From 00a6188202275afc0560df3fd7b32d6ce4f93871 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Juan J. Martinez" <jjm@usebox.net>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2022 09:42:00 +0100
Subject: WIP of language specification

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 language.md | 177 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 177 insertions(+)
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+## Micro2 programs
+
+A program is a sequence of:
+
+ * function declarations
+ * statements
+ * TODO: if-else, for, for-in, etc; with no semicolon
+
+Statements are delimited with semicolons (`;`), and are one of:
+
+ * expression (e.g. `1+2`)
+ * function call
+ * lambda definition
+ * variable
+ * variable declaration
+ * return statement
+
+XXX: do we really want expressions without effects?
+
+## Modules
+
+A `micro2` file must start with the module name.
+```
+# our main module (this is a comment)
+module main
+```
+
+The module name is used by the linker.
+
+## Built-in types
+
+### Integers
+
+| Type | Description | Samples |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| u8 | unsigned 8-bit | `123; 0xce; 0b10000;` |
+| s8 | signed 8-bit | `-123;` |
+| u16 | unsigned 16-bit | `65535; 0xffff;` |
+| s16 | signed 16-bit | `-4096;` |
+
+Builting functions:
+
+| Function | Description | Samples |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| hi | Get the MSB on a 16-bit number | `hi(0xaabb); # 0xaa`|
+| lo | Get the LSB on a 16-bit number | `lo(0xaabb); # 0xbb`|
+
+Type conversion is explicit:
+```
+var a: u8 = 10;
+var b: u16 = 10;
+
+a + b; # error: type mismatch
+u16(a) + b; # 20: u16
+```
+
+### Booleans
+
+| Type | Description | Samples |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| bool | boolean | `true; false;` |
+
+### Functions
+
+| Type | Description | Samples |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| ([params]) [-> [return]] | functions | `() { return; }` |
+
+Functions can be defined with `def` when they have a name, or as anonymous using the lambda syntax.
+
+```
+def add(a: u8, b: u8): u8 {
+    return a + b;
+}
+
+add(2, 8); # 10
+
+```
+
+Anonymous function:
+```
+# increment the value passed as argument
+(a: u8): u8 {
+    return a + 1;
+}(10); # 11
+
+```
+
+Function are higher order functions:
+```
+def apply(fn: (u8) -> u8, a: u8, b: u8): u8 {
+    return fn(a, b);
+}
+
+apply(add, 2, 10); # 8
+
+# using a lambda
+apply((a: u8, b: u8): u8 {
+        return a + b;
+    },
+    2, 8); # 10
+
+# lambdas can be assigned to variables
+var double: (u8) -> u8 = (a: u8): u8 {
+    return a + a;
+};
+
+double(10); # 20
+```
+
+Anomymous functions can only access local variables (closures aren't supported):
+```
+def closure(a: u8): () -> u8 {
+    return (): u8 {
+        return a; # invalid return, undefined a
+    };
+}
+```
+
+Functions are exported by default, unless they are defined as private:
+```
+# not exported (exported is the default)
+private def dec(a: u8): u8 {
+    return a - 1;
+}
+```
+
+### Special value: nil
+
+`nil` is a reference not pointing to a value, used for example with variables with type function.
+
+```
+# fn doesn't hold a reference
+var fn: (u8) -> u8 = nil;
+
+fn(10); # runtime error
+```
+
+## Variables
+
+Variable declaration:
+```
+var a: u8 = 123;
+```
+
+Group declaration:
+```
+var (
+    a: u8 = 123,
+    b: u16 = 1234;
+);
+```
+
+Vaiables must be initialized, there are not default values.
+
+### Constants
+
+Constant are not variables, they don't use memory.
+```
+const K: u8 = 10;
+```
+
+Group declaration:
+```
+const (
+    A: u8 = 128,
+    B: u16 = 4096
+);
+```
+
+Must be a constant expression and that can be resolved at compilation time.
+```
+var a: u8 = 1;
+
+const A: u8 = a + 1; # error: unresolved value
+```
+
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