &lt;stdio.h>
#include "wren.h"
void fileAllocate(WrenVM* vm)
{
FILE** file = (FILE**)wrenSetSlotNewForeign(vm,
0, 0, sizeof(FILE*));
const char* path = wrenGetSlotString(vm, 1);
*file = fopen(path, "w");
}
</pre>
First we create the instance by calling `wrenSetSlotNewForeign()`. We tell it to
add enough extra bytes to store a `FILE*` in it, which is C's representation of
a file handle. We're given back a pointer to the bytes. Since the file handle is
itself a pointer, we end up with a double indirection, hence the `FILE**`. In
most cases, you'll just have a single `*`.
We also pull the file path from the slot array. Then we tell C to create a new
file at that path. That gives us back a new file handle -- a `FILE*` -- and we
store that back into the foreign instance using `*file`. Now we have a foreign
object that wraps an open file handle.
The finalizer simply casts the foreign instance's data back to the proper type
and closes the file:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void fileFinalize(void* data)
{
closeFile((FILE**) data);
}
</pre>
It uses this little utility function:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
static void closeFile(FILE** file)
{
// Already closed.
if (*file == NULL) return;
fclose(*file);
*file = NULL;
}
</pre>
This closes the file (if it's not already closed) and also nulls out the file
handle so that we don't try to use the file after it's been closed.
### Binding the foreign methods
That's the foreign *class* part. Now we have a couple of foreign *methods* to
handle. The host tells the VM how to find them by giving Wren a pointer to this
function:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenForeignMethodFn bindForeignMethod(WrenVM* vm, const char* module,
const char* className, bool isStatic, const char* signature)
{
if (strcmp(className, "File") == 0)
{
if (!isStatic && strcmp(signature, "write(_)") == 0)
{
return fileWrite;
}
if (!isStatic && strcmp(signature, "close()") == 0)
{
return fileClose;
}
}
// Unknown method.
return NULL;
}
</pre>
When Wren calls this, we look at the class and method name to figure out which
method it's binding, and then return a pointer to the appropriate function. The
foreign method for writing to the file is:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void fileWrite(WrenVM* vm)
{
FILE** file = (FILE**)wrenGetSlotForeign(vm, 0);
// Make sure the file is still open.
if (*file == NULL)
{
wrenSetSlotString(vm, 0, "Cannot write to a closed file.");
wrenAbortFiber(vm, 0);
return;
}
const char* text = wrenGetSlotString(vm, 1);
fwrite(text, sizeof(char), strlen(text), *file);
}
</pre>
We use `wrenGetSlotForeign()` to pull the foreign data out of the slot array.
Since this method is called on the file itself, the foreign object is in slot
zero. We take the resulting pointer and cast it to a pointer of the proper type.
Again, because our foreign data is *itself* a pointer, we get a pointer to a
pointer.
We do a little sanity checking to make sure the user isn't writing to a file
they already closed. If not, we call `fwrite()` to write to the file.
The other method is `close()` to let them explicitly close the file:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
void fileClose(WrenVM* vm)
{
FILE** file = (FILE**)wrenGetSlotForeign(vm, 0);
closeFile(file);
}
</pre>
It uses the same helper we defined above. And that's it, a complete foreign
class with a finalizer and a couple of foreign methods. In Wren, you can use it
like so:
<pre class="snippet">
var file = File.create("some/path.txt")
file.write("some text")
file.close()
</pre>
Pretty neat, right? The resulting class looks and feels like a normal Wren
class, but it has the functionality and much of the performance of native C
code.
<a class="right" href="configuring-the-vm.html">Configuring the VM &rarr;</a>
<a href="calling-c-from-wren.html">&larr; Calling C from Wren</a>

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@ -1,89 +0,0 @@
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<html>
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<title>{title} &ndash; Wren</title>
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<h1><a href="../">wren</a></h1>
<h2>a classy little scripting language</h2>
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<h2>embedding</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="./">Introduction</a></li>
<li><a href="slots-and-handles.html">Slots and Handles</a></li>
<li><a href="calling-wren-from-c.html">Calling Wren from C</a></li>
<li><a href="calling-c-from-wren.html">Calling C from Wren</a></li>
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^title Error Handling
Errors come in a few fun flavors.
## Syntax errors
The first errors you're likely to run into are syntax errors. These include
simple bugs where your code doesn't follow the language's grammar, like:
<pre class="snippet">
1 + * 2
</pre>
Wren detects these errors as soon as it tries to read your code. When it hits
one, you get a friendly error message, like:
[main line 1] Error on '*': Unexpected token for expression.
Some slightly more "semantic" errors fall into this bucket too. Things like
using a variable that hasn't been defined, or declaring two variables with the
same name in the same scope. So if you do:
<pre class="snippet">
var a = "once"
var a = "twice"
</pre>
Wren tells you:
[main line 2] Error on 'a': Top-level variable is already defined.
Note that it does this before it executes *any* code. Unlike some other
scripting languages, Wren tries to help you find your errors as soon as
possible when it can.
If it starts running your code, you can be sure you don't have any errors
related to syntax or variable scope.
## Runtime errors
Alas, just fixing all of the "compile-time" errors doesn't mean your code does
what you want. Your program may still have errors that can't be detected
statically. Since they can't be found until your code is run, they're called
"runtime" errors.
Most runtime errors come from the VM itself. They arise from code trying to
perform an operation that the VM can't do. The most common error is a "method
not found" one. If you call a method on an object and its class (and all of its
superclasses) don't define that method, there's nothing Wren can do:
<pre class="snippet">
class Foo {
construct new() {}
}
var foo = Foo.new()
foo.someRandomMethod
</pre>
If you run this, Wren will print:
Foo does not implement method 'someRandomMethod'.
Then it stops executing code. Unlike some other languages, Wren doesn't keep
plugging away after a runtime error has occurred. A runtime error implies
there's a bug in your code and it wants to draw your attention to it. To help
you out, it prints a stack trace showing where in the code the error occurred,
and all of the method calls that led to it.
Another common runtime error is passing an argument of the wrong type to a
method. For example, lists are indexed using a number. If you try to pass some
other type, it's an error:
<pre class="snippet">
var list = ["a", "b", "c"]
list["1"]
</pre>
This exits with:
Subscript must be a number or a range.
[main line 2] in (script)
These are the two most common kinds of runtime errors, but there are others.
Stuff like out of bounds errors on lists, calling a function with the wrong
number of arguments, etc.
## Handling runtime errors
Most of the time, runtime errors indicate a bug in your code and the best
solution is to fix the bug. However, sometimes it's useful to be able to handle
them at, uh, runtime.
To keep the language simpler, Wren does not have exception handling. Instead, it
takes advantage of [fibers][] for handling errors. When a runtime error occurs,
the current fiber is aborted. Normally, Wren will also abort any fibers that
invoked that one, all the way to the main fiber, and then exit the VM.
[fibers]: concurrency.html
However, you can run a fiber using the `try` method. If a runtime error occurs
in the called fiber, the error is captured and the `try` method returns the
error message as a string.
For example, if you run this program:
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
123.badMethod
}
var error = fiber.try()
System.print("Caught error: " + error)
</pre>
It prints:
Caught error: Num does not implement method 'badMethod'.
The called fiber can no longer be used, but any other fibers can proceed as
usual. When a fiber has been aborted because of a runtime error, you can also
get the error from the fiber object. Continuing the above example:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(fiber.error)
</pre>
This also prints:
Num does not implement method 'badMethod'.
If you have a chain of fiber calls and a runtime error occurs, it will walk the
chain looking for a `try` call, so this can also be used to capture runtime
errors generated in fibers that are invoked by the one you called `try` on.
## Creating runtime errors
Most runtime errors come from within the Wren VM, but you may want to be able
to cause your own runtime errors to occur. This can be done by calling the
`abort()` static method on `Fiber`:
<pre class="snippet">
Fiber.abort("Something bad happened")
</pre>
You must pass in an error message, and it must be a string.
If the provided message is `null`, no runtime error is raised.
## Failures
The last flavor of errors is the highest-level one. All of the above errors
indicate *bugs*&mdash;places where the code itself is incorrect. But some
errors indicate that the code simply couldn't accomplish its task for
unforeseeable reasons. We'll call these "failures".
Consider a program that reads in a string of input from the user and parses it
to a number. Many strings are not valid numbers, so this parsing can fail. The
only way the program could prevent that failure is by validating the string
before its parsed, but validating that a string is a number is pretty much the
same thing as parsing it.
For cases like this where failure can occur and the program *will* want to
handle it, fibers and `try()` are too coarse-grained to work with. Instead,
these operations will indicate failure by *returning* some sort of error
indication.
For example, a method for parsing a number could return a number on success and
`null` to indicate parsing failed. Since Wren is dynamically typed, it's easy
and natural for a method to return different types of values.
<br><hr>
<a class="right" href="modularity.html">Modularity &rarr;</a>
<a href="concurrency.html">&larr; Concurrency</a>

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@ -1,180 +0,0 @@
^title Functions
No self-respecting language today can get by without functions&mdash;first
class little bundles of code. Since Wren is object-oriented, most of your code
will live in methods on classes, but free-floating functions are still
eminently handy.
Functions are objects like everything else in Wren, instances of the `Fn`
class.
## Block arguments
Most of the time you create a function just to pass it to some method. For
example, if you want to filter a [list](lists.html) by some criteria, you'll
call its `where` method, passing in a function that defines the predicate
you're filtering on.
Since that's the most common usage pattern, Wren's syntax optimizes for that.
Taking a page from Ruby, a function is created by passing a *block argument* to
a method. At its simplest, it looks like this:
<pre class="snippet">
blondie.callMe {
System.print("This is the body!")
}
</pre>
Here we're invoking the `callMe` method on `blondie`. We're passing one
argument, a function whose body is the
following [block](syntax.html#blocks)&mdash;everything between that pair of
curly braces.
Methods that take a block argument receive it as a normal parameter. `callMe`
could be defined like so:
<pre class="snippet">
class Blondie {
callMe(fn) {
// Call it...
}
}
var blondie = Blondie.new()
</pre>
A method can take other arguments in addition to the block. They appear before
the block just like a regular argument list. For example:
<pre class="snippet">
blondie.callMeAt(867, 5309) {
System.print("This is the body!")
}
</pre>
Of course, you don't *have* to use a block argument to pass a function to a
method. If you already have a function object, you can pass it like a regular
argument:
<pre class="snippet">
var someFn = // Get a function...
blondie.callMe(someFn)
</pre>
Block arguments are purely sugar for creating a function and passing it in one
little blob of syntax. There are some times when you want to create a function
but *don't* need to pass it to a method. For that, you can call the `Fn`
class's constructor:
<pre class="snippet">
var someFn = Fn.new {
System.print("Hi!")
}
</pre>
As you can see it takes a block argument too! All the constructor does it
return that, so this exists purely as a convenience method for you.
## Calling functions
Once you have a function, how do you invoke it? Like everything in Wren, you do
so by calling a method on it:
<pre class="snippet">
class Blondie {
callMe(fn) {
fn.call()
}
}
</pre>
Functions expose a `call()` method that executes the body of the function. This
method is dynamically-dispatched like any other, so you can define your own
"function-like" classes and pass them to methods that expect "real" functions.
<pre class="snippet">
class FakeFn {
call() {
System.print("I'm feeling functional!")
}
}
blondie.callMe(FakeFn.new())
</pre>
## Function parameters
Of course, functions aren't very useful if you can't pass values to them. The
functions that we've seen so far take no arguments. To change that, you can
provide a parameter list surrounded by `|` immediately after the opening brace
of the body, like so:
<pre class="snippet">
blondie.callMe {|first, last|
System.print("Hi, " + first + " " + last + "!")
}
</pre>
Here we're passing a function to `callMe` that takes two parameters, `first` and
`last`. They are passed to the function when it's called:
<pre class="snippet">
class Blondie {
callMe(fn) {
fn.call("Debbie", "Harry")
}
}
</pre>
It's an error to call a function with fewer arguments than its parameter list
expects. If you pass too *many* arguments, the extras are ignored.
## Returning values
The body of a function is a [block](syntax.html#blocks). If it is a single
expression&mdash;more precisely if there is no newline after the `{` or
parameter list&mdash;then the function implicitly returns the value of the
expression.
Otherwise, the body returns `null` by default. You can explicitly return a
value using a `return` statement. In other words, these two functions do the
same thing:
<pre class="snippet">
Fn.new { "return value" }
Fn.new {
return "return value"
}
</pre>
## Closures
As you expect, functions are closures&mdash;they can access variables defined
outside of their scope. They will hold onto closed-over variables even after
leaving the scope where the function is defined:
<pre class="snippet">
class Counter {
static create() {
var i = 0
return Fn.new { i = i + 1 }
}
}
</pre>
Here, the `create` method returns the function created on its second line. That
function references a variable `i` declared outside of the function. Even after
the function is returned from `create`, it is still able to read and assign
to`i`:
<pre class="snippet">
var counter = Counter.create()
System.print(counter.call()) //> 1
System.print(counter.call()) //> 2
System.print(counter.call()) //> 3
</pre>
<br><hr>
<a class="right" href="classes.html">Classes &rarr;</a>
<a href="variables.html">&larr; Variables</a>

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^title Getting Started
## Trying out the language
If you'd like to try Wren, you have a few options.
* **In your browser.** You can try Wren **[right here](./try/)**!
* **On your computer.** The [Wren CLI](cli) project is a downloadable executable
to run scripts with access to file io and more. See the [Wren CLI docs](cli).
* **Embedded in your code.** See how to [build and embed Wren](#embed-the-vm) below.
And then read the [embedding guide](embedding)!
Once you have somewhere to explore, it's time to [learn the
language](syntax.html).
---
## Embed the VM
**The Wren Virtual Machine** is the core of the language that executes Wren
source code. It is just a library, not a standalone application. It's
designed to be [embedded][] in a larger host application.
It has no dependencies beyond the C standard library.
You can use it as a static library, shared library, or simply compile the source into your app.
### Building Wren
To build the Wren library, we look inside the `projects/` folder.
In here you'll find ready to go projects for `Visual Studio`, `XCode` and tools like `make`.
* **Windows** Open `wren.sln` inside `projects/vs2019/` (or `vs2017`), hit build.
* **Mac** Open `wren.xcworkspace` inside `projects/xcode/`, hit build.
* **Linux** Run `make` inside of `projects/make/`.
In each case, **there will be library files generated into the root `lib/` folder**.
These are what you'll link into your project, based on your needs.
* **Static Linking** `wren.lib` on Windows, `libwren.a` elsewhere.
* **Dynamic Linking** `wren.dll` on Windows, `libwren.so` on Linux, and `libwren.dylib` on Mac.
<small>
Note that the default build will also generate `wren_test` inside of `bin/`,
a binary that is used to run the language tests. It can execute simple scripts.
</small>
**Other platforms**
If your platform isn't explicitly supported,
it is recommended that you include the Wren source
in your project for a portable experience.
### Including the code in your project
**all source files**
The alternative to building via the provided projects is to include the wren source code in your project.
Since it has no dependencies this is simple, all the code in `src/` comes along. There's a readme in `src/` for details.
**'amalgamated' build**
If you want an even simpler way, there's an 'amalgamated' build (often called `blob`, or `unity` builds.).
This is _all of the wren source code in one file_.
This file can be generated by running `python3 util/generate_amalgamation.py`, and the generated output will be in `build/wren.c`.
Include `build/wren.c` and `src/include/wren.h` in your project code and you're good to go.
<small>Ideally later we can automate generating this and include it in the repo.</small>
---
[embedded]: embedding
If you run into bugs, or have ideas or questions, any of
the following work:
* Join the [discord community][discord].
* Ask on the [Wren mailing list][list] (which is pretty quiet).
* Tell us on twitter at [@munificentbob][twitter] or [@ruby0x1][twitter0x1].
* [File a ticket][issue] at [the GitHub repo][repo].
* The CLI also has [tickets][issue_cli] and a [GitHub repo][repo_cli] too.
* Pull requests are welcome.
[discord]: https://discord.gg/Kx6PxSX
[list]: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/wren-lang
[twitter]: https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=munificentbob
[twitter0x1]: https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=ruby0x1
[issue]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/issues
[repo]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren
[issue_cli]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren-cli/issues
[repo_cli]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren-cli

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@ -1,62 +0,0 @@
^title
## Wren is a small, fast, class-based concurrent scripting language
---
Think Smalltalk in a Lua-sized package with a dash of Erlang and wrapped up in
a familiar, modern [syntax][].
<pre class="snippet">
System.print("Hello, world!")
class Wren {
flyTo(city) {
System.print("Flying to %(city)")
}
}
var adjectives = Fiber.new {
["small", "clean", "fast"].each {|word| Fiber.yield(word) }
}
while (!adjectives.isDone) System.print(adjectives.call())
</pre>
* **Wren is small.** The VM implementation is under [4,000 semicolons][src].
You can skim the whole thing in an afternoon. It's *small*, but not
*dense*. It is readable and [lovingly-commented][nan].
* **Wren is fast.** A fast single-pass compiler to tight bytecode, and a
compact object representation help Wren [compete with other dynamic
languages][perf].
* **Wren is class-based.** There are lots of scripting languages out there,
but many have unusual or non-existent object models. Wren places
[classes][] front and center.
* **Wren is concurrent.** Lightweight [fibers][] are core to the execution
model and let you organize your program into a flock of communicating
coroutines.
* **Wren is a scripting language.** Wren is intended for embedding in
applications. It has no dependencies, a small standard library,
and [an easy-to-use C API][embedding]. It compiles cleanly as C99, C++98
or anything later.
---
You can try it [in your browser][browser]!
If you like the sound of this, [let's get started][started].
Excited? You're also welcome to [get involved][contribute]!
[syntax]: syntax.html
[src]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/tree/main/src
[nan]: https://github.com/wren-lang/wren/blob/46c1ba92492e9257aba6418403161072d640cb29/src/wren_value.h#L378-L433
[perf]: performance.html
[classes]: classes.html
[fibers]: concurrency.html
[embedding]: embedding
[started]: getting-started.html
[browser]: try
[contribute]: contributing.html

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^title Lists
A list is a compound object that holds a collection of elements identified by
integer index. You can create a list by placing a sequence of comma-separated
expressions inside square brackets:
<pre class="snippet">
[1, "banana", true]
</pre>
Here, we've created a list of three elements. Notice that the elements don't
have to be the same type.
## Accessing elements
You can access an element from a list by calling the [subscript
operator][] on it with the index of the
element you want. Like most languages, indexes start at zero:
[subscript operator]: method-calls.html#subscripts
<pre class="snippet">
var hirsute = ["sideburns", "porkchops", "'stache", "goatee"]
System.print(hirsute[0]) //> sideburns
System.print(hirsute[1]) //> porkchops
</pre>
Negative indices counts backwards from the end:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(hirsute[-1]) //> goatee
System.print(hirsute[-2]) //> 'stache
</pre>
It's a runtime error to pass an index outside of the bounds of the list. If you
don't know what those bounds are, you can find out using count:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(hirsute.count) //> 4
</pre>
## Slices and ranges
Sometimes you want to copy a chunk of elements from a list. You can do that by
passing a [range](values.html#ranges) to the subscript operator, like so:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(hirsute[1..2]) //> [porkchops, 'stache]
</pre>
This returns a new list containing the elements of the original list whose
indices are within the given range. Both inclusive and exclusive ranges work
and do what you expect.
Negative bounds also work like they do when passing a single number, so to copy
a list, you can just do:
<pre class="snippet">
hirsute[0..-1]
</pre>
## Adding elements
Lists are *mutable*, meaning their contents can be changed. You can swap out an
existing element in the list using the subscript setter:
<pre class="snippet">
hirsute[1] = "muttonchops"
System.print(hirsute[1]) //> muttonchops
</pre>
It's an error to set an element that's out of bounds. To grow a list, you can
use `add` to append a single item to the end:
<pre class="snippet">
hirsute.add("goatee")
System.print(hirsute.count) //> 5
</pre>
You can insert a new element at a specific position using `insert`:
<pre class="snippet">
hirsute.insert(2, "soul patch")
</pre>
The first argument is the index to insert at, and the second is the value to
insert. All elements following the inserted one will be pushed down to
make room for it.
It's valid to "insert" after the last element in the list, but only *right*
after it. Like other methods, you can use a negative index to count from the
back. Doing so counts back from the size of the list *after* it's grown by one:
<pre class="snippet">
var letters = ["a", "b", "c"]
letters.insert(3, "d") // OK: inserts at end.
System.print(letters) //> [a, b, c, d]
letters.insert(-2, "e") // Counts back from size after insert.
System.print(letters) //> [a, b, c, e, d]
</pre>
## Adding lists together
Lists have the ability to be added together via the `+` operator. This is often known as concatenation.
<pre class="snippet">
var letters = ["a", "b", "c"]
var other = ["d", "e", "f"]
var combined = letters + other
System.print(combined) //> [a, b, c, d, e, f]
</pre>
## Removing elements
The opposite of `insert` is `removeAt`. It removes a single element from a
given position in the list. All following items are shifted up to fill in the
gap:
<pre class="snippet">
var letters = ["a", "b", "c", "d"]
letters.removeAt(1)
System.print(letters) //> [a, c, d]
</pre>
The `removeAt` method returns the removed item:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(letters.removeAt(1)) //> c
</pre>
If you want to remove everything from the list, you can clear it:
<pre class="snippet">
hirsute.clear()
System.print(hirsute) //> []
</pre>
<br><hr>
<a class="right" href="maps.html">Maps &rarr;</a>
<a href="values.html">&larr; Values</a>

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^title Maps
A map is an *associative* collection. It holds a set of entries, each of which
maps a *key* to a *value*. The same data structure has a variety of names in
other languages: hash table, dictionary, association, table, etc.
You can create a map by placing a series of comma-separated entries inside
curly braces. Each entry is a key and a value separated by a colon:
<pre class="snippet">
{
"George": "Harrison",
"John": "Lennon",
"Paul": "McCartney",
"Ringo": "Starr"
}
</pre>
This creates a map that associates the first name of each Beatle with his last
name. Syntactically, in a map literal, keys can be any literal, a variable
name, or a parenthesized expression. Values can be any expression. Here, we're
using string literals for both keys and values.
*Semantically*, values can be any object, and multiple keys may map to the same
value. Keys have a few limitations. They must be one of the immutable built-in
[value types][] in Wren. That means a number, string, range, bool, or `null`.
You can also use a [class object][] as a key.
[value types]: values.html
[class object]: classes.html
The reason for this limitation&mdash;and the reason maps are called "*hash*
tables" in other languages&mdash;is that each key is used to generate a numeric
*hash code*. This lets a map locate the value associated with a key in constant
time, even in very large maps. Since Wren only knows how to hash certain
built-in types, only those can be used as keys.
## Adding entries
You add new key-value pairs to the map using the [subscript operator][]:
[subscript operator]: method-calls.html#subscripts
<pre class="snippet">
var capitals = {}
capitals["Georgia"] = "Atlanta"
capitals["Idaho"] = "Boise"
capitals["Maine"] = "Augusta"
</pre>
If the key isn't already present, this adds it and associates it with the given
value. If the key is already there, this just replaces its value.
## Looking up values
To find the value associated with some key, again you use your friend the
subscript operator:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(capitals["Idaho"]) //> Boise
</pre>
If the key is present, this returns its value. Otherwise, it returns `null`. Of
course, `null` itself can also be used as a value, so seeing `null` here
doesn't necessarily mean the key wasn't found.
To tell definitively if a key exists, you can call `containsKey()`:
<pre class="snippet">
var belief = {"nihilism": null}
System.print(belief["nihilism"]) //> null (though key exists)
System.print(belief["solipsism"]) //> null
System.print(belief.containsKey("nihilism")) //> true
System.print(belief.containsKey("solipsism")) //> false
</pre>
You can see how many entries a map contains using `count`:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(capitals.count) //> 3
</pre>
## Removing entries
To remove an entry from a map, call `remove()` and pass in the key for the
entry you want to delete:
<pre class="snippet">
capitals.remove("Maine")
System.print(capitals.containsKey("Maine")) //> false
</pre>
If the key was found, this returns the value that was associated with it:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(capitals.remove("Georgia")) //> Atlanta
</pre>
If the key wasn't in the map to begin with, `remove()` just returns `null`.
If you want to remove *everything* from the map, like with [lists][], you call
`clear()`:
[lists]: lists.html
<pre class="snippet">
capitals.clear()
System.print(capitals.count) //> 0
</pre>
## Iterating over the contents
The subscript operator works well for finding values when you know the key
you're looking for, but sometimes you want to see everything that's in the map.
For that, map exposes two methods: `keys` and `values`.
The first returns a [Sequence][] that [iterates][] over all of the keys in the
map, and the second returns one that iterates over the values.
[sequence]: modules/core/sequence.html
[iterates]: control-flow.html#the-iterator-protocol
If you want to see all of the key-value pairs in a map, the easiest way is to
iterate over the keys and use each to look up its value:
<pre class="snippet">
var birds = {
"Arizona": "Cactus wren",
"Hawaii": "Nēnē",
"Ohio": "Northern Cardinal"
}
for (state in birds.keys) {
System.print("The state bird of " + state + " is " + birds[state])
}
</pre>
This program prints the three states and their birds. However, the *order*
that they are printed isn't defined. Wren makes no promises about what order
keys and values are iterated in when you use these methods. All it promises is
that every entry will appear exactly once.
<br><hr>
<a class="right" href="method-calls.html">Method Calls &rarr;</a>
<a href="lists.html">&larr; Lists</a>

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^title Method Calls
Wren is deeply object oriented, so most code consists of invoking methods on
objects, usually something like this:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print("Heyoo!") //> Heyoo!
</pre>
You have a *receiver* expression (here `System`) followed by a `.`, then a name
(`print`) and an argument list in parentheses (`("Heyoo!")`). Multiple arguments
are separated by commas:
<pre class="snippet">
list.insert(3, "item")
</pre>
The argument list can also be empty:
<pre class="snippet">
list.clear()
</pre>
The VM executes a method call like so:
1. Evaluate the receiver and arguments from left to right.
2. Look up the method on the receiver's [class][].
3. Invoke it, passing in the argument values.
[class]: classes.html
## Signature
Unlike most other dynamically-typed languages, in Wren a class can have multiple
methods with the same *name*, as long as they have different *signatures*. The
signature includes the method's name along with the number of arguments it
takes. In technical terms, this means you can *overload by arity*.
For example, the [Random][] class has two methods for getting a random integer.
One takes a minimum and maximum value and returns a value in that range. The
other only takes a maximum value and uses 0 as the minimum:
[random]: modules/random/random.html
<pre class="snippet">
var random = Random.new()
random.int(3, 10)
random.int(4)
</pre>
In a language like Python or JavaScript, these would both call a single `int()`
method, which has some kind of "optional" parameter. The body of the method
figures out how many arguments were passed and uses control flow to handle the
two different behaviors. That means first parameter represents "max unless
another parameter was passed, in which case it's min". Kind of gross.
In Wren, these are calls to two entirely separate methods, `int(_,_)` and
`int(_)`. This makes it easier to define "overloads" like this since you don't
need optional parameters or any kind of control flow to handle the different
cases.
It's also faster to execute. Since we know how many arguments are passed at
compile time, we can compile this to directly call the right method and avoid
any "if I got two arguments do this..." runtime work.
## Getters
Some methods exist to expose a stored or computed property of an object. These
are *getters* and have no parentheses:
<pre class="snippet">
"string".count //> 6
(1..10).min //> 1
1.23.sin //> 0.9424888019317
[1, 2, 3].isEmpty //> false
</pre>
A getter is *not* the same as a method with an empty argument list. The `()` is
part of the signature, so `count` and `count()` have different signatures.
Unlike Ruby's optional parentheses, Wren wants to make sure you call a getter
like a getter and a `()` method like a `()` method. These don't work:
<pre class="snippet">
"string".count()
[1, 2, 3].clear
</pre>
If you're defining some member that doesn't need any parameters, you need to
decide if it should be a getter or a method with an empty `()` parameter list.
The general guidelines are:
* If it modifies the object or has some other side effect, make it a method:
<pre class="snippet">
list.clear()
</pre>
* If the method supports multiple arities, make the zero-parameter case a `()`
method to be consistent with the other versions:
<pre class="snippet">
Fiber.yield()
Fiber.yield("value")
</pre>
* Otherwise, it can probably be a getter.
## Setters
A getter lets an object expose a public "property" that you can *read*.
Likewise, a *setter* lets you write to a property:
<pre class="snippet">
person.height = 74 // Grew up!
</pre>
Despite the `=`, this is just another syntax for a method call. From the
language's perspective, the above line is just a call to the `height=(_)`
method on `person`, passing in `74`.
Since the `=(_)` is in the setter's signature, an object can have both a getter
and setter with the same name without a collision. Defining both lets you
provide a read/write property.
## Operators
Wren has most of the same operators you know and love with the same precedence
and associativity. We have three prefix operators:
<pre class="snippet">
! ~ -
</pre>
They are just method calls on their operand without any other arguments. An
expression like `!possible` means "call the `!` method on `possible`".
We also have a slew of infix operators&mdash;they have operands on both sides.
They are:
<pre class="snippet">
* / % + - .. ... << >> < <= > >= == != & ^ | is
</pre>
Like prefix operators, they are all funny ways of writing method calls. The left
operand is the receiver, and the right operand gets passed to it. So `a + b` is
semantically interpreted as "invoke the `+(_)` method on `a`, passing it `b`".
Note that `-` is both a prefix and an infix operator. Since they have different
signatures (`-` and `-(_)`), there's no ambiguity between them.
Most of these are probably familiar already. The `..` and `...` operators are
"range" operators. The number type implements those to create [range][]
objects, but they are method calls like other operators.
[range]: values.html#ranges
The `is` keyword is a "type test" operator. The base [Object][] class implements
it to tell if an object is an instance of a given class. You'll rarely need to,
but you can override `is` in your own classes. That can be useful for things
like mocks or proxies where you want an object to masquerade as a certain class.
[object]: modules/core/object.html
## Subscripts
Another familiar syntax from math class is *subscripting* using square brackets
(`[]`). It's handy for working with collection-like objects. For example:
<pre class="snippet">
list[0] // Get the first item in a list.
map["key"] // Get the value associated with "key".
</pre>
You know the refrain by now. In Wren, these are method calls. In the above
examples, the signature is `[_]`. Subscript operators may also take multiple
arguments, which is useful for things like multi-dimensional arrays:
<pre class="snippet">
matrix[3, 5]
</pre>
These examples are subscript "getters", and there are also
corresponding *subscript setters*:
<pre class="snippet">
list[0] = "item"
map["key"] = "value"
</pre>
These are equivalent to method calls whose signature is `[_]=(_)` and whose
arguments are both the subscript (or subscripts) and the value on the right-hand
side.
<br><hr>
<a class="right" href="control-flow.html">Control Flow &rarr;</a>
<a href="maps.html">&larr; Maps</a>

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^title Modularity
Once you start writing programs that are more than little toys, you quickly run
into two problems:
1. You want to break them down into multiple smaller files to make it easier to
find your way around them.
2. You want to reuse pieces of them across different programs.
To address those, Wren has a simple module system. A file containing Wren code
defines a *module*. A module can use the code defined in another module by
*importing* it. You can break big programs into smaller modules that you
import, and you can reuse code by having multiple programs share the use of a
single module.
Wren does not have a single global scope. Instead, each module has its own
top-level scope independent of all other modules. This means, for example, that
two modules can define a top-level variable with the same name without causing
a name collision. Each module is, well, modular.
## Importing, briefly
When you run Wren and give it a file name to execute, the contents of that file
define the "main" module that execution starts at. To load and execute other
modules, you use an import statement:
<pre class="snippet">
import "beverages" for Coffee, Tea
</pre>
This finds a module named "beverages" and executes its source code. Then, it
looks up two top-level variables, `Coffee` and `Tea` in *that* module and
creates new variables in *this* module with their values.
This statement can appear anywhere a variable declaration is allowed, even
inside blocks:
<pre class="snippet">
if (thirsty) {
import "beverages" for Coffee, Tea
}
</pre>
If you need to import a variable under a different name, you can use
`import "..." for Name as OtherName`. This looks up the top-level variable
`Name` in *that* module, but declares a variable called `OtherName` in *this* module
with its value.
<pre class="snippet">
import "liquids" for Water //Water is now taken
import "beverages" for Coffee, Water as H2O, Tea
// var water = H2O.new()
</pre>
If you want to load a module, but not bind any variables from it, you can omit
the `for` clause:
<pre class="snippet">
import "some_imperative_code"
</pre>
That's the basic idea. Now let's break it down into each of the steps it
performs:
1. Locate the source code for the module.
2. Execute the imported module's code.
3. Bind new variables in the importing module to values defined in the imported
module.
We'll go through each step:
## Locating a module
The first thing you need to do to import a module is actually *find* the code
for it. The import specifies a *name*&mdash;some arbitrary string that is used
to uniquely identify the module. The embedding application controls how that
string is used to locate a blob of source code.
When the host application creates a new Wren VM, it provides a module loader
function:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenConfiguration config;
config.loadModuleFn = loadModule;
// Other configuration...
WrenVM* vm = wrenNewVM(&config);
</pre>
That function has this signature:
<pre class="snippet" data-lang="c">
WrenLoadModuleResult WrenLoadModuleFn(WrenVM* vm, const char* name);
</pre>
Whenever a module is imported, the VM calls this and passes it the name of the
module. The embedder is expected to return the source code contents of the
module in a `WrenLoadModuleResult`. When you embed Wren in your app, you can handle
this however you want: reach out to the file system, look inside resources bundled
into your app, whatever.
You can return the source field as `NULL` from this function to indicate that a module
couldn't be found. When you do this, Wren will report it as a runtime error.
### The command-line loader
The [Wren CLI command-line tool](getting-started.html#using-the-wren-cli) has a very simple
lookup process. It appends the module name and ".wren" to the directory where
the main module was loaded and looks for that file. So, let's say you run:
$ wren code/my_program.wren
And that main module has:
<pre class="snippet">
import "some/module"
</pre>
Then the command-line VM will try to find `/code/some/module.wren`. By
convention, forward slashes should be used as path separators, even on Windows,
to help ensure your scripts are platform-independent. (Forward slashes are a
valid separator on Windows, but backslashes are not valid on other OSes.)
## Executing the module
Once we have the source code for a module, we need to run it. First, the VM
takes the [fiber][] that is executing the `import` statement in the importing
module and pauses it.
[fiber]: concurrency.html
Then it creates a new module object&mdash;a new fresh top-level scope,
basically&mdash;and a new fiber. It executes the new module's code in that
fiber and scope. The module can run whatever imperative code it wants and
define whatever top-level variables it wants.
When the module's code is done being executed and its fiber completes, the
suspended fiber for the importing module is resumed. This suspending and
resuming is recursive. So, if "a" imports "b" which imports "c", both "a" and
"b" will be suspended while "c" is running. When "c" is done, "b" is resumed.
Then, when "b" completes, "a" is resumed.
Think of it like traversing the tree of imports, one node at a time. At any
given point in time, only one module's code is running.
## Binding variables
Once the module is done executing, the last step is to actually *import* some
data from it. Any module can define "top-level" [variables](variables.html).
These are simply variables declared outside of any
[method](classes.html#methods) or [function](functions.html).
These are visible to anything inside the module, but they can also be
*exported* and used by other modules. When Wren executes an import like:
<pre class="snippet">
import "beverages" for Coffee, Tea
</pre>
First it runs the "beverages" module. Then it goes through each of the variable
names in the `for` clause. For each one, it looks for a top-level variable with
that name in the imported module. If a variable with that name can't be found
in the imported module, it's a runtime error.
Otherwise, it gets the current value of the variable and defines a new variable
in the importing module with the same name and value. It's worth noting that
the importing module gets its *own* variable whose value is a snapshot of the
value of the imported variable at the time it was imported. If either module
later assigns to that variable, the other won't see it. It's not a "live"
connection.
In practice, most top-level variables are only assigned once anyway, so this
rarely makes a difference.
## Shared imports
Earlier, I described a program's set of modules as a tree. Of course, it's only
a *tree* of modules if there are no *shared imports*. But consider a program
like:
<pre class="snippet">
// main.wren
import "a"
import "b"
// a.wren
import "shared"
// b.wren
import "shared"
// shared.wren
System.print("Shared!")
</pre>
Here, "a" and "b" both want to use "shared". If "shared" defines some top-level
state, we only want a single copy of that in memory. To handle this, a module's
code is only executed the *first* time it is loaded. After that, importing the
module again just looks up the previously loaded module.
Internally, Wren maintains a map of every module it has previously loaded. When
a module is imported, Wren looks for it in that map first before it calls out
to the embedder for its source.
In other words, in that list of steps above, there's an implicit zeroth step:
"See if we already loaded the module and reuse it if we did". That means the
above program only prints "Shared!" once.
## Cyclic imports
You can even have cycles in your imports, provided you're a bit careful with
them. The loading process, in detail, is:
1. See if we have already created a module with the given name.
2. If so, use it.
3. Otherwise, create a new module with the name and store it in the module
registry.
4. Create a fiber for it and execute its code.
Note the order of the last two steps. When a module is loaded, it is added to
the registry *before* it is executed. This means if an import for that same
module is reached while the module itself or one of its imports is executing,
it will be found in the registry and the cycle is short-circuited.
For example:
<pre class="snippet">
// main.wren
import "a"
// a.wren
System.print("start a")
import "b"
System.print("end a")
// b.wren
System.print("start b")
import "a"
System.print("end b")
</pre>
This program runs successfully and prints:
start a
start b
end b
end a
Where you have to be careful is binding variables. Consider:
<pre class="snippet">
// main.wren
import "a"
// a.wren
import "b" for B
var A = "a variable"
// b.wren
import "a" for A
var B = "b variable"
</pre>
The import of "a" in b.wren will fail here. If you trace the execution, you
get:
1. Execute `import "a"` in "main.wren". That suspends "main.wren".
2. Execute `import "b"` in "a.wren". That suspends "a.wren".
3. Execute `import "a"` in "b.wren". Since "a" is already in the module map,
this does *not* suspend it.
Instead, we look for a variable named `A` in that module. But it hasn't been
defined yet since "a.wren" is still sitting on the `import "b" for B` line
before the declaration. To get this to work, you would need to move the
variable declaration above the import:
<pre class="snippet">
// main.wren
import "a"
// a.wren
var A = "a variable"
import "b" for B
// b.wren
import "a" for A
var B = "b variable"
</pre>
Now when we run it, we get:
1. Execute `import "a"` in "main.wren". That suspends "main.wren".
2. Define `A` in "a.wren".
2. Execute `import "b"` in "a.wren". That suspends "a.wren".
3. Execute `import "a"` in "b.wren". Since "a" is already in the module map,
this does *not* suspend it. It looks up `A`, which has already been defined,
and binds it.
4. Define `B` in "b.wren".
5. Complete "b.wren".
6. Look up `B` in "b.wren" and bind it in "a.wren".
7. Resume "a.wren".
This sounds super hairy, but that's because cyclic dependencies are hairy in
general. The key point here is that Wren *can* handle them in the rare cases
where you need them.
<br><hr>
<a href="error-handling.html">&larr; Error Handling</a>

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@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
^title Bool Class
Boolean [values][]. There are two instances, `true` and `false`.
[values]: ../../values.html
## Methods
### **!** operator
Returns the logical complement of the value.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(!true) //> false
System.print(!false) //> true
</pre>
### toString
The string representation of the value, either `"true"` or `"false"`.

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@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
^title Class Class
**TODO**
## Methods
### **name**
The name of the class.
### **supertype**
The superclass of this class.
<pre class="snippet">
class Crustacean {}
class Crab is Crustacean {}
System.print(Crab.supertype) //> Crustacean
</pre>
A class with no explicit superclass implicitly inherits Object:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(Crustacean.supertype) //> Object
</pre>
Object forms the root of the class hierarchy and has no supertype:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(Object.supertype) //> null
</pre>

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@ -1,205 +0,0 @@
^title Fiber Class
A lightweight coroutine. [Here][fibers] is a gentle introduction.
[fibers]: ../../concurrency.html
## Static Methods
### Fiber.**abort**(message)
Raises a runtime error with the provided message:
<pre class="snippet">
Fiber.abort("Something bad happened.")
</pre>
If the message is `null`, does nothing.
### Fiber.**current**
The currently executing fiber.
### Fiber.**new**(function)
Creates a new fiber that executes `function` in a separate coroutine when the
fiber is run. Does not immediately start running the fiber.
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
System.print("I won't get printed")
}
</pre>
`function` must be a function (an actual [Fn][] instance, not just an object
with a `call()` method) and it may only take zero or one parameters.
[fn]: fn.html
### Fiber.**suspend**()
Pauses the current fiber, and stops the interpreter. Control returns to the
host application.
Typically, you store a reference to the fiber using `Fiber.current` before
calling this. The fiber can be resumed later by calling or transferring to that
reference. If there are no references to it, it is eventually garbage collected.
Much like `yield()`, returns the value passed to `call()` or `transfer()` when
the fiber is resumed.
### Fiber.**yield**()
Pauses the current fiber and transfers control to the parent fiber. "Parent"
here means the last fiber that was started using `call` and not `transfer`.
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
System.print("Before yield")
Fiber.yield()
System.print("After yield")
}
fiber.call() //> Before yield
System.print("After call") //> After call
fiber.call() //> After yield
</pre>
When resumed, the parent fiber's `call()` method returns `null`.
If a yielded fiber is resumed by calling `call()` or `transfer()` with an
argument, `yield()` returns that value.
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
System.print(Fiber.yield()) //> value
}
fiber.call() // Run until the first yield.
fiber.call("value") // Resume the fiber.
</pre>
If it was resumed by calling `call()` or `transfer()` with no argument, it
returns `null`.
If there is no parent fiber to return to, this exits the interpreter. This can
be useful to pause execution until the host application wants to resume it
later.
<pre class="snippet">
Fiber.yield()
System.print("this does not get reached")
</pre>
### Fiber.**yield**(value)
Similar to `Fiber.yield` but provides a value to return to the parent fiber's
`call`.
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
Fiber.yield("value")
}
System.print(fiber.call()) //> value
</pre>
## Methods
### **call**()
Starts or resumes the fiber if it is in a paused state. Equivalent to:
<pre class="snippet">
fiber.call(null)
</pre>
### **call**(value)
Start or resumes the fiber if it is in a paused state. If the fiber is being
started for the first time, and its function takes a parameter, `value` is
passed to it.
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {|param|
System.print(param) //> begin
}
fiber.call("begin")
</pre>
If the fiber is being resumed, `value` becomes the returned value of the fiber's
call to `yield`.
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
System.print(Fiber.yield()) //> resume
}
fiber.call()
fiber.call("resume")
</pre>
### **error**
The error message that was passed when aborting the fiber, or `null` if the
fiber has not been aborted.
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
123.badMethod
}
fiber.try()
System.print(fiber.error) //> Num does not implement method 'badMethod'.
</pre>
### **isDone**
Whether the fiber's main function has completed and the fiber can no longer be
run. This returns `false` if the fiber is currently running or has yielded.
### **try**()
Tries to run the fiber. If a runtime error occurs
in the called fiber, the error is captured and is returned as a string.
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {
123.badMethod
}
var error = fiber.try()
System.print("Caught error: " + error)
</pre>
If the called fiber raises an error, it can no longer be used.
### **try**(value)
Tries to run the fiber. If a runtime error occurs
in the called fiber, the error is captured and is returned as a string.
If the fiber is being
started for the first time, and its function takes a parameter, `value` is
passed to it.
<pre class="snippet">
var fiber = Fiber.new {|value|
value.badMethod
}
var error = fiber.try("just a string")
System.print("Caught error: " + error)
</pre>
If the called fiber raises an error, it can no longer be used.
### **transfer**()
**TODO**
### **transfer**(value)
**TODO**
### **transferError**(error)
**TODO**

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@ -1,50 +0,0 @@
^title Fn Class
A first class function&mdash;an object that wraps an executable chunk of code.
[Here][functions] is a friendly introduction.
[functions]: ../../functions.html
## Static Methods
### Fn.**new**(function)
Creates a new function from... `function`. Of course, `function` is already a
function, so this really just returns the argument. It exists mainly to let you
create a "bare" function when you don't want to immediately pass it as a [block
argument](../functions.html#block-arguments) to some other method.
<pre class="snippet">
var fn = Fn.new {
System.print("The body")
}
</pre>
It is a runtime error if `function` is not a function.
## Methods
### **arity**
The number of arguments the function requires.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(Fn.new {}.arity) //> 0
System.print(Fn.new {|a, b, c| a }.arity) //> 3
</pre>
### **call**(args...)
Invokes the function with the given arguments.
<pre class="snippet">
var fn = Fn.new { |arg|
System.print(arg) //> Hello world
}
fn.call("Hello world")
</pre>
It is a runtime error if the number of arguments given is less than the arity
of the function. If more arguments are given than the function's arity they are
ignored.

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@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
<script type="text/javascript">
window.location = '../'
</script>

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@ -1,175 +0,0 @@
^title List Class
Extends [Sequence](sequence.html).
An indexable contiguous collection of elements. More details [here][lists].
[lists]: ../../lists.html
## Static Methods
### List.**filled**(size, element)
Creates a new list with `size` elements, all set to `element`.
It is a runtime error if `size` is not a nonnegative integer.
### List.**new**()
Creates a new empty list. Equivalent to `[]`.
## Methods
### **add**(item)
Appends `item` to the end of the list.
### **clear**()
Removes all elements from the list.
### **count**
The number of elements in the list.
### **indexOf(value)**
Returns the index of `value` in the list, if found. If not found, returns -1.
<pre class="snippet">
var list = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]
System.print(list.indexOf(3)) //> 3
System.print(list.indexOf(20)) //> -1
</pre>
### **insert**(index, item)
Inserts the `item` at `index` in the list.
<pre class="snippet">
var list = ["a", "b", "c", "d"]
list.insert(1, "e")
System.print(list) //> [a, e, b, c, d]
</pre>
The `index` may be one past the last index in the list to append an element.
<pre class="snippet">
var list = ["a", "b", "c"]
list.insert(3, "d")
System.print(list) //> [a, b, c, d]
</pre>
If `index` is negative, it counts backwards from the end of the list. It bases this on the length of the list *after* inserted the element, so that `-1` will append the element, not insert it before the last element.
<pre class="snippet">
var list = ["a", "b"]
list.insert(-1, "d")
list.insert(-2, "c")
System.print(list) //> [a, b, c, d]
</pre>
Returns the inserted item.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(["a", "c"].insert(1, "b")) //> b
</pre>
It is a runtime error if the index is not an integer or is out of bounds.
### **iterate**(iterator), **iteratorValue**(iterator)
Implements the [iterator protocol][] for iterating over the elements in the
list.
[iterator protocol]: ../../control-flow.html#the-iterator-protocol
### **removeAt**(index)
Removes the element at `index`. If `index` is negative, it counts backwards
from the end of the list where `-1` is the last element. All trailing elements
are shifted up to fill in where the removed element was.
<pre class="snippet">
var list = ["a", "b", "c", "d"]
list.removeAt(1)
System.print(list) //> [a, c, d]
</pre>
Returns the removed item.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(["a", "b", "c"].removeAt(1)) //> b
</pre>
It is a runtime error if the index is not an integer or is out of bounds.
### **sort**(), **sort**(comparer)
Sorts the elements of a list in-place; altering the list. The default sort is implemented using the quicksort algorithm.
<pre class="snippet">
var list = [4, 1, 3, 2].sort()
System.print(list) //> [1, 2, 3, 4]
</pre>
A comparison function `comparer` can be provided to customise the element sorting. The comparison function must return a boolean value specifying the order in which elements should appear in the list.
The comparison function accepts two arguments `a` and `b`, two values to compare, and must return a boolean indicating the inequality between the arguments. If the function returns true, the first argument `a` will appear before the second `b` in the sorted results.
A compare function like `{|a, b| true }` will always put `a` before `b`. The default compare function is `{|a, b| a < b }`.
<pre class="snippet">
var list = [9, 6, 8, 7]
list.sort {|a, b| a < b}
System.print(list) //> [6, 7, 8, 9]
</pre>
It is a runtime error if `comparer` is not a function.
### **swap**(index0, index1)
Swaps values inside the list around. Puts the value from `index0` in `index1`,
and the value from `index1` at `index0` in the list.
<pre class="snippet">
var list = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]
list.swap(0, 3)
System.print(list) //> [3, 1, 2, 0, 4]
</pre>
### **[**index**]** operator
Gets the element at `index`. If `index` is negative, it counts backwards from
the end of the list where `-1` is the last element.
<pre class="snippet">
var list = ["a", "b", "c"]
System.print(list[1]) //> b
</pre>
It is a runtime error if the index is not an integer or is out of bounds.
### **[**index**]=**(item) operator
Replaces the element at `index` with `item`. If `index` is negative, it counts
backwards from the end of the list where `-1` is the last element.
<pre class="snippet">
var list = ["a", "b", "c"]
list[1] = "new"
System.print(list) //> [a, new, c]
</pre>
It is a runtime error if the index is not an integer or is out of bounds.
## **+**(other) operator
Appends a list to the end of the list (concatenation). `other` must be a `List`.
<pre class="snippet">
var letters = ["a", "b", "c"]
var other = ["d", "e", "f"]
var combined = letters + other
System.print(combined) //> [a, b, c, d, e, f]
</pre>

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@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
^title Map Class
An associative collection that maps keys to values. More details [here](../../maps.html).
## Methods
### **clear**()
Removes all entries from the map.
### **containsKey**(key)
Returns `true` if the map contains `key` or `false` otherwise.
### **count**
The number of entries in the map.
### **keys**
A [Sequence](sequence.html) that can be used to iterate over the keys in the
map. Note that iteration order is undefined. All keys will be iterated over,
but may be in any order, and may even change between invocations of Wren.
### **remove**(key)
Removes `key` and the value associated with it from the map. Returns the value.
If the key was not present, returns `null`.
### **values**
A [Sequence](sequence.html) that can be used to iterate over the values in the
map. Note that iteration order is undefined. All values will be iterated over,
but may be in any order, and may even change between invocations of Wren.
If multiple keys are associated with the same value, the value will appear
multiple times in the sequence.
### **[**key**]** operator
Gets the value associated with `key` in the map. If `key` is not present in the
map, returns `null`.
<pre class="snippet">
var map = {"george": "harrison", "ringo": "starr"}
System.print(map["ringo"]) //> starr
System.print(map["pete"]) //> null
</pre>
### **[**key**]=**(value) operator
Associates `value` with `key` in the map. If `key` was already in the map, this
replaces the previous association.
It is a runtime error if the key is not a [Bool](bool.html),
[Class](class.html), [Null](null.html), [Num](num.html), [Range](range.html),
or [String](string.html).

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@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
^title Null Class
## Methods
### **!** operator
Returns `true`, since `null` is considered [false](../../control-flow.html#truth).
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(!null) //> true
</pre>

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@ -1,240 +0,0 @@
^title Num Class
## Static Methods
### Num.**fromString**(value)
Attempts to parse `value` as a decimal literal and return it as an instance of
`Num`. If the number cannot be parsed `null` will be returned.
It is a runtime error if `value` is not a string.
### Num.**infinity**
The value of &infinity;.
### Num.**nan**
One value representing a NaN.
Provides a default sane NaN number suitable for the vm internal values.
### Num.**pi**
The value of &pi;.
### Num.**tau**
The value of &tau;.
### Num.**largest**
The largest representable numeric value.
### Num.**smallest**
The smallest positive representable numeric value.
## Methods
### **abs**
The absolute value of the number.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print( (-123).abs ) //> 123
</pre>
### **acos**
The arc cosine of the number.
### **asin**
The arc sine of the number.
### **atan**
The arc tangent of the number.
### **atan**(x)
The arc tangent of the number when divided by `x`, using the signs of the two
numbers to determine the quadrant of the result.
### **ceil**
Rounds the number up to the nearest integer.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(1.5.ceil) //> 2
System.print((-3.2).ceil) //> -3
</pre>
### **cos**
The cosine of the number.
### **floor**
Rounds the number down to the nearest integer.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(1.5.floor) //> 1
System.print((-3.2).floor) //> -4
</pre>
### **isInfinity**
Whether the number is positive or negative infinity or not.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(99999.isInfinity) //> false
System.print((1/0).isInfinity) //> true
</pre>
### **isInteger**
Whether the number is an integer or has some fractional component.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(2.isInteger) //> true
System.print(2.3.isInteger) //> false
</pre>
### **isNan**
Whether the number is [not a number](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NaN). This is
`false` for normal number values and infinities, and `true` for the result of
`0/0`, the square root of a negative number, etc.
### **log**
The natural logarithm of the number. Returns `nan` if the base is negative.
### **log2**
The binary (base-2) logarithm of the number. Returns `nan` if the base is negative.
### **exp**
The exponential `e` (Eulers number) raised to the number. This: `eⁿ`.
### **min**(other)
Returns the minimum value when comparing this number and `other`.
### **max**(other)
Returns the maximum value when comparing this number and `other`.
### **clamp**(min, max)
Clamps a number into the range of `min` and `max`. If this number is less than min,
`min` is returned. If bigger than `max`, `max` is returned. Otherwise, the number
itself is returned.
### **pow**(power)
Raises this number (the base) to `power`. Returns `nan` if the base is negative.
### **round**
Rounds the number to the nearest integer.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(1.5.round) //> 2
System.print((-3.2).round) //> -3
System.print((-3.7).round) //> -4
</pre>
### **sign**
The sign of the number, expressed as a -1, 1 or 0, for negative and positive numbers, and zero.
### **sin**
The sine of the number.
### **sqrt**
The square root of the number. Returns `nan` if the number is negative.
### **tan**
The tangent of the number.
### **-** operator
Negates the number.
<pre class="snippet">
var a = 123
System.print(-a) //> -123
</pre>
### **-**(other), **+**(other), **/**(other), **\***(other) operators
The usual arithmetic operators you know and love. All of them do 64-bit
floating point arithmetic. It is a runtime error if the right-hand operand is
not a number. Wren doesn't roll with implicit conversions.
### **%**(denominator) operator
Also known as mod or modulus.
The floating-point remainder of this number divided by `denominator`.
The returned value has the same sign as `this` (internally calls `fmod` from C).
It is a runtime error if `denominator` is not a number.
### **&lt;**(other), **&gt;**(other), **&lt;=**(other), **&gt;=**(other) operators
Compares this and `other`, returning `true` or `false` based on how the numbers
are ordered. It is a runtime error if `other` is not a number.
### **~** operator
Performs *bitwise* negation on the number. The number is first converted to a
32-bit unsigned value, which will truncate any floating point value. The bits
of the result of that are then negated, yielding the result.
### **&**(other) operator
Performs bitwise and on the number. Both numbers are first converted to 32-bit
unsigned values. The result is then a 32-bit unsigned number where each bit is
`true` only where the corresponding bits of both inputs were `true`.
It is a runtime error if `other` is not a number.
### **|**(other) operator
Performs bitwise or on the number. Both numbers are first converted to 32-bit
unsigned values. The result is then a 32-bit unsigned number where each bit is
`true` only where the corresponding bits of one or both inputs were `true`.
It is a runtime error if `other` is not a number.
### **..**(other) operator
Creates a [Range](range.html) representing a consecutive range of numbers
from the beginning number to the ending number.
<pre class="snippet">
var range = 1.2..3.4
System.print(range.min) //> 1.2
System.print(range.max) //> 3.4
System.print(range.isInclusive) //> true
</pre>
### **...**(other) operator
Creates a [Range](range.html) representing a consecutive range of numbers
from the beginning number to the ending number not including the ending number.
<pre class="snippet">
var range = 1.2...3.4
System.print(range.min) //> 1.2
System.print(range.max) //> 3.4
System.print(range.isInclusive) //> false
</pre>

View File

@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
^title Object Class
## Static Methods
### **same**(obj1, obj2)
Returns `true` if *obj1* and *obj2* are the same. For [value
types](../values.html), this returns `true` if the objects have equivalent
state. In other words, numbers, strings, booleans, and ranges compare by value.
For all other objects, this returns `true` only if *obj1* and *obj2* refer to
the exact same object in memory.
This is similar to the built in `==` operator in Object except that this cannot
be overriden. It allows you to reliably access the built-in equality semantics
even on user-defined classes.
## Methods
### **!** operator
Returns `false`, since most objects are considered [true][].
[true]: control-flow.html#truth
### **==**(other) and **!=**(other) operators
Compares two objects using built-in equality. This compares [value
types](../values.html) by value, and all other objects are compared by
identity&mdash;two objects are equal only if they are the exact same object.
### **is**(class) operator
Returns `true` if this object's class or one of its superclasses is `class`.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(123 is Num) //> true
System.print("s" is Num) //> false
System.print(null is String) //> false
System.print([] is List) //> true
System.print([] is Sequence) //> true
</pre>
It is a runtime error if `class` is not a [Class][].
### **toString**
A default string representation of the object.
### **type**
The [Class][] of the object.
[class]: class.html

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@ -1,62 +0,0 @@
^title Range Class
A range defines a bounded range of values from a starting point to a possibly
exclusive endpoint. [Here](../../values.html#ranges) is a friendly introduction.
Extends [Sequence](sequence.html).
## Methods
### **from**
The starting point of the range. A range may be backwards, so this can be
greater than [to].
<pre class="snippet">
System.print((3..5).from) //> 3
System.print((4..2).from) //> 4
</pre>
### **to**
The endpoint of the range. If the range is inclusive, this value is included,
otherwise it is not.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print((3..5).to) //> 5
System.print((4..2).to) //> 2
</pre>
### **min**
The minimum bound of the range. Returns either `from`, or `to`, whichever is
lower.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print((3..5).min) //> 3
System.print((4..2).min) //> 2
</pre>
### **max**
The maximum bound of the range. Returns either `from`, or `to`, whichever is
greater.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print((3..5).max) //> 5
System.print((4..2).max) //> 4
</pre>
### **isInclusive**
Whether or not the range includes `to`. (`from` is always included.)
<pre class="snippet">
System.print((3..5).isInclusive) //> true
System.print((3...5).isInclusive) //> false
</pre>
### **iterate**(iterator), **iteratorValue**(iterator)
Iterates over the range. Starts at `from` and increments by one towards `to`
until the endpoint is reached.

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@ -1,196 +0,0 @@
^title Sequence Class
An abstract base class for any iterable object. Any class that implements the
core [iterator protocol][] can extend this to get a number of helpful methods.
[iterator protocol]: ../../control-flow.html#the-iterator-protocol
## Methods
### **all**(predicate)
Tests whether all the elements in the sequence pass the `predicate`.
Iterates over the sequence, passing each element to the function `predicate`.
If it returns something [false](../control-flow.html#truth), stops iterating
and returns the value. Otherwise, returns `true`.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print([1, 2, 3].all {|n| n > 2}) //> false
System.print([1, 2, 3].all {|n| n < 4}) //> true
</pre>
### **any**(predicate)
Tests whether any element in the sequence passes the `predicate`.
Iterates over the sequence, passing each element to the function `predicate`.
If it returns something [true][], stops iterating and
returns that value. Otherwise, returns `false`.
[true]: ../../control-flow.html#truth
<pre class="snippet">
System.print([1, 2, 3].any {|n| n < 1}) //> false
System.print([1, 2, 3].any {|n| n > 2}) //> true
</pre>
### **contains**(element)
Returns whether the sequence contains any element equal to the given element.
### **count**
The number of elements in the sequence.
Unless a more efficient override is available, this will iterate over the
sequence in order to determine how many elements it contains.
### **count**(predicate)
Returns the number of elements in the sequence that pass the `predicate`.
Iterates over the sequence, passing each element to the function `predicate`
and counting the number of times the returned value evaluates to `true`.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print([1, 2, 3].count {|n| n > 2}) //> 1
System.print([1, 2, 3].count {|n| n < 4}) //> 3
</pre>
### **each**(function)
Iterates over the sequence, passing each element to the given `function`.
<pre class="snippet">
["one", "two", "three"].each {|word| System.print(word) }
</pre>
### **isEmpty**
Returns whether the sequence contains any elements.
This can be more efficient that `count == 0` because this does not iterate over
the entire sequence.
### **join**(separator)
Converts every element in the sequence to a string and then joins the results
together into a single string, each separated by `separator`.
It is a runtime error if `separator` is not a string.
### **join**()
Converts every element in the sequence to a string and then joins the results
together into a single string.
### **map**(transformation)
Creates a new sequence that applies the `transformation` to each element in the
original sequence while it is iterated.
<pre class="snippet">
var doubles = [1, 2, 3].map {|n| n * 2 }
for (n in doubles) {
System.print(n) //> 2
//> 4
//> 6
}
</pre>
The returned sequence is *lazy*. It only applies the mapping when you iterate
over the sequence, and it does so by holding a reference to the original
sequence.
This means you can use `map(_)` for things like infinite sequences or sequences
that have side effects when you iterate over them. But it also means that
changes to the original sequence will be reflected in the mapped sequence.
To force eager evaluation, just call `.toList` on the result.
<pre class="snippet">
var numbers = [1, 2, 3]
var doubles = numbers.map {|n| n * 2 }.toList
numbers.add(4)
System.print(doubles) //> [2, 4, 6]
</pre>
### **reduce**(function)
Reduces the sequence down to a single value. `function` is a function that
takes two arguments, the accumulator and sequence item and returns the new
accumulator value. The accumulator is initialized from the first item in the
sequence. Then, the function is invoked on each remaining item in the sequence,
iteratively updating the accumulator.
It is a runtime error to call this on an empty sequence.
### **reduce**(seed, function)
Similar to above, but uses `seed` for the initial value of the accumulator. If
the sequence is empty, returns `seed`.
### **skip**(count)
Creates a new sequence that skips the first `count` elements of the original
sequence.
The returned sequence is *lazy*. The first `count` elements are only skipped
once you start to iterate the returned sequence. Changes to the original
sequence will be reflected in the filtered sequence.
### **take**(count)
Creates a new sequence that iterates only the first `count` elements of the
original sequence.
The returned sequence is *lazy*. Changes to the original sequence will be
reflected in the filtered sequence.
### **toList**
Creates a [list][] containing all the elements in the sequence.
[list]: list.html
<pre class="snippet">
System.print((1..3).toList) //> [1, 2, 3]
</pre>
If the sequence is already a list, this creates a copy of it.
### **where**(predicate)
Creates a new sequence containing only the elements from the original sequence
that pass the `predicate`.
During iteration, each element in the original sequence is passed to the
function `predicate`. If it returns `false`, the element is skipped.
<pre class="snippet">
var odds = (1..6).where {|n| n % 2 == 1 }
for (n in odds) {
System.print(n) //> 1
//> 3
//> 5
}
</pre>
The returned sequence is *lazy*. It only applies the filtering when you iterate
over the sequence, and it does so by holding a reference to the original
sequence.
This means you can use `where(_)` for things like infinite sequences or
sequences that have side effects when you iterate over them. But it also means
that changes to the original sequence will be reflected in the filtered
sequence.
To force eager evaluation, just call `.toList` on the result.
<pre class="snippet">
var numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
var odds = numbers.where {|n| n % 2 == 1 }.toList
numbers.add(7)
System.print(odds) //> [1, 3, 5]
</pre>

View File

@ -1,276 +0,0 @@
^title String Class
A string is an immutable array of bytes. Strings usually store text, in which
case the bytes are the UTF-8 encoding of the text's code points. But you can put
any kind of byte values in there you want, including null bytes or invalid
UTF-8.
There are a few ways to think of a string:
* As a searchable chunk of text composed of a sequence of textual code points.
* As an iterable sequence of code point numbers.
* As a flat array of directly indexable bytes.
All of those are useful for some problems, so the string API supports all three.
The first one is the most common, so that's what methods directly on the string
class cater to.
In UTF-8, a single Unicode code point&mdash;very roughly a single
"character"&mdash;may encode to one or more bytes. This means you can't
efficiently index by code point. There's no way to jump directly to, say, the
fifth code point in a string without walking the string from the beginning and
counting them as you go.
Because counting code points is relatively slow, the indexes passed to string
methods are *byte* offsets, not *code point* offsets. When you do:
<pre class="snippet">
someString[3]
</pre>
That means "get the code point starting at *byte* three", not "get the third
code point in the string". This sounds scary, but keep in mind that the methods
on strings *return* byte indexes too. So, for example, this does what you want:
<pre class="snippet">
var metalBand = "Fäcëhämmër"
var hPosition = metalBand.indexOf("h")
System.print(metalBand[hPosition]) //> h
</pre>
If you want to work with a string as a sequence numeric code points, call the
`codePoints` getter. It returns a [Sequence](sequence.html) that decodes UTF-8
and iterates over the code points, returning each as a number.
If you want to get at the raw bytes, call `bytes`. This returns a Sequence that
ignores any UTF-8 encoding and works directly at the byte level.
## Static Methods
### String.**fromCodePoint**(codePoint)
Creates a new string containing the UTF-8 encoding of `codePoint`.
<pre class="snippet">
String.fromCodePoint(8225) //> ‡
</pre>
It is a runtime error if `codePoint` is not an integer between `0` and
`0x10ffff`, inclusive.
### String.**fromByte**(byte)
Creates a new string containing the single byte `byte`.
<pre class="snippet">
String.fromByte(255) //> <20>
</pre>
It is a runtime error if `byte` is not an integer between `0` and `0xff`, inclusive.
## Methods
### **bytes**
Gets a [`Sequence`](sequence.html) that can be used to access the raw bytes of
the string and ignore any UTF-8 encoding. In addition to the normal sequence
methods, the returned object also has a subscript operator that can be used to
directly index bytes.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print("hello".bytes[1]) //> 101 (for "e")
</pre>
The `count` method on the returned sequence returns the number of bytes in the
string. Unlike `count` on the string itself, it does not have to iterate over
the string, and runs in constant time instead.
### **codePoints**
Gets a [`Sequence`](sequence.html) that can be used to access the UTF-8 decode
code points of the string *as numbers*. Iteration and subscripting work similar
to the string itself. The difference is that instead of returning
single-character strings, this returns the numeric code point values.
<pre class="snippet">
var string = "(ᵔᴥᵔ)"
System.print(string.codePoints[0]) //> 40 (for "(")
System.print(string.codePoints[4]) //> 7461 (for "ᴥ")
</pre>
If the byte at `index` does not begin a valid UTF-8 sequence, or the end of the
string is reached before the sequence is complete, returns `-1`.
<pre class="snippet">
var string = "(ᵔᴥᵔ)"
System.print(string.codePoints[2]) //> -1 (in the middle of "ᵔ")
</pre>
### **contains**(other)
Checks if `other` is a substring of the string.
It is a runtime error if `other` is not a string.
### **count**
Returns the number of code points in the string. Since UTF-8 is a
variable-length encoding, this requires iterating over the entire string, which
is relatively slow.
If the string contains bytes that are invalid UTF-8, each byte adds one to the
count as well.
### **endsWith**(suffix)
Checks if the string ends with `suffix`.
It is a runtime error if `suffix` is not a string.
### **indexOf**(search)
Returns the index of the first byte matching `search` in the string or `-1` if
`search` was not found.
It is a runtime error if `search` is not a string.
### **indexOf**(search, start)
Returns the index of the first byte matching `search` in the string or `-1` if
`search` was not found, starting a byte offset `start`. The start can be
negative to count backwards from the end of the string.
It is a runtime error if `search` is not a string or `start` is not an integer
index within the string's byte length.
### **iterate**(iterator), **iteratorValue**(iterator)
Implements the [iterator protocol][] for iterating over the *code points* in the
string:
[iterator protocol]: ../../control-flow.html#the-iterator-protocol
<pre class="snippet">
var codePoints = []
for (c in "(ᵔᴥᵔ)") {
codePoints.add(c)
}
System.print(codePoints) //> [(, ᵔ, ᴥ, ᵔ, )]
</pre>
If the string contains any bytes that are not valid UTF-8, this iterates over
those too, one byte at a time.
### **replace**(old, swap)
Returns a new string with all occurrences of `old` replaced with `swap`.
<pre class="snippet">
var string = "abc abc abc"
System.print(string.replace(" ", "")) //> abcabcabc
</pre>
### **split**(separator)
Returns a list of one or more strings separated by `separator`.
<pre class="snippet">
var string = "abc abc abc"
System.print(string.split(" ")) //> [abc, abc, abc]
</pre>
It is a runtime error if `separator` is not a string or is an empty string.
### **startsWith**(prefix)
Checks if the string starts with `prefix`.
It is a runtime error if `prefix` is not a string.
### **trim**()
Returns a new string with whitespace removed from the beginning and end of this
string. "Whitespace" is space, tab, carriage return, and line feed characters.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(" \nstuff\r\t".trim()) //> stuff
</pre>
### **trim**(chars)
Returns a new string with all code points in `chars` removed from the beginning
and end of this string.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print("ᵔᴥᵔᴥᵔbearᵔᴥᴥᵔᵔ".trim("ᵔᴥ")) //> bear
</pre>
### **trimEnd**()
Like `trim()` but only removes from the end of the string.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(" \nstuff\r\t".trimEnd()) //> " \nstuff"
</pre>
### **trimEnd**(chars)
Like `trim()` but only removes from the end of the string.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print("ᵔᴥᵔᴥᵔbearᵔᴥᴥᵔᵔ".trimEnd("ᵔᴥ")) //> ᵔᴥᵔᴥᵔbear
</pre>
### **trimStart**()
Like `trim()` but only removes from the beginning of the string.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print(" \nstuff\r\t".trimStart()) //> "stuff\r\t"
</pre>
### **trimStart**(chars)
Like `trim()` but only removes from the beginning of the string.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print("ᵔᴥᵔᴥᵔbearᵔᴥᴥᵔᵔ".trimStart("ᵔᴥ")) //> bearᵔᴥᴥᵔᵔ
</pre>
### **+**(other) operator
Returns a new string that concatenates this string and `other`.
It is a runtime error if `other` is not a string.
### **==**(other) operator
Checks if the string is equal to `other`.
### **!=**(other) operator
Check if the string is not equal to `other`.
### **[**index**]** operator
Returns a string containing the code point starting at byte `index`.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print("ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ"[5]) //> ᴥ
</pre>
Since `ʕ` is two bytes in UTF-8 and `•` is three, the fifth byte points to the
bear's nose.
If `index` points into the middle of a UTF-8 sequence or at otherwise invalid
UTF-8, this returns a one-byte string containing the byte at that index:
<pre class="snippet">
System.print("I ♥ NY"[3]) //> (one-byte string [153])
</pre>
It is a runtime error if `index` is greater than the number of bytes in the
string.

View File

@ -1,50 +0,0 @@
^title System Class
The System class is a grab-bag of functionality exposed by the VM, mostly for
use during development or debugging.
## Static Methods
### System.**clock**
Returns the number of seconds (including fractional seconds) since the program
was started. This is usually used for benchmarking.
### System.**gc**()
Requests that the VM perform an immediate garbage collection to free unused
memory.
### System.**print**()
Prints a single newline to the console.
### System.**print**(object)
Prints `object` to the console followed by a newline. If not already a string,
the object is converted to a string by calling `toString` on it.
<pre class="snippet">
System.print("I like bananas") //> I like bananas
</pre>
### System.**printAll**(sequence)
Iterates over `sequence` and prints each element, then prints a single newline
at the end. Each element is converted to a string by calling `toString` on it.
<pre class="snippet">
System.printAll([1, [2, 3], 4]) //> 1[2, 3]4
</pre>
### System.**write**(object)
Prints a single value to the console, but does not print a newline character
afterwards. Converts the value to a string by calling `toString` on it.
<pre class="snippet">
System.write(4 + 5) //> 9
</pre>
In the above example, the result of `4 + 5` is printed, and then the prompt is
printed on the same line because no newline character was printed afterwards.

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