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# 1.1 Syntax

Onyx syntax is extremely simple. Code is essentially composed of tokens that are delimited by whitespace or a list of self-delimiting tokens (see Section 2.2 for details). As such, there are very few ways for a syntax error to occur, but typographical mistakes may instead produce other errors. For example, say that a C programmer forgets he is writing Onyx code and types the following at the interactive onyx prompt:

    onyx:0> 1000L {`Hello\n' print} repeat

The intention is to print `Hello` 1000 times, but `1000L` is invalid syntax for an integer, so Onyx creates an executable name object instead, and then tries to execute the name, resulting in the following error:

    Error $undefined
    ostack: ()
    dstack: (-dict- -dict- -dict- -dict-)
    estack/istack trace (0..2):
    0:      1000L
    1:      -file-
    2:      --start--

This is typical of the simple errors encountered when writing Onyx code. The Onyx scanner uses a simple state machine to try to create objects of various types, and when it fails, the input is instead used to create an executable name.

The scanner only deals with a few types (ignoring procedures for the moment): integers, reals, names, and strings. There are many other object types, but none of them are created directly by the scanner.

{ and } are used to delimit procedure bodies, which in actuality are executable arrays. { puts the scanner into deferred execution mode until the matching } is scanned. {} pairs can be nested, so execution is deferred until matching } characters have been scanned for all { characters. Deferred execution means that the scanner creates objects as it scans code, but does not execute any of them. While not a strictly necessary language feature, this greatly simplifies the task of constructing executable arrays, which can then be treated as procedures.

Following are equivalent examples of how a procedure associated with the name `double` can be defined:

    onyx:0> $double {2 mul} def
    onyx:0> $double [ 2 $mul load ] cvx def

As mentioned earlier, there are few ways of generating a syntax error, but it is possible. The most common syntax errors are due to unmatched ' and } characters. Generating other syntax errors is left as an exercise for the reader.

Next: 1.2 Data types Up: 1. Onyx Language Tutorial Previous: 1. Onyx Language Tutorial Contents Index