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==========
Nim Manual
==========
:Authors: Andreas Rumpf, Zahary Karadjov
:Version: |nimversion|
.. contents::
"Complexity" seems to be a lot like "energy": you can transfer it from the end
user to one/some of the other players, but the total amount seems to remain
pretty much constant for a given task. -- Ran
About this document
===================
**Note**: This document is a draft! Several of Nim's features may need more
precise wording. This manual is constantly evolving into a proper specification.
This document describes the lexis, the syntax, and the semantics of Nim.
The language constructs are explained using an extended BNF, in which ``(a)*``
means 0 or more ``a``'s, ``a+`` means 1 or more ``a``'s, and ``(a)?`` means an
optional *a*. Parentheses may be used to group elements.
``&`` is the lookahead operator; ``&a`` means that an ``a`` is expected but
not consumed. It will be consumed in the following rule.
The ``|``, ``/`` symbols are used to mark alternatives and have the lowest
precedence. ``/`` is the ordered choice that requires the parser to try the
alternatives in the given order. ``/`` is often used to ensure the grammar
is not ambiguous.
Non-terminals start with a lowercase letter, abstract terminal symbols are in
UPPERCASE. Verbatim terminal symbols (including keywords) are quoted
with ``'``. An example::
ifStmt = 'if' expr ':' stmts ('elif' expr ':' stmts)* ('else' stmts)?
The binary ``^*`` operator is used as a shorthand for 0 or more occurrences
separated by its second argument; likewise ``^+`` means 1 or more
occurrences: ``a ^+ b`` is short for ``a (b a)*``
and ``a ^* b`` is short for ``(a (b a)*)?``. Example::
arrayConstructor = '[' expr ^* ',' ']'
Other parts of Nim - like scoping rules or runtime semantics are only
described in the, more easily comprehensible, informal manner for now.
Definitions
===========
A Nim program specifies a computation that acts on a memory consisting of
components called `locations`:idx:. A variable is basically a name for a
location. Each variable and location is of a certain `type`:idx:. The
variable's type is called `static type`:idx:, the location's type is called
`dynamic type`:idx:. If the static type is not the same as the dynamic type,
it is a super-type or subtype of the dynamic type.
An `identifier`:idx: is a symbol declared as a name for a variable, type,
procedure, etc. The region of the program over which a declaration applies is
called the `scope`:idx: of the declaration. Scopes can be nested. The meaning
of an identifier is determined by the smallest enclosing scope in which the
identifier is declared unless overloading resolution rules suggest otherwise.
An expression specifies a computation that produces a value or location.
Expressions that produce locations are called `l-values`:idx:. An l-value
can denote either a location or the value the location contains, depending on
the context. Expressions whose values can be determined statically are called
`constant expressions`:idx:; they are never l-values.
A `static error`:idx: is an error that the implementation detects before
program execution. Unless explicitly classified, an error is a static error.
A `checked runtime error`:idx: is an error that the implementation detects
and reports at runtime. The method for reporting such errors is via *raising
exceptions* or *dying with a fatal error*. However, the implementation
provides a means to disable these runtime checks. See the section pragmas_
for details.
Whether a checked runtime error results in an exception or in a fatal error at
runtime is implementation specific. Thus the following program is always
invalid:
.. code-block:: nim
var a: array[0..1, char]
let i = 5
try:
a[i] = 'N'
except IndexError:
echo "invalid index"
An `unchecked runtime error`:idx: is an error that is not guaranteed to be
detected, and can cause the subsequent behavior of the computation to
be arbitrary. Unchecked runtime errors cannot occur if only `safe`:idx:
language features are used.
Lexical Analysis
================
Encoding
--------
All Nim source files are in the UTF-8 encoding (or its ASCII subset). Other
encodings are not supported. Any of the standard platform line termination
sequences can be used - the Unix form using ASCII LF (linefeed), the Windows
form using the ASCII sequence CR LF (return followed by linefeed), or the old
Macintosh form using the ASCII CR (return) character. All of these forms can be
used equally, regardless of platform.
Indentation
-----------
Nim's standard grammar describes an `indentation sensitive`:idx: language.
This means that all the control structures are recognized by indentation.
Indentation consists only of spaces; tabulators are not allowed.
The indentation handling is implemented as follows: The lexer annotates the
following token with the preceding number of spaces; indentation is not
a separate token. This trick allows parsing of Nim with only 1 token of
lookahead.
The parser uses a stack of indentation levels: the stack consists of integers
counting the spaces. The indentation information is queried at strategic
places in the parser but ignored otherwise: The pseudo terminal ``IND{>}``
denotes an indentation that consists of more spaces than the entry at the top
of the stack; ``IND{=}`` an indentation that has the same number of spaces. ``DED``
is another pseudo terminal that describes the *action* of popping a value
from the stack, ``IND{>}`` then implies to push onto the stack.
With this notation we can now easily define the core of the grammar: A block of
statements (simplified example)::
ifStmt = 'if' expr ':' stmt
(IND{=} 'elif' expr ':' stmt)*
(IND{=} 'else' ':' stmt)?
simpleStmt = ifStmt / ...
stmt = IND{>} stmt ^+ IND{=} DED # list of statements
/ simpleStmt # or a simple statement
Comments
--------
Comments start anywhere outside a string or character literal with the
hash character ``#``.
Comments consist of a concatenation of `comment pieces`:idx:. A comment piece
starts with ``#`` and runs until the end of the line. The end of line characters
belong to the piece. If the next line only consists of a comment piece with
no other tokens between it and the preceding one, it does not start a new
comment:
.. code-block:: nim
i = 0 # This is a single comment over multiple lines.
# The scanner merges these two pieces.
# The comment continues here.
`Documentation comments`:idx: are comments that start with two ``##``.
Documentation comments are tokens; they are only allowed at certain places in
the input file as they belong to the syntax tree!
Multiline comments
------------------
Starting with version 0.13.0 of the language Nim supports multiline comments.
They look like:
.. code-block:: nim
#[Comment here.
Multiple lines
are not a problem.]#
Multiline comments support nesting:
.. code-block:: nim
#[ #[ Multiline comment in already
commented out code. ]#
proc p[T](x: T) = discard
]#
Multiline documentation comments also exist and support nesting too:
.. code-block:: nim
proc foo =
##[Long documentation comment
here.
]##
Identifiers & Keywords
----------------------
Identifiers in Nim can be any string of letters, digits
and underscores, beginning with a letter. Two immediate following
underscores ``__`` are not allowed::
letter ::= 'A'..'Z' | 'a'..'z' | '\x80'..'\xff'
digit ::= '0'..'9'
IDENTIFIER ::= letter ( ['_'] (letter | digit) )*
Currently any Unicode character with an ordinal value > 127 (non ASCII) is
classified as a ``letter`` and may thus be part of an identifier but later
versions of the language may assign some Unicode characters to belong to the
operator characters instead.
The following keywords are reserved and cannot be used as identifiers:
.. code-block:: nim
:file: keywords.txt
Some keywords are unused; they are reserved for future developments of the
language.
Identifier equality
-------------------
Two identifiers are considered equal if the following algorithm returns true:
.. code-block:: nim
proc sameIdentifier(a, b: string): bool =
a[0] == b[0] and
a.replace("_", "").toLowerAscii == b.replace("_", "").toLowerAscii
That means only the first letters are compared in a case sensitive manner. Other
letters are compared case insensitively within the ASCII range and underscores are ignored.
This rather unorthodox way to do identifier comparisons is called
`partial case insensitivity`:idx: and has some advantages over the conventional
case sensitivity:
It allows programmers to mostly use their own preferred
spelling style, be it humpStyle or snake_style, and libraries written
by different programmers cannot use incompatible conventions.
A Nim-aware editor or IDE can show the identifiers as preferred.
Another advantage is that it frees the programmer from remembering
the exact spelling of an identifier. The exception with respect to the first
letter allows common code like ``var foo: Foo`` to be parsed unambiguously.
Historically, Nim was a fully `style-insensitive`:idx: language. This meant that
it was not case-sensitive and underscores were ignored and there was not even a
distinction between ``foo`` and ``Foo``.
String literals
---------------
Terminal symbol in the grammar: ``STR_LIT``.
String literals can be delimited by matching double quotes, and can
contain the following `escape sequences`:idx:\ :
================== ===================================================
Escape sequence Meaning
================== ===================================================
``\p`` platform specific newline: CRLF on Windows,
LF on Unix
``\r``, ``\c`` `carriage return`:idx:
``\n``, ``\l`` `line feed`:idx: (often called `newline`:idx:)
``\f`` `form feed`:idx:
``\t`` `tabulator`:idx:
``\v`` `vertical tabulator`:idx:
``\\`` `backslash`:idx:
``\"`` `quotation mark`:idx:
``\'`` `apostrophe`:idx:
``\`` '0'..'9'+ `character with decimal value d`:idx:;
all decimal digits directly
following are used for the character
``\a`` `alert`:idx:
``\b`` `backspace`:idx:
``\e`` `escape`:idx: `[ESC]`:idx:
``\x`` HH `character with hex value HH`:idx:;
exactly two hex digits are allowed
================== ===================================================
Strings in Nim may contain any 8-bit value, even embedded zeros. However
some operations may interpret the first binary zero as a terminator.
Triple quoted string literals
-----------------------------
Terminal symbol in the grammar: ``TRIPLESTR_LIT``.
String literals can also be delimited by three double quotes
``"""`` ... ``"""``.
Literals in this form may run for several lines, may contain ``"`` and do not
interpret any escape sequences.
For convenience, when the opening ``"""`` is followed by a newline (there may
be whitespace between the opening ``"""`` and the newline),
the newline (and the preceding whitespace) is not included in the string. The
ending of the string literal is defined by the pattern ``"""[^"]``, so this:
.. code-block:: nim
""""long string within quotes""""
Produces::
"long string within quotes"
Raw string literals
-------------------
Terminal symbol in the grammar: ``RSTR_LIT``.
There are also raw string literals that are preceded with the
letter ``r`` (or ``R``) and are delimited by matching double quotes (just
like ordinary string literals) and do not interpret the escape sequences.
This is especially convenient for regular expressions or Windows paths:
.. code-block:: nim
var f = openFile(r"C:\texts\text.txt") # a raw string, so ``\t`` is no tab
To produce a single ``"`` within a raw string literal, it has to be doubled:
.. code-block:: nim
r"a""b"
Produces::
a"b
``r""""`` is not possible with this notation, because the three leading
quotes introduce a triple quoted string literal. ``r"""`` is the same
as ``"""`` since triple quoted string literals do not interpret escape
sequences either.
Generalized raw string literals
-------------------------------
Terminal symbols in the grammar: ``GENERALIZED_STR_LIT``,
``GENERALIZED_TRIPLESTR_LIT``.
The construct ``identifier"string literal"`` (without whitespace between the
identifier and the opening quotation mark) is a
generalized raw string literal. It is a shortcut for the construct
``identifier(r"string literal")``, so it denotes a procedure call with a
raw string literal as its only argument. Generalized raw string literals
are especially convenient for embedding mini languages directly into Nim
(for example regular expressions).
The construct ``identifier"""string literal"""`` exists too. It is a shortcut
for ``identifier("""string literal""")``.
Character literals
------------------
Character literals are enclosed in single quotes ``''`` and can contain the
same escape sequences as strings - with one exception: the platform
dependent `newline`:idx: (``\p``)
is not allowed as it may be wider than one character (often it is the pair
CR/LF for example). Here are the valid `escape sequences`:idx: for character
literals:
================== ===================================================
Escape sequence Meaning
================== ===================================================
``\r``, ``\c`` `carriage return`:idx:
``\n``, ``\l`` `line feed`:idx:
``\f`` `form feed`:idx:
``\t`` `tabulator`:idx:
``\v`` `vertical tabulator`:idx:
``\\`` `backslash`:idx:
``\"`` `quotation mark`:idx:
``\'`` `apostrophe`:idx:
``\`` '0'..'9'+ `character with decimal value d`:idx:;
all decimal digits directly
following are used for the character
``\a`` `alert`:idx:
``\b`` `backspace`:idx:
``\e`` `escape`:idx: `[ESC]`:idx:
``\x`` HH `character with hex value HH`:idx:;
exactly two hex digits are allowed
================== ===================================================
A character is not an Unicode character but a single byte. The reason for this
is efficiency: for the overwhelming majority of use-cases, the resulting
programs will still handle UTF-8 properly as UTF-8 was specially designed for
this. Another reason is that Nim can thus support ``array[char, int]`` or
``set[char]`` efficiently as many algorithms rely on this feature. The `Rune`
type is used for Unicode characters, it can represent any Unicode character.
``Rune`` is declared in the `unicode module <unicode.html>`_.
Numerical constants
-------------------
Numerical constants are of a single type and have the form::
hexdigit = digit | 'A'..'F' | 'a'..'f'
octdigit = '0'..'7'
bindigit = '0'..'1'
HEX_LIT = '0' ('x' | 'X' ) hexdigit ( ['_'] hexdigit )*
DEC_LIT = digit ( ['_'] digit )*
OCT_LIT = '0' 'o' octdigit ( ['_'] octdigit )*
BIN_LIT = '0' ('b' | 'B' ) bindigit ( ['_'] bindigit )*
INT_LIT = HEX_LIT
| DEC_LIT
| OCT_LIT
| BIN_LIT
INT8_LIT = INT_LIT ['\''] ('i' | 'I') '8'
INT16_LIT = INT_LIT ['\''] ('i' | 'I') '16'
INT32_LIT = INT_LIT ['\''] ('i' | 'I') '32'
INT64_LIT = INT_LIT ['\''] ('i' | 'I') '64'
UINT_LIT = INT_LIT ['\''] ('u' | 'U')
UINT8_LIT = INT_LIT ['\''] ('u' | 'U') '8'
UINT16_LIT = INT_LIT ['\''] ('u' | 'U') '16'
UINT32_LIT = INT_LIT ['\''] ('u' | 'U') '32'
UINT64_LIT = INT_LIT ['\''] ('u' | 'U') '64'
exponent = ('e' | 'E' ) ['+' | '-'] digit ( ['_'] digit )*
FLOAT_LIT = digit (['_'] digit)* (('.' digit (['_'] digit)* [exponent]) |exponent)
FLOAT32_SUFFIX = ('f' | 'F') ['32']
FLOAT32_LIT = HEX_LIT '\'' FLOAT32_SUFFIX
| (FLOAT_LIT | DEC_LIT | OCT_LIT | BIN_LIT) ['\''] FLOAT32_SUFFIX
FLOAT64_SUFFIX = ( ('f' | 'F') '64' ) | 'd' | 'D'
FLOAT64_LIT = HEX_LIT '\'' FLOAT64_SUFFIX
| (FLOAT_LIT | DEC_LIT | OCT_LIT | BIN_LIT) ['\''] FLOAT64_SUFFIX
As can be seen in the productions, numerical constants can contain underscores
for readability. Integer and floating point literals may be given in decimal (no
prefix), binary (prefix ``0b``), octal (prefix ``0o``) and hexadecimal
(prefix ``0x``) notation.
There exists a literal for each numerical type that is
defined. The suffix starting with an apostrophe ('\'') is called a
`type suffix`:idx:. Literals without a type suffix are of an integer type,
unless the literal contains a dot or ``E|e`` in which case it is of
type ``float``. This integer type is ``int`` if the literal is in the range
``low(i32)..high(i32)``, otherwise it is ``int64``.
For notational convenience the apostrophe of a type suffix
is optional if it is not ambiguous (only hexadecimal floating point literals
with a type suffix can be ambiguous).
The type suffixes are:
================= =========================
Type Suffix Resulting type of literal
================= =========================
``'i8`` int8
``'i16`` int16
``'i32`` int32
``'i64`` int64
``'u`` uint
``'u8`` uint8
``'u16`` uint16
``'u32`` uint32
``'u64`` uint64
``'f`` float32
``'d`` float64
``'f32`` float32
``'f64`` float64
``'f128`` float128
================= =========================
Floating point literals may also be in binary, octal or hexadecimal
notation:
``0B0_10001110100_0000101001000111101011101111111011000101001101001001'f64``
is approximately 1.72826e35 according to the IEEE floating point standard.
Literals are bounds checked so that they fit the datatype. Non base-10
literals are used mainly for flags and bit pattern representations, therefore
bounds checking is done on bit width, not value range. If the literal fits in
the bit width of the datatype, it is accepted.
Hence: 0b10000000'u8 == 0x80'u8 == 128, but, 0b10000000'i8 == 0x80'i8 == -1
instead of causing an overflow error.
Operators
---------
Nim allows user defined operators. An operator is any combination of the
following characters::
= + - * / < >
@ $ ~ & % |
! ? ^ . : \
These keywords are also operators:
``and or not xor shl shr div mod in notin is isnot of``.
`.`:tok: `=`:tok:, `:`:tok:, `::`:tok: are not available as general operators; they
are used for other notational purposes.
``*:`` is as a special case treated as the two tokens `*`:tok: and `:`:tok:
(to support ``var v*: T``).
Other tokens
------------
The following strings denote other tokens::
` ( ) { } [ ] , ; [. .] {. .} (. .) [:
The `slice`:idx: operator `..`:tok: takes precedence over other tokens that
contain a dot: `{..}`:tok: are the three tokens `{`:tok:, `..`:tok:, `}`:tok:
and not the two tokens `{.`:tok:, `.}`:tok:.
Syntax
======
This section lists Nim's standard syntax. How the parser handles
the indentation is already described in the `Lexical Analysis`_ section.
Nim allows user-definable operators.
Binary operators have 11 different levels of precedence.
Associativity
-------------
Binary operators whose first character is ``^`` are right-associative, all
other binary operators are left-associative.
.. code-block:: nim
proc `^/`(x, y: float): float =
# a right-associative division operator
result = x / y
echo 12 ^/ 4 ^/ 8 # 24.0 (4 / 8 = 0.5, then 12 / 0.5 = 24.0)
echo 12 / 4 / 8 # 0.375 (12 / 4 = 3.0, then 3 / 8 = 0.375)
Precedence
----------
Unary operators always bind stronger than any binary
operator: ``$a + b`` is ``($a) + b`` and not ``$(a + b)``.
If an unary operator's first character is ``@`` it is a `sigil-like`:idx:
operator which binds stronger than a ``primarySuffix``: ``@x.abc`` is parsed
as ``(@x).abc`` whereas ``$x.abc`` is parsed as ``$(x.abc)``.
For binary operators that are not keywords the precedence is determined by the
following rules:
Operators ending in either ``->``, ``~>`` or ``=>`` are called
`arrow like`:idx:, and have the lowest precedence of all operators.
If the operator ends with ``=`` and its first character is none of
``<``, ``>``, ``!``, ``=``, ``~``, ``?``, it is an *assignment operator* which
has the second lowest precedence.
Otherwise precedence is determined by the first character.
================ =============================================== ================== ===============
Precedence level Operators First character Terminal symbol
================ =============================================== ================== ===============
10 (highest) ``$ ^`` OP10
9 ``* / div mod shl shr %`` ``* % \ /`` OP9
8 ``+ -`` ``+ - ~ |`` OP8
7 ``&`` ``&`` OP7
6 ``..`` ``.`` OP6
5 ``== <= < >= > != in notin is isnot not of`` ``= < > !`` OP5
4 ``and`` OP4
3 ``or xor`` OP3
2 ``@ : ?`` OP2
1 *assignment operator* (like ``+=``, ``*=``) OP1
0 (lowest) *arrow like operator* (like ``->``, ``=>``) OP0
================ =============================================== ================== ===============
Whether an operator is used a prefix operator is also affected by preceding
whitespace (this parsing change was introduced with version 0.13.0):
.. code-block:: nim
echo $foo
# is parsed as
echo($foo)
Spacing also determines whether ``(a, b)`` is parsed as an the argument list
of a call or whether it is parsed as a tuple constructor:
.. code-block:: nim
echo(1, 2) # pass 1 and 2 to echo
.. code-block:: nim
echo (1, 2) # pass the tuple (1, 2) to echo
Grammar
-------
The grammar's start symbol is ``module``.
.. include:: grammar.txt
:literal:
Order of evaluation
===================
Order of evaluation is strictly left-to-right, inside-out as it is typical for most others
imperative programming languages:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
var s = ""
proc p(arg: int): int =
s.add $arg
result = arg
discard p(p(1) + p(2))
doAssert s == "123"
Assignments are not special, the left-hand-side expression is evaluated before the
right-hand side:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
var v = 0
proc getI(): int =
result = v
inc v
var a, b: array[0..2, int]
proc someCopy(a: var int; b: int) = a = b
a[getI()] = getI()
doAssert a == [1, 0, 0]
v = 0
someCopy(b[getI()], getI())
doAssert b == [1, 0, 0]
Rationale: Consistency with overloaded assignment or assignment-like operations,
``a = b`` can be read as ``performSomeCopy(a, b)``.
Types
=====
All expressions have a type which is known at compile time. Nim
is statically typed. One can declare new types, which is in essence defining
an identifier that can be used to denote this custom type.
These are the major type classes:
* ordinal types (consist of integer, bool, character, enumeration
(and subranges thereof) types)
* floating point types
* string type
* structured types
* reference (pointer) type
* procedural type
* generic type
Ordinal types
-------------
Ordinal types have the following characteristics:
- Ordinal types are countable and ordered. This property allows
the operation of functions as ``inc``, ``ord``, ``dec`` on ordinal types to
be defined.
- Ordinal values have a smallest possible value. Trying to count further
down than the smallest value gives a checked runtime or static error.
- Ordinal values have a largest possible value. Trying to count further
than the largest value gives a checked runtime or static error.
Integers, bool, characters and enumeration types (and subranges of these
types) belong to ordinal types. For reasons of simplicity of implementation
the types ``uint`` and ``uint64`` are not ordinal types.
Pre-defined integer types
-------------------------
These integer types are pre-defined:
``int``
the generic signed integer type; its size is platform dependent and has the
same size as a pointer. This type should be used in general. An integer
literal that has no type suffix is of this type if it is in the range
``low(int32)..high(int32)`` otherwise the literal's type is ``int64``.
intXX
additional signed integer types of XX bits use this naming scheme
(example: int16 is a 16 bit wide integer).
The current implementation supports ``int8``, ``int16``, ``int32``, ``int64``.
Literals of these types have the suffix 'iXX.
``uint``
the generic `unsigned integer`:idx: type; its size is platform dependent and
has the same size as a pointer. An integer literal with the type
suffix ``'u`` is of this type.
uintXX
additional unsigned integer types of XX bits use this naming scheme
(example: uint16 is a 16 bit wide unsigned integer).
The current implementation supports ``uint8``, ``uint16``, ``uint32``,
``uint64``. Literals of these types have the suffix 'uXX.
Unsigned operations all wrap around; they cannot lead to over- or
underflow errors.
In addition to the usual arithmetic operators for signed and unsigned integers
(``+ - *`` etc.) there are also operators that formally work on *signed*
integers but treat their arguments as *unsigned*: They are mostly provided
for backwards compatibility with older versions of the language that lacked
unsigned integer types. These unsigned operations for signed integers use
the ``%`` suffix as convention:
====================== ======================================================
operation meaning
====================== ======================================================
``a +% b`` unsigned integer addition
``a -% b`` unsigned integer subtraction
``a *% b`` unsigned integer multiplication
``a /% b`` unsigned integer division
``a %% b`` unsigned integer modulo operation
``a <% b`` treat ``a`` and ``b`` as unsigned and compare
``a <=% b`` treat ``a`` and ``b`` as unsigned and compare
``ze(a)`` extends the bits of ``a`` with zeros until it has the
width of the ``int`` type
``toU8(a)`` treats ``a`` as unsigned and converts it to an
unsigned integer of 8 bits (but still the
``int8`` type)
``toU16(a)`` treats ``a`` as unsigned and converts it to an
unsigned integer of 16 bits (but still the
``int16`` type)
``toU32(a)`` treats ``a`` as unsigned and converts it to an
unsigned integer of 32 bits (but still the
``int32`` type)
====================== ======================================================
`Automatic type conversion`:idx: is performed in expressions where different
kinds of integer types are used: the smaller type is converted to the larger.
A `narrowing type conversion`:idx: converts a larger to a smaller type (for
example ``int32 -> int16``. A `widening type conversion`:idx: converts a
smaller type to a larger type (for example ``int16 -> int32``). In Nim only
widening type conversions are *implicit*:
.. code-block:: nim
var myInt16 = 5i16
var myInt: int
myInt16 + 34 # of type ``int16``
myInt16 + myInt # of type ``int``
myInt16 + 2i32 # of type ``int32``
However, ``int`` literals are implicitly convertible to a smaller integer type
if the literal's value fits this smaller type and such a conversion is less
expensive than other implicit conversions, so ``myInt16 + 34`` produces
an ``int16`` result.
For further details, see `Convertible relation
<#type-relations-convertible-relation>`_.
Subrange types
--------------
A subrange type is a range of values from an ordinal or floating point type (the base
type). To define a subrange type, one must specify it's limiting values: the
lowest and highest value of the type:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Subrange = range[0..5]
PositiveFloat = range[0.0..Inf]
``Subrange`` is a subrange of an integer which can only hold the values 0
to 5. ``PositiveFloat`` defines a subrange of all positive floating point values.
NaN does not belong to any subrange of floating point types.
Assigning any other value to a variable of type ``Subrange`` is a
checked runtime error (or static error if it can be statically
determined). Assignments from the base type to one of its subrange types
(and vice versa) are allowed.
A subrange type has the same size as its base type (``int`` in the
Subrange example).
Pre-defined floating point types
--------------------------------
The following floating point types are pre-defined:
``float``
the generic floating point type; its size used to be platform dependent,
but now it is always mapped to ``float64``.
This type should be used in general.
floatXX
an implementation may define additional floating point types of XX bits using
this naming scheme (example: float64 is a 64 bit wide float). The current
implementation supports ``float32`` and ``float64``. Literals of these types
have the suffix 'fXX.
Automatic type conversion in expressions with different kinds
of floating point types is performed: See `Convertible relation`_ for further
details. Arithmetic performed on floating point types follows the IEEE
standard. Integer types are not converted to floating point types automatically
and vice versa.
The IEEE standard defines five types of floating-point exceptions:
* Invalid: operations with mathematically invalid operands,
for example 0.0/0.0, sqrt(-1.0), and log(-37.8).
* Division by zero: divisor is zero and dividend is a finite nonzero number,
for example 1.0/0.0.
* Overflow: operation produces a result that exceeds the range of the exponent,
for example MAXDOUBLE+0.0000000000001e308.
* Underflow: operation produces a result that is too small to be represented
as a normal number, for example, MINDOUBLE * MINDOUBLE.
* Inexact: operation produces a result that cannot be represented with infinite
precision, for example, 2.0 / 3.0, log(1.1) and 0.1 in input.
The IEEE exceptions are either ignored at runtime or mapped to the
Nim exceptions: `FloatInvalidOpError`:idx:, `FloatDivByZeroError`:idx:,
`FloatOverflowError`:idx:, `FloatUnderflowError`:idx:,
and `FloatInexactError`:idx:.
These exceptions inherit from the `FloatingPointError`:idx: base class.
Nim provides the pragmas `nanChecks`:idx: and `infChecks`:idx: to control
whether the IEEE exceptions are ignored or trap a Nim exception:
.. code-block:: nim
{.nanChecks: on, infChecks: on.}
var a = 1.0
var b = 0.0
echo b / b # raises FloatInvalidOpError
echo a / b # raises FloatOverflowError
In the current implementation ``FloatDivByZeroError`` and ``FloatInexactError``
are never raised. ``FloatOverflowError`` is raised instead of
``FloatDivByZeroError``.
There is also a `floatChecks`:idx: pragma that is a short-cut for the
combination of ``nanChecks`` and ``infChecks`` pragmas. ``floatChecks`` are
turned off as default.
The only operations that are affected by the ``floatChecks`` pragma are
the ``+``, ``-``, ``*``, ``/`` operators for floating point types.
An implementation should always use the maximum precision available to evaluate
floating pointer values at compile time; this means expressions like
``0.09'f32 + 0.01'f32 == 0.09'f64 + 0.01'f64`` are true.
Boolean type
------------
The boolean type is named `bool`:idx: in Nim and can be one of the two
pre-defined values ``true`` and ``false``. Conditions in ``while``,
``if``, ``elif``, ``when``-statements need to be of type ``bool``.
This condition holds::
ord(false) == 0 and ord(true) == 1
The operators ``not, and, or, xor, <, <=, >, >=, !=, ==`` are defined
for the bool type. The ``and`` and ``or`` operators perform short-cut
evaluation. Example:
.. code-block:: nim
while p != nil and p.name != "xyz":
# p.name is not evaluated if p == nil
p = p.next
The size of the bool type is one byte.
Character type
--------------
The character type is named ``char`` in Nim. Its size is one byte.
Thus it cannot represent an UTF-8 character, but a part of it.
The reason for this is efficiency: for the overwhelming majority of use-cases,
the resulting programs will still handle UTF-8 properly as UTF-8 was specially
designed for this.
Another reason is that Nim can support ``array[char, int]`` or
``set[char]`` efficiently as many algorithms rely on this feature. The
`Rune` type is used for Unicode characters, it can represent any Unicode
character. ``Rune`` is declared in the `unicode module <unicode.html>`_.
Enumeration types
-----------------
Enumeration types define a new type whose values consist of the ones
specified. The values are ordered. Example:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Direction = enum
north, east, south, west
Now the following holds::
ord(north) == 0
ord(east) == 1
ord(south) == 2
ord(west) == 3
# Also allowed:
ord(Direction.west) == 3
Thus, north < east < south < west. The comparison operators can be used
with enumeration types. Instead of ``north`` etc, the enum value can also
be qualified with the enum type that it resides in, ``Direction.north``.
For better interfacing to other programming languages, the fields of enum
types can be assigned an explicit ordinal value. However, the ordinal values
have to be in ascending order. A field whose ordinal value is not
explicitly given is assigned the value of the previous field + 1.
An explicit ordered enum can have *holes*:
.. code-block:: nim
type
TokenType = enum
a = 2, b = 4, c = 89 # holes are valid
However, it is then not an ordinal anymore, so it is not possible to use these
enums as an index type for arrays. The procedures ``inc``, ``dec``, ``succ``
and ``pred`` are not available for them either.
The compiler supports the built-in stringify operator ``$`` for enumerations.
The stringify's result can be controlled by explicitly giving the string
values to use:
.. code-block:: nim
type
MyEnum = enum
valueA = (0, "my value A"),
valueB = "value B",
valueC = 2,
valueD = (3, "abc")
As can be seen from the example, it is possible to both specify a field's
ordinal value and its string value by using a tuple. It is also
possible to only specify one of them.
An enum can be marked with the ``pure`` pragma so that it's fields are
added to a special module specific hidden scope that is only queried
as the last attempt. Only non-ambiguous symbols are added to this scope.
But one can always access these via type qualification written
as ``MyEnum.value``:
.. code-block:: nim
type
MyEnum {.pure.} = enum
valueA, valueB, valueC, valueD, amb
OtherEnum {.pure.} = enum
valueX, valueY, valueZ, amb
echo valueA # MyEnum.valueA
echo amb # Error: Unclear whether it's MyEnum.amb or OtherEnum.amb
echo MyEnum.amb # OK.
String type
-----------
All string literals are of the type ``string``. A string in Nim is very
similar to a sequence of characters. However, strings in Nim are both
zero-terminated and have a length field. One can retrieve the length with the
builtin ``len`` procedure; the length never counts the terminating zero.
The terminating zero cannot be accessed unless the string is converted
to the ``cstring`` type first. The terminating zero assures that this
conversion can be done in O(1) and without any allocations.
The assignment operator for strings always copies the string.
The ``&`` operator concatenates strings.
Most native Nim types support conversion to strings with the special ``$`` proc.
When calling the ``echo`` proc, for example, the built-in stringify operation
for the parameter is called:
.. code-block:: nim
echo 3 # calls `$` for `int`
Whenever a user creates a specialized object, implementation of this procedure
provides for ``string`` representation.
.. code-block:: nim
type
Person = object
name: string
age: int
proc `$`(p: Person): string = # `$` always returns a string
result = p.name & " is " &
$p.age & # we *need* the `$` in front of p.age which
# is natively an integer to convert it to
# a string
" years old."
While ``$p.name`` can also be used, the ``$`` operation on a string does
nothing. Note that we cannot rely on automatic conversion from an ``int`` to
a ``string`` like we can for the ``echo`` proc.
Strings are compared by their lexicographical order. All comparison operators
are available. Strings can be indexed like arrays (lower bound is 0). Unlike
arrays, they can be used in case statements:
.. code-block:: nim
case paramStr(i)
of "-v": incl(options, optVerbose)
of "-h", "-?": incl(options, optHelp)
else: write(stdout, "invalid command line option!\n")
Per convention, all strings are UTF-8 strings, but this is not enforced. For
example, when reading strings from binary files, they are merely a sequence of
bytes. The index operation ``s[i]`` means the i-th *char* of ``s``, not the
i-th *unichar*. The iterator ``runes`` from the `unicode module
<unicode.html>`_ can be used for iteration over all Unicode characters.
cstring type
------------
The ``cstring`` type meaning `compatible string` is the native representation
of a string for the compilation backend. For the C backend the ``cstring`` type
represents a pointer to a zero-terminated char array
compatible to the type ``char*`` in Ansi C. Its primary purpose lies in easy
interfacing with C. The index operation ``s[i]`` means the i-th *char* of
``s``; however no bounds checking for ``cstring`` is performed making the
index operation unsafe.
A Nim ``string`` is implicitly convertible
to ``cstring`` for convenience. If a Nim string is passed to a C-style
variadic proc, it is implicitly converted to ``cstring`` too:
.. code-block:: nim
proc printf(formatstr: cstring) {.importc: "printf", varargs,
header: "<stdio.h>".}
printf("This works %s", "as expected")
Even though the conversion is implicit, it is not *safe*: The garbage collector
does not consider a ``cstring`` to be a root and may collect the underlying
memory. However in practice this almost never happens as the GC considers
stack roots conservatively. One can use the builtin procs ``GC_ref`` and
``GC_unref`` to keep the string data alive for the rare cases where it does
not work.
A `$` proc is defined for cstrings that returns a string. Thus to get a nim
string from a cstring:
.. code-block:: nim
var str: string = "Hello!"
var cstr: cstring = str
var newstr: string = $cstr
Structured types
----------------
A variable of a structured type can hold multiple values at the same
time. Structured types can be nested to unlimited levels. Arrays, sequences,
tuples, objects and sets belong to the structured types.
Array and sequence types
------------------------
Arrays are a homogeneous type, meaning that each element in the array
has the same type. Arrays always have a fixed length which is specified at
compile time (except for open arrays). They can be indexed by any ordinal type.
A parameter ``A`` may be an *open array*, in which case it is indexed by
integers from 0 to ``len(A)-1``. An array expression may be constructed by the
array constructor ``[]``. The element type of this array expression is
inferred from the type of the first element. All other elements need to be
implicitly convertable to this type.
Sequences are similar to arrays but of dynamic length which may change
during runtime (like strings). Sequences are implemented as growable arrays,
allocating pieces of memory as items are added. A sequence ``S`` is always
indexed by integers from 0 to ``len(S)-1`` and its bounds are checked.
Sequences can be constructed by the array constructor ``[]`` in conjunction
with the array to sequence operator ``@``. Another way to allocate space for a
sequence is to call the built-in ``newSeq`` procedure.
A sequence may be passed to a parameter that is of type *open array*.
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
type
IntArray = array[0..5, int] # an array that is indexed with 0..5
IntSeq = seq[int] # a sequence of integers
var
x: IntArray
y: IntSeq
x = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] # [] is the array constructor
y = @[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] # the @ turns the array into a sequence
let z = [1.0, 2, 3, 4] # the type of z is array[0..3, float]
The lower bound of an array or sequence may be received by the built-in proc
``low()``, the higher bound by ``high()``. The length may be
received by ``len()``. ``low()`` for a sequence or an open array always returns
0, as this is the first valid index.
One can append elements to a sequence with the ``add()`` proc or the ``&``
operator, and remove (and get) the last element of a sequence with the
``pop()`` proc.
The notation ``x[i]`` can be used to access the i-th element of ``x``.
Arrays are always bounds checked (at compile-time or at runtime). These
checks can be disabled via pragmas or invoking the compiler with the
``--boundChecks:off`` command line switch.
Open arrays
-----------
Often fixed size arrays turn out to be too inflexible; procedures should
be able to deal with arrays of different sizes. The `openarray`:idx: type
allows this; it can only be used for parameters. Openarrays are always
indexed with an ``int`` starting at position 0. The ``len``, ``low``
and ``high`` operations are available for open arrays too. Any array with
a compatible base type can be passed to an openarray parameter, the index
type does not matter. In addition to arrays sequences can also be passed
to an open array parameter.
The openarray type cannot be nested: multidimensional openarrays are not
supported because this is seldom needed and cannot be done efficiently.
.. code-block:: nim
proc testOpenArray(x: openArray[int]) = echo repr(x)
testOpenArray([1,2,3]) # array[]
testOpenArray(@[1,2,3]) # seq[]
Varargs
-------
A ``varargs`` parameter is an openarray parameter that additionally
allows to pass a variable number of arguments to a procedure. The compiler
converts the list of arguments to an array implicitly:
.. code-block:: nim
proc myWriteln(f: File, a: varargs[string]) =
for s in items(a):
write(f, s)
write(f, "\n")
myWriteln(stdout, "abc", "def", "xyz")
# is transformed to:
myWriteln(stdout, ["abc", "def", "xyz"])
This transformation is only done if the varargs parameter is the
last parameter in the procedure header. It is also possible to perform
type conversions in this context:
.. code-block:: nim
proc myWriteln(f: File, a: varargs[string, `$`]) =
for s in items(a):
write(f, s)
write(f, "\n")
myWriteln(stdout, 123, "abc", 4.0)
# is transformed to:
myWriteln(stdout, [$123, $"def", $4.0])
In this example ``$`` is applied to any argument that is passed to the
parameter ``a``. (Note that ``$`` applied to strings is a nop.)
Note that an explicit array constructor passed to a ``varargs`` parameter is
not wrapped in another implicit array construction:
.. code-block:: nim
proc takeV[T](a: varargs[T]) = discard
takeV([123, 2, 1]) # takeV's T is "int", not "array of int"
``varargs[typed]`` is treated specially: It matches a variable list of arguments
of arbitrary type but *always* constructs an implicit array. This is required
so that the builtin ``echo`` proc does what is expected:
.. code-block:: nim
proc echo*(x: varargs[typed, `$`]) {...}
echo @[1, 2, 3]
# prints "@[1, 2, 3]" and not "123"
Tuples and object types
-----------------------
A variable of a tuple or object type is a heterogeneous storage
container.
A tuple or object defines various named *fields* of a type. A tuple also
defines an *order* of the fields. Tuples are meant for heterogeneous storage
types with no overhead and few abstraction possibilities. The constructor ``()``
can be used to construct tuples. The order of the fields in the constructor
must match the order of the tuple's definition. Different tuple-types are
*equivalent* if they specify the same fields of the same type in the same
order. The *names* of the fields also have to be identical.
The assignment operator for tuples copies each component.
The default assignment operator for objects copies each component. Overloading
of the assignment operator is described in `type-bound-operations-operator`_.
.. code-block:: nim
type
Person = tuple[name: string, age: int] # type representing a person:
# a person consists of a name
# and an age
var
person: Person
person = (name: "Peter", age: 30)
# the same, but less readable:
person = ("Peter", 30)
A tuple with one unnamed field can be constructed with the parentheses and a
trailing comma:
.. code-block:: nim
proc echoUnaryTuple(a: (int,)) =
echo a[0]
echoUnaryTuple (1,)
In fact, a trailing comma is allowed for every tuple construction.
The implementation aligns the fields for best access performance. The alignment
is compatible with the way the C compiler does it.
For consistency with ``object`` declarations, tuples in a ``type`` section
can also be defined with indentation instead of ``[]``:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Person = tuple # type representing a person
name: string # a person consists of a name
age: natural # and an age
Objects provide many features that tuples do not. Object provide inheritance
and information hiding. Objects have access to their type at runtime, so that
the ``of`` operator can be used to determine the object's type. The ``of`` operator
is similar to the ``instanceof`` operator in Java.
.. code-block:: nim
type
Person = object of RootObj
name*: string # the * means that `name` is accessible from other modules
age: int # no * means that the field is hidden
Student = ref object of Person # a student is a person
id: int # with an id field
var
student: Student
person: Person
assert(student of Student) # is true
assert(student of Person) # also true
Object fields that should be visible from outside the defining module, have to
be marked by ``*``. In contrast to tuples, different object types are
never *equivalent*. Objects that have no ancestor are implicitly ``final``
and thus have no hidden type field. One can use the ``inheritable`` pragma to
introduce new object roots apart from ``system.RootObj``.
Object construction
-------------------
Objects can also be created with an `object construction expression`:idx: that
has the syntax ``T(fieldA: valueA, fieldB: valueB, ...)`` where ``T`` is
an ``object`` type or a ``ref object`` type:
.. code-block:: nim
var student = Student(name: "Anton", age: 5, id: 3)
Note that, unlike tuples, objects require the field names along with their values.
For a ``ref object`` type ``system.new`` is invoked implicitly.
Object variants
---------------
Often an object hierarchy is overkill in certain situations where simple
variant types are needed.
An example:
.. code-block:: nim
# This is an example how an abstract syntax tree could be modelled in Nim
type
NodeKind = enum # the different node types
nkInt, # a leaf with an integer value
nkFloat, # a leaf with a float value
nkString, # a leaf with a string value
nkAdd, # an addition
nkSub, # a subtraction
nkIf # an if statement
Node = ref NodeObj
NodeObj = object
case kind: NodeKind # the ``kind`` field is the discriminator
of nkInt: intVal: int
of nkFloat: floatVal: float
of nkString: strVal: string
of nkAdd, nkSub:
leftOp, rightOp: Node
of nkIf:
condition, thenPart, elsePart: Node
# create a new case object:
var n = Node(kind: nkIf, condition: nil)
# accessing n.thenPart is valid because the ``nkIf`` branch is active:
n.thenPart = Node(kind: nkFloat, floatVal: 2.0)
# the following statement raises an `FieldError` exception, because
# n.kind's value does not fit and the ``nkString`` branch is not active:
n.strVal = ""
# invalid: would change the active object branch:
n.kind = nkInt
var x = Node(kind: nkAdd, leftOp: Node(kind: nkInt, intVal: 4),
rightOp: Node(kind: nkInt, intVal: 2))
# valid: does not change the active object branch:
x.kind = nkSub
As can been seen from the example, an advantage to an object hierarchy is that
no casting between different object types is needed. Yet, access to invalid
object fields raises an exception.
The syntax of ``case`` in an object declaration follows closely the syntax of
the ``case`` statement: The branches in a ``case`` section may be indented too.
In the example the ``kind`` field is called the `discriminator`:idx:\: For
safety its address cannot be taken and assignments to it are restricted: The
new value must not lead to a change of the active object branch. For an object
branch switch ``system.reset`` has to be used. Also, when the fields of a
particular branch are specified during object construction, the correct value
for the discriminator must be supplied at compile-time.
Package level objects
---------------------
Every Nim module resides in a (nimble) package. An object type can be attached
to the package it resides in. If that is done, the type can be referenced from
other modules as an `incomplete`:idx: object type. This features allows to
break up recursive type dependencies accross module boundaries. Incomplete
object types are always passed ``byref`` and can only be used in pointer like
contexts (``var/ref/ptr IncompleteObject``) in general since the compiler does
not yet know the size of the object. To complete an incomplete object
the ``package`` pragma has to be used. ``package`` implies ``byref``.
As long as a type ``T`` is incomplete ``sizeof(T)`` or "runtime type
information" for ``T`` is not available.
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
# module A (in an arbitrary package)
type
Pack.SomeObject = object ## declare as incomplete object of package 'Pack'
Triple = object
a, b, c: ref SomeObject ## pointers to incomplete objects are allowed
## Incomplete objects can be used as parameters:
proc myproc(x: SomeObject) = discard
.. code-block:: nim
# module B (in package "Pack")
type
SomeObject* {.package.} = object ## Use 'package' to complete the object
s, t: string
x, y: int
Set type
--------
.. include:: sets_fragment.txt
Reference and pointer types
---------------------------
References (similar to pointers in other programming languages) are a
way to introduce many-to-one relationships. This means different references can
point to and modify the same location in memory (also called `aliasing`:idx:).
Nim distinguishes between `traced`:idx: and `untraced`:idx: references.
Untraced references are also called *pointers*. Traced references point to
objects of a garbage collected heap, untraced references point to
manually allocated objects or to objects somewhere else in memory. Thus
untraced references are *unsafe*. However for certain low-level operations
(accessing the hardware) untraced references are unavoidable.
Traced references are declared with the **ref** keyword, untraced references
are declared with the **ptr** keyword. In general, a `ptr T` is implicitly
convertible to the `pointer` type.
An empty subscript ``[]`` notation can be used to derefer a reference,
the ``addr`` procedure returns the address of an item. An address is always
an untraced reference.
Thus the usage of ``addr`` is an *unsafe* feature.
The ``.`` (access a tuple/object field operator)
and ``[]`` (array/string/sequence index operator) operators perform implicit
dereferencing operations for reference types:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Node = ref NodeObj
NodeObj = object
le, ri: Node
data: int
var
n: Node
new(n)
n.data = 9
# no need to write n[].data; in fact n[].data is highly discouraged!
Automatic dereferencing is also performed for the first argument of a routine
call. But currently this feature has to be only enabled
via ``{.experimental: "implicitDeref".}``:
.. code-block:: nim
{.experimental: "implicitDeref".}
proc depth(x: NodeObj): int = ...
var
n: Node
new(n)
echo n.depth
# no need to write n[].depth either
In order to simplify structural type checking, recursive tuples are not valid:
.. code-block:: nim
# invalid recursion
type MyTuple = tuple[a: ref MyTuple]
Likewise ``T = ref T`` is an invalid type.
As a syntactical extension ``object`` types can be anonymous if
declared in a type section via the ``ref object`` or ``ptr object`` notations.
This feature is useful if an object should only gain reference semantics:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Node = ref object
le, ri: Node
data: int
To allocate a new traced object, the built-in procedure ``new`` has to be used.
To deal with untraced memory, the procedures ``alloc``, ``dealloc`` and
``realloc`` can be used. The documentation of the system module contains
further information.
If a reference points to *nothing*, it has the value ``nil``.
Special care has to be taken if an untraced object contains traced objects like
traced references, strings or sequences: in order to free everything properly,
the built-in procedure ``GCunref`` has to be called before freeing the untraced
memory manually:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Data = tuple[x, y: int, s: string]
# allocate memory for Data on the heap:
var d = cast[ptr Data](alloc0(sizeof(Data)))
# create a new string on the garbage collected heap:
d.s = "abc"
# tell the GC that the string is not needed anymore:
GCunref(d.s)
# free the memory:
dealloc(d)
Without the ``GCunref`` call the memory allocated for the ``d.s`` string would
never be freed. The example also demonstrates two important features for low
level programming: the ``sizeof`` proc returns the size of a type or value
in bytes. The ``cast`` operator can circumvent the type system: the compiler
is forced to treat the result of the ``alloc0`` call (which returns an untyped
pointer) as if it would have the type ``ptr Data``. Casting should only be
done if it is unavoidable: it breaks type safety and bugs can lead to
mysterious crashes.
**Note**: The example only works because the memory is initialized to zero
(``alloc0`` instead of ``alloc`` does this): ``d.s`` is thus initialized to
binary zero which the string assignment can handle. One needs to know low level
details like this when mixing garbage collected data with unmanaged memory.
.. XXX finalizers for traced objects
Not nil annotation
------------------
All types for that ``nil`` is a valid value can be annotated to
exclude ``nil`` as a valid value with the ``not nil`` annotation:
.. code-block:: nim
type
PObject = ref TObj not nil
TProc = (proc (x, y: int)) not nil
proc p(x: PObject) =
echo "not nil"
# compiler catches this:
p(nil)
# and also this:
var x: PObject
p(x)
The compiler ensures that every code path initializes variables which contain
non nilable pointers. The details of this analysis are still to be specified
here.
Procedural type
---------------
A procedural type is internally a pointer to a procedure. ``nil`` is
an allowed value for variables of a procedural type. Nim uses procedural
types to achieve `functional`:idx: programming techniques.
Examples:
.. code-block:: nim
proc printItem(x: int) = ...
proc forEach(c: proc (x: int) {.cdecl.}) =
...
forEach(printItem) # this will NOT compile because calling conventions differ
.. code-block:: nim
type
OnMouseMove = proc (x, y: int) {.closure.}
proc onMouseMove(mouseX, mouseY: int) =
# has default calling convention
echo "x: ", mouseX, " y: ", mouseY
proc setOnMouseMove(mouseMoveEvent: OnMouseMove) = discard
# ok, 'onMouseMove' has the default calling convention, which is compatible
# to 'closure':
setOnMouseMove(onMouseMove)
A subtle issue with procedural types is that the calling convention of the
procedure influences the type compatibility: procedural types are only
compatible if they have the same calling convention. As a special extension,
a procedure of the calling convention ``nimcall`` can be passed to a parameter
that expects a proc of the calling convention ``closure``.
Nim supports these `calling conventions`:idx:\:
`nimcall`:idx:
is the default convention used for a Nim **proc**. It is the
same as ``fastcall``, but only for C compilers that support ``fastcall``.
`closure`:idx:
is the default calling convention for a **procedural type** that lacks
any pragma annotations. It indicates that the procedure has a hidden
implicit parameter (an *environment*). Proc vars that have the calling
convention ``closure`` take up two machine words: One for the proc pointer
and another one for the pointer to implicitly passed environment.
`stdcall`:idx:
This the stdcall convention as specified by Microsoft. The generated C
procedure is declared with the ``__stdcall`` keyword.
`cdecl`:idx:
The cdecl convention means that a procedure shall use the same convention
as the C compiler. Under windows the generated C procedure is declared with
the ``__cdecl`` keyword.
`safecall`:idx:
This is the safecall convention as specified by Microsoft. The generated C
procedure is declared with the ``__safecall`` keyword. The word *safe*
refers to the fact that all hardware registers shall be pushed to the
hardware stack.
`inline`:idx:
The inline convention means the the caller should not call the procedure,
but inline its code directly. Note that Nim does not inline, but leaves
this to the C compiler; it generates ``__inline`` procedures. This is
only a hint for the compiler: it may completely ignore it and
it may inline procedures that are not marked as ``inline``.
`fastcall`:idx:
Fastcall means different things to different C compilers. One gets whatever
the C ``__fastcall`` means.
`syscall`:idx:
The syscall convention is the same as ``__syscall`` in C. It is used for
interrupts.
`noconv`:idx:
The generated C code will not have any explicit calling convention and thus
use the C compiler's default calling convention. This is needed because
Nim's default calling convention for procedures is ``fastcall`` to
improve speed.
Most calling conventions exist only for the Windows 32-bit platform.
The default calling convention is ``nimcall``, unless it is an inner proc (a
proc inside of a proc). For an inner proc an analysis is performed whether it
accesses its environment. If it does so, it has the calling convention
``closure``, otherwise it has the calling convention ``nimcall``.
Distinct type
-------------
A ``distinct`` type is new type derived from a `base type`:idx: that is
incompatible with its base type. In particular, it is an essential property
of a distinct type that it **does not** imply a subtype relation between it
and its base type. Explicit type conversions from a distinct type to its
base type and vice versa are allowed. See also ``distinctBase`` to get the
reverse operation.
Modelling currencies
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A distinct type can be used to model different physical `units`:idx: with a
numerical base type, for example. The following example models currencies.
Different currencies should not be mixed in monetary calculations. Distinct
types are a perfect tool to model different currencies:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Dollar = distinct int
Euro = distinct int
var
d: Dollar
e: Euro
echo d + 12
# Error: cannot add a number with no unit and a ``Dollar``
Unfortunately, ``d + 12.Dollar`` is not allowed either,
because ``+`` is defined for ``int`` (among others), not for ``Dollar``. So
a ``+`` for dollars needs to be defined:
.. code-block::
proc `+` (x, y: Dollar): Dollar =
result = Dollar(int(x) + int(y))
It does not make sense to multiply a dollar with a dollar, but with a
number without unit; and the same holds for division:
.. code-block::
proc `*` (x: Dollar, y: int): Dollar =
result = Dollar(int(x) * y)
proc `*` (x: int, y: Dollar): Dollar =
result = Dollar(x * int(y))
proc `div` ...
This quickly gets tedious. The implementations are trivial and the compiler
should not generate all this code only to optimize it away later - after all
``+`` for dollars should produce the same binary code as ``+`` for ints.
The pragma `borrow`:idx: has been designed to solve this problem; in principle
it generates the above trivial implementations:
.. code-block:: nim
proc `*` (x: Dollar, y: int): Dollar {.borrow.}
proc `*` (x: int, y: Dollar): Dollar {.borrow.}
proc `div` (x: Dollar, y: int): Dollar {.borrow.}
The ``borrow`` pragma makes the compiler use the same implementation as
the proc that deals with the distinct type's base type, so no code is
generated.
But it seems all this boilerplate code needs to be repeated for the ``Euro``
currency. This can be solved with templates_.
.. code-block:: nim
template additive(typ: type) =
proc `+` *(x, y: typ): typ {.borrow.}
proc `-` *(x, y: typ): typ {.borrow.}
# unary operators:
proc `+` *(x: typ): typ {.borrow.}
proc `-` *(x: typ): typ {.borrow.}
template multiplicative(typ, base: type) =
proc `*` *(x: typ, y: base): typ {.borrow.}
proc `*` *(x: base, y: typ): typ {.borrow.}
proc `div` *(x: typ, y: base): typ {.borrow.}
proc `mod` *(x: typ, y: base): typ {.borrow.}
template comparable(typ: type) =
proc `<` * (x, y: typ): bool {.borrow.}
proc `<=` * (x, y: typ): bool {.borrow.}
proc `==` * (x, y: typ): bool {.borrow.}
template defineCurrency(typ, base: untyped) =
type
typ* = distinct base
additive(typ)
multiplicative(typ, base)
comparable(typ)
defineCurrency(Dollar, int)
defineCurrency(Euro, int)
The borrow pragma can also be used to annotate the distinct type to allow
certain builtin operations to be lifted:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Foo = object
a, b: int
s: string
Bar {.borrow: `.`.} = distinct Foo
var bb: ref Bar
new bb
# field access now valid
bb.a = 90
bb.s = "abc"
Currently only the dot accessor can be borrowed in this way.
Avoiding SQL injection attacks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An SQL statement that is passed from Nim to an SQL database might be
modelled as a string. However, using string templates and filling in the
values is vulnerable to the famous `SQL injection attack`:idx:\:
.. code-block:: nim
import strutils
proc query(db: DbHandle, statement: string) = ...
var
username: string
db.query("SELECT FROM users WHERE name = '$1'" % username)
# Horrible security hole, but the compiler does not mind!
This can be avoided by distinguishing strings that contain SQL from strings
that don't. Distinct types provide a means to introduce a new string type
``SQL`` that is incompatible with ``string``:
.. code-block:: nim
type
SQL = distinct string
proc query(db: DbHandle, statement: SQL) = ...
var
username: string
db.query("SELECT FROM users WHERE name = '$1'" % username)
# Error at compile time: `query` expects an SQL string!
It is an essential property of abstract types that they **do not** imply a
subtype relation between the abstract type and its base type. Explicit type
conversions from ``string`` to ``SQL`` are allowed:
.. code-block:: nim
import strutils, sequtils
proc properQuote(s: string): SQL =
# quotes a string properly for an SQL statement
return SQL(s)
proc `%` (frmt: SQL, values: openarray[string]): SQL =
# quote each argument:
let v = values.mapIt(SQL, properQuote(it))
# we need a temporary type for the type conversion :-(
type StrSeq = seq[string]
# call strutils.`%`:
result = SQL(string(frmt) % StrSeq(v))
db.query("SELECT FROM users WHERE name = '$1'".SQL % [username])
Now we have compile-time checking against SQL injection attacks. Since
``"".SQL`` is transformed to ``SQL("")`` no new syntax is needed for nice
looking ``SQL`` string literals. The hypothetical ``SQL`` type actually
exists in the library as the `TSqlQuery type <db_sqlite.html#TSqlQuery>`_ of
modules like `db_sqlite <db_sqlite.html>`_.
Void type
---------
The ``void`` type denotes the absence of any type. Parameters of
type ``void`` are treated as non-existent, ``void`` as a return type means that
the procedure does not return a value:
.. code-block:: nim
proc nothing(x, y: void): void =
echo "ha"
nothing() # writes "ha" to stdout
The ``void`` type is particularly useful for generic code:
.. code-block:: nim
proc callProc[T](p: proc (x: T), x: T) =
when T is void:
p()
else:
p(x)
proc intProc(x: int) = discard
proc emptyProc() = discard
callProc[int](intProc, 12)
callProc[void](emptyProc)
However, a ``void`` type cannot be inferred in generic code:
.. code-block:: nim
callProc(emptyProc)
# Error: type mismatch: got (proc ())
# but expected one of:
# callProc(p: proc (T), x: T)
The ``void`` type is only valid for parameters and return types; other symbols
cannot have the type ``void``.
Auto type
---------
The ``auto`` type can only be used for return types and parameters. For return
types it causes the compiler to infer the type from the routine body:
.. code-block:: nim
proc returnsInt(): auto = 1984
For parameters it currently creates implicitly generic routines:
.. code-block:: nim
proc foo(a, b: auto) = discard
Is the same as:
.. code-block:: nim
proc foo[T1, T2](a: T1, b: T2) = discard
However later versions of the language might change this to mean "infer the
parameters' types from the body". Then the above ``foo`` would be rejected as
the parameters' types can not be inferred from an empty ``discard`` statement.
Type relations
==============
The following section defines several relations on types that are needed to
describe the type checking done by the compiler.
Type equality
-------------
Nim uses structural type equivalence for most types. Only for objects,
enumerations and distinct types name equivalence is used. The following
algorithm, *in pseudo-code*, determines type equality:
.. code-block:: nim
proc typeEqualsAux(a, b: PType,
s: var HashSet[(PType, PType)]): bool =
if (a,b) in s: return true
incl(s, (a,b))
if a.kind == b.kind:
case a.kind
of int, intXX, float, floatXX, char, string, cstring, pointer,
bool, nil, void:
# leaf type: kinds identical; nothing more to check
result = true
of ref, ptr, var, set, seq, openarray:
result = typeEqualsAux(a.baseType, b.baseType, s)
of range:
result = typeEqualsAux(a.baseType, b.baseType, s) and
(a.rangeA == b.rangeA) and (a.rangeB == b.rangeB)
of array:
result = typeEqualsAux(a.baseType, b.baseType, s) and
typeEqualsAux(a.indexType, b.indexType, s)
of tuple:
if a.tupleLen == b.tupleLen:
for i in 0..a.tupleLen-1:
if not typeEqualsAux(a[i], b[i], s): return false
result = true
of object, enum, distinct:
result = a == b
of proc:
result = typeEqualsAux(a.parameterTuple, b.parameterTuple, s) and
typeEqualsAux(a.resultType, b.resultType, s) and
a.callingConvention == b.callingConvention
proc typeEquals(a, b: PType): bool =
var s: HashSet[(PType, PType)] = {}
result = typeEqualsAux(a, b, s)
Since types are graphs which can have cycles, the above algorithm needs an
auxiliary set ``s`` to detect this case.
Type equality modulo type distinction
-------------------------------------
The following algorithm (in pseudo-code) determines whether two types
are equal with no respect to ``distinct`` types. For brevity the cycle check
with an auxiliary set ``s`` is omitted:
.. code-block:: nim
proc typeEqualsOrDistinct(a, b: PType): bool =
if a.kind == b.kind:
case a.kind
of int, intXX, float, floatXX, char, string, cstring, pointer,
bool, nil, void:
# leaf type: kinds identical; nothing more to check
result = true
of ref, ptr, var, set, seq, openarray:
result = typeEqualsOrDistinct(a.baseType, b.baseType)
of range:
result = typeEqualsOrDistinct(a.baseType, b.baseType) and
(a.rangeA == b.rangeA) and (a.rangeB == b.rangeB)
of array:
result = typeEqualsOrDistinct(a.baseType, b.baseType) and
typeEqualsOrDistinct(a.indexType, b.indexType)
of tuple:
if a.tupleLen == b.tupleLen:
for i in 0..a.tupleLen-1:
if not typeEqualsOrDistinct(a[i], b[i]): return false
result = true
of distinct:
result = typeEqualsOrDistinct(a.baseType, b.baseType)
of object, enum:
result = a == b
of proc:
result = typeEqualsOrDistinct(a.parameterTuple, b.parameterTuple) and
typeEqualsOrDistinct(a.resultType, b.resultType) and
a.callingConvention == b.callingConvention
elif a.kind == distinct:
result = typeEqualsOrDistinct(a.baseType, b)
elif b.kind == distinct:
result = typeEqualsOrDistinct(a, b.baseType)
Subtype relation
----------------
If object ``a`` inherits from ``b``, ``a`` is a subtype of ``b``. This subtype
relation is extended to the types ``var``, ``ref``, ``ptr``:
.. code-block:: nim
proc isSubtype(a, b: PType): bool =
if a.kind == b.kind:
case a.kind
of object:
var aa = a.baseType
while aa != nil and aa != b: aa = aa.baseType
result = aa == b
of var, ref, ptr:
result = isSubtype(a.baseType, b.baseType)
.. XXX nil is a special value!
Covariance
----------
Covariance in Nim can be introduced only though pointer-like types such
as ``ptr`` and ``ref``. Sequence, Array and OpenArray types, instantiated
with pointer-like types will be considered covariant if and only if they
are also immutable. The introduction of a ``var`` modifier or additional
``ptr`` or ``ref`` indirections would result in invariant treatment of
these types.
``proc`` types are currently always invariant, but future versions of Nim
may relax this rule.
User-defined generic types may also be covariant with respect to some of
their parameters. By default, all generic params are considered invariant,
but you may choose the apply the prefix modifier ``in`` to a parameter to
make it contravariant or ``out`` to make it covariant:
.. code-block:: nim
type
AnnotatedPtr[out T] =
metadata: MyTypeInfo
p: ref T
RingBuffer[out T] =
startPos: int
data: seq[T]
Action {.importcpp: "std::function<void ('0)>".} [in T] = object
When the designated generic parameter is used to instantiate a pointer-like
type as in the case of `AnnotatedPtr` above, the resulting generic type will
also have pointer-like covariance:
.. code-block:: nim
type
GuiWidget = object of RootObj
Button = object of GuiWidget
ComboBox = object of GuiWidget
var
widgetPtr: AnnotatedPtr[GuiWidget]
buttonPtr: AnnotatedPtr[Button]
...
proc drawWidget[T](x: AnnotatedPtr[GuiWidget]) = ...
# you can call procs expecting base types by supplying a derived type
drawWidget(buttonPtr)
# and you can convert more-specific pointer types to more general ones
widgetPtr = buttonPtr
Just like with regular pointers, covariance will be enabled only for immutable
values:
.. code-block:: nim
proc makeComboBox[T](x: var AnnotatedPtr[GuiWidget]) =
x.p = new(ComboBox)
makeComboBox(buttonPtr) # Error, AnnotatedPtr[Button] cannot be modified
# to point to a ComboBox
On the other hand, in the `RingBuffer` example above, the designated generic
param is used to instantiate the non-pointer ``seq`` type, which means that
the resulting generic type will have covariance that mimics an array or
sequence (i.e. it will be covariant only when instantiated with ``ptr`` and
``ref`` types):
.. code-block:: nim
type
Base = object of RootObj
Derived = object of Base
proc consumeBaseValues(b: RingBuffer[Base]) = ...
var derivedValues: RingBuffer[Derived]
consumeBaseValues(derivedValues) # Error, Base and Derived values may differ
# in size
proc consumeBasePointers(b: RingBuffer[ptr Base]) = ...
var derivedPointers: RingBuffer[ptr Derived]
consumeBaseValues(derivedPointers) # This is legal
Please note that Nim will treat the user-defined pointer-like types as
proper alternatives to the built-in pointer types. That is, types such
as `seq[AnnotatedPtr[T]]` or `RingBuffer[AnnotatedPtr[T]]` will also be
considered covariant and you can create new pointer-like types by instantiating
other user-defined pointer-like types.
The contravariant parameters introduced with the ``in`` modifier are currently
useful only when interfacing with imported types having such semantics.
Convertible relation
--------------------
A type ``a`` is **implicitly** convertible to type ``b`` iff the following
algorithm returns true:
.. code-block:: nim
# XXX range types?
proc isImplicitlyConvertible(a, b: PType): bool =
if isSubtype(a, b) or isCovariant(a, b):
return true
case a.kind
of int: result = b in {int8, int16, int32, int64, uint, uint8, uint16,
uint32, uint64, float, float32, float64}
of int8: result = b in {int16, int32, int64, int}
of int16: result = b in {int32, int64, int}
of int32: result = b in {int64, int}
of uint: result = b in {uint32, uint64}
of uint8: result = b in {uint16, uint32, uint64}
of uint16: result = b in {uint32, uint64}
of uint32: result = b in {uint64}
of float: result = b in {float32, float64}
of float32: result = b in {float64, float}
of float64: result = b in {float32, float}
of seq:
result = b == openArray and typeEquals(a.baseType, b.baseType)
of array:
result = b == openArray and typeEquals(a.baseType, b.baseType)
if a.baseType == char and a.indexType.rangeA == 0:
result = b = cstring
of cstring, ptr:
result = b == pointer
of string:
result = b == cstring
A type ``a`` is **explicitly** convertible to type ``b`` iff the following
algorithm returns true:
.. code-block:: nim
proc isIntegralType(t: PType): bool =
result = isOrdinal(t) or t.kind in {float, float32, float64}
proc isExplicitlyConvertible(a, b: PType): bool =
result = false
if isImplicitlyConvertible(a, b): return true
if typeEqualsOrDistinct(a, b): return true
if isIntegralType(a) and isIntegralType(b): return true
if isSubtype(a, b) or isSubtype(b, a): return true
The convertible relation can be relaxed by a user-defined type
`converter`:idx:.
.. code-block:: nim
converter toInt(x: char): int = result = ord(x)
var
x: int
chr: char = 'a'
# implicit conversion magic happens here
x = chr
echo x # => 97
# you can use the explicit form too
x = chr.toInt
echo x # => 97
The type conversion ``T(a)`` is an L-value if ``a`` is an L-value and
``typeEqualsOrDistinct(T, type(a))`` holds.
Assignment compatibility
------------------------
An expression ``b`` can be assigned to an expression ``a`` iff ``a`` is an
`l-value` and ``isImplicitlyConvertible(b.typ, a.typ)`` holds.
Overloading resolution
======================
In a call ``p(args)`` the routine ``p`` that matches best is selected. If
multiple routines match equally well, the ambiguity is reported at compiletime.
Every arg in args needs to match. There are multiple different categories how an
argument can match. Let ``f`` be the formal parameter's type and ``a`` the type
of the argument.
1. Exact match: ``a`` and ``f`` are of the same type.
2. Literal match: ``a`` is an integer literal of value ``v``
and ``f`` is a signed or unsigned integer type and ``v`` is in ``f``'s
range. Or: ``a`` is a floating point literal of value ``v``
and ``f`` is a floating point type and ``v`` is in ``f``'s
range.
3. Generic match: ``f`` is a generic type and ``a`` matches, for
instance ``a`` is ``int`` and ``f`` is a generic (constrained) parameter
type (like in ``[T]`` or ``[T: int|char]``.
4. Subrange or subtype match: ``a`` is a ``range[T]`` and ``T``
matches ``f`` exactly. Or: ``a`` is a subtype of ``f``.
5. Integral conversion match: ``a`` is convertible to ``f`` and ``f`` and ``a``
is some integer or floating point type.
6. Conversion match: ``a`` is convertible to ``f``, possibly via a user
defined ``converter``.
These matching categories have a priority: An exact match is better than a
literal match and that is better than a generic match etc. In the following
``count(p, m)`` counts the number of matches of the matching category ``m``
for the routine ``p``.
A routine ``p`` matches better than a routine ``q`` if the following
algorithm returns true::
for each matching category m in ["exact match", "literal match",
"generic match", "subtype match",
"integral match", "conversion match"]:
if count(p, m) > count(q, m): return true
elif count(p, m) == count(q, m):
discard "continue with next category m"
else:
return false
return "ambiguous"
Some examples:
.. code-block:: nim
proc takesInt(x: int) = echo "int"
proc takesInt[T](x: T) = echo "T"
proc takesInt(x: int16) = echo "int16"
takesInt(4) # "int"
var x: int32
takesInt(x) # "T"
var y: int16
takesInt(y) # "int16"
var z: range[0..4] = 0
takesInt(z) # "T"
If this algorithm returns "ambiguous" further disambiguation is performed:
If the argument ``a`` matches both the parameter type ``f`` of ``p``
and ``g`` of ``q`` via a subtyping relation, the inheritance depth is taken
into account:
.. code-block:: nim
type
A = object of RootObj
B = object of A
C = object of B
proc p(obj: A) =
echo "A"
proc p(obj: B) =
echo "B"
var c = C()
# not ambiguous, calls 'B', not 'A' since B is a subtype of A
# but not vice versa:
p(c)
proc pp(obj: A, obj2: B) = echo "A B"
proc pp(obj: B, obj2: A) = echo "B A"
# but this is ambiguous:
pp(c, c)
Likewise for generic matches the most specialized generic type (that still
matches) is preferred:
.. code-block:: nim
proc gen[T](x: ref ref T) = echo "ref ref T"
proc gen[T](x: ref T) = echo "ref T"
proc gen[T](x: T) = echo "T"
var ri: ref int
gen(ri) # "ref T"
Overloading based on 'var T'
----------------------------
If the formal parameter ``f`` is of type ``var T`` in addition to the ordinary
type checking, the argument is checked to be an `l-value`:idx:. ``var T``
matches better than just ``T`` then.
.. code-block:: nim
proc sayHi(x: int): string =
# matches a non-var int
result = $x
proc sayHi(x: var int): string =
# matches a var int
result = $(x + 10)
proc sayHello(x: int) =
var m = x # a mutable version of x
echo sayHi(x) # matches the non-var version of sayHi
echo sayHi(m) # matches the var version of sayHi
sayHello(3) # 3
# 13
Automatic dereferencing
-----------------------
If the `experimental mode <#pragmas-experimental-pragma>`_ is active and no other match
is found, the first argument ``a`` is dereferenced automatically if it's a
pointer type and overloading resolution is tried with ``a[]`` instead.
Automatic self insertions
-------------------------
**Note**: The ``.this`` pragma is deprecated and should not be used anymore.
Starting with version 0.14 of the language, Nim supports ``field`` as a
shortcut for ``self.field`` comparable to the `this`:idx: keyword in Java
or C++. This feature has to be explicitly enabled via a ``{.this: self.}``
statement pragma. This pragma is active for the rest of the module:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Parent = object of RootObj
parentField: int
Child = object of Parent
childField: int
{.this: self.}
proc sumFields(self: Child): int =
result = parentField + childField
# is rewritten to:
# result = self.parentField + self.childField
Instead of ``self`` any other identifier can be used too, but
``{.this: self.}`` will become the default directive for the whole language
eventually.
In addition to fields, routine applications are also rewritten, but only
if no other interpretation of the call is possible:
.. code-block:: nim
proc test(self: Child) =
echo childField, " ", sumFields()
# is rewritten to:
echo self.childField, " ", sumFields(self)
# but NOT rewritten to:
echo self, self.childField, " ", sumFields(self)
Lazy type resolution for untyped
--------------------------------
**Note**: An `unresolved`:idx: expression is an expression for which no symbol
lookups and no type checking have been performed.
Since templates and macros that are not declared as ``immediate`` participate
in overloading resolution it's essential to have a way to pass unresolved
expressions to a template or macro. This is what the meta-type ``untyped``
accomplishes:
.. code-block:: nim
template rem(x: untyped) = discard
rem unresolvedExpression(undeclaredIdentifier)
A parameter of type ``untyped`` always matches any argument (as long as there is
any argument passed to it).
But one has to watch out because other overloads might trigger the
argument's resolution:
.. code-block:: nim
template rem(x: untyped) = discard
proc rem[T](x: T) = discard
# undeclared identifier: 'unresolvedExpression'
rem unresolvedExpression(undeclaredIdentifier)
``untyped`` and ``varargs[untyped]`` are the only metatype that are lazy in this sense, the other
metatypes ``typed`` and ``type`` are not lazy.
Varargs matching
----------------
See `Varargs <#types-varargs>`_.
Statements and expressions
==========================
Nim uses the common statement/expression paradigm: Statements do not
produce a value in contrast to expressions. However, some expressions are
statements.
Statements are separated into `simple statements`:idx: and
`complex statements`:idx:.
Simple statements are statements that cannot contain other statements like
assignments, calls or the ``return`` statement; complex statements can
contain other statements. To avoid the `dangling else problem`:idx:, complex
statements always have to be indented. The details can be found in the grammar.
Statement list expression
-------------------------
Statements can also occur in an expression context that looks
like ``(stmt1; stmt2; ...; ex)``. This is called
an statement list expression or ``(;)``. The type
of ``(stmt1; stmt2; ...; ex)`` is the type of ``ex``. All the other statements
must be of type ``void``. (One can use ``discard`` to produce a ``void`` type.)
``(;)`` does not introduce a new scope.
Discard statement
-----------------
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
proc p(x, y: int): int =
result = x + y
discard p(3, 4) # discard the return value of `p`
The ``discard`` statement evaluates its expression for side-effects and
throws the expression's resulting value away.
Ignoring the return value of a procedure without using a discard statement is
a static error.
The return value can be ignored implicitly if the called proc/iterator has
been declared with the `discardable`:idx: pragma:
.. code-block:: nim
proc p(x, y: int): int {.discardable.} =
result = x + y
p(3, 4) # now valid
An empty ``discard`` statement is often used as a null statement:
.. code-block:: nim
proc classify(s: string) =
case s[0]
of SymChars, '_': echo "an identifier"
of '0'..'9': echo "a number"
else: discard
Void context
------------
In a list of statements every expression except the last one needs to have the
type ``void``. In addition to this rule an assignment to the builtin ``result``
symbol also triggers a mandatory ``void`` context for the subsequent expressions:
.. code-block:: nim
proc invalid*(): string =
result = "foo"
"invalid" # Error: value of type 'string' has to be discarded
.. code-block:: nim
proc valid*(): string =
let x = 317
"valid"
Var statement
-------------
Var statements declare new local and global variables and
initialize them. A comma separated list of variables can be used to specify
variables of the same type:
.. code-block:: nim
var
a: int = 0
x, y, z: int
If an initializer is given the type can be omitted: the variable is then of the
same type as the initializing expression. Variables are always initialized
with a default value if there is no initializing expression. The default
value depends on the type and is always a zero in binary.
============================ ==============================================
Type default value
============================ ==============================================
any integer type 0
any float 0.0
char '\\0'
bool false
ref or pointer type nil
procedural type nil
sequence ``@[]``
string ``""``
tuple[x: A, y: B, ...] (default(A), default(B), ...)
(analogous for objects)
array[0..., T] [default(T), ...]
range[T] default(T); this may be out of the valid range
T = enum cast[T](0); this may be an invalid value
============================ ==============================================
The implicit initialization can be avoided for optimization reasons with the
`noinit`:idx: pragma:
.. code-block:: nim
var
a {.noInit.}: array[0..1023, char]
If a proc is annotated with the ``noinit`` pragma this refers to its implicit
``result`` variable:
.. code-block:: nim
proc returnUndefinedValue: int {.noinit.} = discard
The implicit initialization can be also prevented by the `requiresInit`:idx:
type pragma. The compiler requires an explicit initialization for the object
and all of its fields. However it does a `control flow analysis`:idx: to prove
the variable has been initialized and does not rely on syntactic properties:
.. code-block:: nim
type
MyObject = object {.requiresInit.}
proc p() =
# the following is valid:
var x: MyObject
if someCondition():
x = a()
else:
x = a()
# use x
let statement
-------------
A ``let`` statement declares new local and global `single assignment`:idx:
variables and binds a value to them. The syntax is the same as that of the ``var``
statement, except that the keyword ``var`` is replaced by the keyword ``let``.
Let variables are not l-values and can thus not be passed to ``var`` parameters
nor can their address be taken. They cannot be assigned new values.
For let variables the same pragmas are available as for ordinary variables.
Tuple unpacking
---------------
In a ``var`` or ``let`` statement tuple unpacking can be performed. The special
identifier ``_`` can be used to ignore some parts of the tuple:
.. code-block:: nim
proc returnsTuple(): (int, int, int) = (4, 2, 3)
let (x, _, z) = returnsTuple()
Const section
-------------
`Constants`:idx: are symbols which are bound to a value. The constant's value
cannot change. The compiler must be able to evaluate the expression in a
constant declaration at compile time.
Nim contains a sophisticated compile-time evaluator, so procedures which
have no side-effect can be used in constant expressions too:
.. code-block:: nim
import strutils
const
constEval = contains("abc", 'b') # computed at compile time!
The rules for compile-time computability are:
1. Literals are compile-time computable.
2. Type conversions are compile-time computable.
3. Procedure calls of the form ``p(X)`` are compile-time computable if
``p`` is a proc without side-effects (see the `noSideEffect pragma
<#pragmas-nosideeffect-pragma>`_ for details) and if ``X`` is a
(possibly empty) list of compile-time computable arguments.
Constants cannot be of type ``ptr``, ``ref`` or ``var``, nor can
they contain such a type.
Static statement/expression
---------------------------
A static statement/expression can be used to enforce compile
time evaluation explicitly. Enforced compile time evaluation can even evaluate
code that has side effects:
.. code-block::
static:
echo "echo at compile time"
It's a static error if the compiler cannot perform the evaluation at compile
time.
The current implementation poses some restrictions for compile time
evaluation: Code which contains ``cast`` or makes use of the foreign function
interface cannot be evaluated at compile time. Later versions of Nim will
support the FFI at compile time.
If statement
------------
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
var name = readLine(stdin)
if name == "Andreas":
echo "What a nice name!"
elif name == "":
echo "Don't you have a name?"
else:
echo "Boring name..."
The ``if`` statement is a simple way to make a branch in the control flow:
The expression after the keyword ``if`` is evaluated, if it is true
the corresponding statements after the ``:`` are executed. Otherwise
the expression after the ``elif`` is evaluated (if there is an
``elif`` branch), if it is true the corresponding statements after
the ``:`` are executed. This goes on until the last ``elif``. If all
conditions fail, the ``else`` part is executed. If there is no ``else``
part, execution continues with the next statement.
In ``if`` statements new scopes begin immediately after the ``if``/``elif``/``else`` keywords and ends after the corresponding *then* block.
For visualization purposes the scopes have been enclosed in ``{| |}`` in the following example:
.. code-block:: nim
if {| (let m = input =~ re"(\w+)=\w+"; m.isMatch):
echo "key ", m[0], " value ", m[1] |}
elif {| (let m = input =~ re""; m.isMatch):
echo "new m in this scope" |}
else: {|
echo "m not declared here" |}
Case statement
--------------
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
case readline(stdin)
of "delete-everything", "restart-computer":
echo "permission denied"
of "go-for-a-walk": echo "please yourself"
else: echo "unknown command"
# indentation of the branches is also allowed; and so is an optional colon
# after the selecting expression:
case readline(stdin):
of "delete-everything", "restart-computer":
echo "permission denied"
of "go-for-a-walk": echo "please yourself"
else: echo "unknown command"
The ``case`` statement is similar to the if statement, but it represents
a multi-branch selection. The expression after the keyword ``case`` is
evaluated and if its value is in a *slicelist* the corresponding statements
(after the ``of`` keyword) are executed. If the value is not in any
given *slicelist* the ``else`` part is executed. If there is no ``else``
part and not all possible values that ``expr`` can hold occur in a
``slicelist``, a static error occurs. This holds only for expressions of
ordinal types. "All possible values" of ``expr`` are determined by ``expr``'s
type. To suppress the static error an ``else`` part with an
empty ``discard`` statement should be used.
For non ordinal types it is not possible to list every possible value and so
these always require an ``else`` part.
As case statements perform compile-time exhaustiveness checks, the value in
every ``of`` branch must be known at compile time. This fact is also exploited
to generate more performant code.
As a special semantic extension, an expression in an ``of`` branch of a case
statement may evaluate to a set or array constructor; the set or array is then
expanded into a list of its elements:
.. code-block:: nim
const
SymChars: set[char] = {'a'..'z', 'A'..'Z', '\x80'..'\xFF'}
proc classify(s: string) =
case s[0]
of SymChars, '_': echo "an identifier"
of '0'..'9': echo "a number"
else: echo "other"
# is equivalent to:
proc classify(s: string) =
case s[0]
of 'a'..'z', 'A'..'Z', '\x80'..'\xFF', '_': echo "an identifier"
of '0'..'9': echo "a number"
else: echo "other"
When statement
--------------
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
when sizeof(int) == 2:
echo "running on a 16 bit system!"
elif sizeof(int) == 4:
echo "running on a 32 bit system!"
elif sizeof(int) == 8:
echo "running on a 64 bit system!"
else:
echo "cannot happen!"
The ``when`` statement is almost identical to the ``if`` statement with some
exceptions:
* Each condition (``expr``) has to be a constant expression (of type ``bool``).
* The statements do not open a new scope.
* The statements that belong to the expression that evaluated to true are
translated by the compiler, the other statements are not checked for
semantics! However, each condition is checked for semantics.
The ``when`` statement enables conditional compilation techniques. As
a special syntactic extension, the ``when`` construct is also available
within ``object`` definitions.
When nimvm statement
--------------------
``nimvm`` is a special symbol, that may be used as expression of ``when nimvm``
statement to differentiate execution path between runtime and compile time.
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
proc someProcThatMayRunInCompileTime(): bool =
when nimvm:
# This code runs in compile time
result = true
else:
# This code runs in runtime
result = false
const ctValue = someProcThatMayRunInCompileTime()
let rtValue = someProcThatMayRunInCompileTime()
assert(ctValue == true)
assert(rtValue == false)
``when nimvm`` statement must meet the following requirements:
* Its expression must always be ``nimvm``. More complex expressions are not
allowed.
* It must not contain ``elif`` branches.
* It must contain ``else`` branch.
* Code in branches must not affect semantics of the code that follows the
``when nimvm`` statement. E.g. it must not define symbols that are used in
the following code.
Return statement
----------------
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
return 40+2
The ``return`` statement ends the execution of the current procedure.
It is only allowed in procedures. If there is an ``expr``, this is syntactic
sugar for:
.. code-block:: nim
result = expr
return result
``return`` without an expression is a short notation for ``return result`` if
the proc has a return type. The `result`:idx: variable is always the return
value of the procedure. It is automatically declared by the compiler. As all
variables, ``result`` is initialized to (binary) zero:
.. code-block:: nim
proc returnZero(): int =
# implicitly returns 0
Yield statement
---------------
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
yield (1, 2, 3)
The ``yield`` statement is used instead of the ``return`` statement in
iterators. It is only valid in iterators. Execution is returned to the body
of the for loop that called the iterator. Yield does not end the iteration
process, but execution is passed back to the iterator if the next iteration
starts. See the section about iterators (`Iterators and the for statement`_)
for further information.
Block statement
---------------
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
var found = false
block myblock:
for i in 0..3:
for j in 0..3:
if a[j][i] == 7:
found = true
break myblock # leave the block, in this case both for-loops
echo found
The block statement is a means to group statements to a (named) ``block``.
Inside the block, the ``break`` statement is allowed to leave the block
immediately. A ``break`` statement can contain a name of a surrounding
block to specify which block is to leave.
Break statement
---------------
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
break
The ``break`` statement is used to leave a block immediately. If ``symbol``
is given, it is the name of the enclosing block that is to leave. If it is
absent, the innermost block is left.
While statement
---------------
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
echo "Please tell me your password:"
var pw = readLine(stdin)
while pw != "12345":
echo "Wrong password! Next try:"
pw = readLine(stdin)
The ``while`` statement is executed until the ``expr`` evaluates to false.
Endless loops are no error. ``while`` statements open an `implicit block`,
so that they can be left with a ``break`` statement.
Continue statement
------------------
A ``continue`` statement leads to the immediate next iteration of the
surrounding loop construct. It is only allowed within a loop. A continue
statement is syntactic sugar for a nested block:
.. code-block:: nim
while expr1:
stmt1
continue
stmt2
Is equivalent to:
.. code-block:: nim
while expr1:
block myBlockName:
stmt1
break myBlockName
stmt2
Assembler statement
-------------------
The direct embedding of assembler code into Nim code is supported
by the unsafe ``asm`` statement. Identifiers in the assembler code that refer to
Nim identifiers shall be enclosed in a special character which can be
specified in the statement's pragmas. The default special character is ``'`'``:
.. code-block:: nim
{.push stackTrace:off.}
proc addInt(a, b: int): int =
# a in eax, and b in edx
asm """
mov eax, `a`
add eax, `b`
jno theEnd
call `raiseOverflow`
theEnd:
"""
{.pop.}
If the GNU assembler is used, quotes and newlines are inserted automatically:
.. code-block:: nim
proc addInt(a, b: int): int =
asm """
addl %%ecx, %%eax
jno 1
call `raiseOverflow`
1:
:"=a"(`result`)
:"a"(`a`), "c"(`b`)
"""
Instead of:
.. code-block:: nim
proc addInt(a, b: int): int =
asm """
"addl %%ecx, %%eax\n"
"jno 1\n"
"call `raiseOverflow`\n"
"1: \n"
:"=a"(`result`)
:"a"(`a`), "c"(`b`)
"""
Using statement
---------------
The using statement provides syntactic convenience in modules where
the same parameter names and types are used over and over. Instead of:
.. code-block:: nim
proc foo(c: Context; n: Node) = ...
proc bar(c: Context; n: Node, counter: int) = ...
proc baz(c: Context; n: Node) = ...
One can tell the compiler about the convention that a parameter of
name ``c`` should default to type ``Context``, ``n`` should default to
``Node`` etc.:
.. code-block:: nim
using
c: Context
n: Node
counter: int
proc foo(c, n) = ...
proc bar(c, n, counter) = ...
proc baz(c, n) = ...
proc mixedMode(c, n; x, y: int) =
# 'c' is inferred to be of the type 'Context'
# 'n' is inferred to be of the type 'Node'
# But 'x' and 'y' are of type 'int'.
The ``using`` section uses the same indentation based grouping syntax as
a ``var`` or ``let`` section.
Note that ``using`` is not applied for ``template`` since untyped template
parameters default to the type ``system.untyped``.
Mixing parameters that should use the ``using`` declaration with parameters
that are explicitly typed is possible and requires a semicolon between them.
If expression
-------------
An `if expression` is almost like an if statement, but it is an expression.
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
var y = if x > 8: 9 else: 10
An if expression always results in a value, so the ``else`` part is
required. ``Elif`` parts are also allowed.
When expression
---------------
Just like an `if expression`, but corresponding to the when statement.
Case expression
---------------
The `case expression` is again very similar to the case statement:
.. code-block:: nim
var favoriteFood = case animal
of "dog": "bones"
of "cat": "mice"
elif animal.endsWith"whale": "plankton"
else:
echo "I'm not sure what to serve, but everybody loves ice cream"
"ice cream"
As seen in the above example, the case expression can also introduce side
effects. When multiple statements are given for a branch, Nim will use
the last expression as the result value.
Table constructor
-----------------
A table constructor is syntactic sugar for an array constructor:
.. code-block:: nim
{"key1": "value1", "key2", "key3": "value2"}
# is the same as:
[("key1", "value1"), ("key2", "value2"), ("key3", "value2")]
The empty table can be written ``{:}`` (in contrast to the empty set
which is ``{}``) which is thus another way to write as the empty array
constructor ``[]``. This slightly unusual way of supporting tables
has lots of advantages:
* The order of the (key,value)-pairs is preserved, thus it is easy to
support ordered dicts with for example ``{key: val}.newOrderedTable``.
* A table literal can be put into a ``const`` section and the compiler
can easily put it into the executable's data section just like it can
for arrays and the generated data section requires a minimal amount
of memory.
* Every table implementation is treated equal syntactically.
* Apart from the minimal syntactic sugar the language core does not need to
know about tables.
Type conversions
----------------
Syntactically a `type conversion` is like a procedure call, but a
type name replaces the procedure name. A type conversion is always
safe in the sense that a failure to convert a type to another
results in an exception (if it cannot be determined statically).
Ordinary procs are often preferred over type conversions in Nim: For instance,
``$`` is the ``toString`` operator by convention and ``toFloat`` and ``toInt``
can be used to convert from floating point to integer or vice versa.
Type casts
----------
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
cast[int](x)
Type casts are a crude mechanism to interpret the bit pattern of
an expression as if it would be of another type. Type casts are
only needed for low-level programming and are inherently unsafe.
The addr operator
-----------------
The ``addr`` operator returns the address of an l-value. If the type of the
location is ``T``, the `addr` operator result is of the type ``ptr T``. An
address is always an untraced reference. Taking the address of an object that
resides on the stack is **unsafe**, as the pointer may live longer than the
object on the stack and can thus reference a non-existing object. One can get
the address of variables, but one can't use it on variables declared through
``let`` statements:
.. code-block:: nim
let t1 = "Hello"
var
t2 = t1
t3 : pointer = addr(t2)
echo repr(addr(t2))
# --> ref 0x7fff6b71b670 --> 0x10bb81050"Hello"
echo cast[ptr string](t3)[]
# --> Hello
# The following line doesn't compile:
echo repr(addr(t1))
# Error: expression has no address
The unsafeAddr operator
-----------------------
For easier interoperability with other compiled languages such as C, retrieving
the address of a ``let`` variable, a parameter or a ``for`` loop variable, the
``unsafeAddr`` operation can be used:
.. code-block:: nim
let myArray = [1, 2, 3]
foreignProcThatTakesAnAddr(unsafeAddr myArray)
Procedures
==========
What most programming languages call `methods`:idx: or `functions`:idx: are
called `procedures`:idx: in Nim. A procedure
declaration consists of an identifier, zero or more formal parameters, a return
value type and a block of code. Formal parameters are declared as a list of
identifiers separated by either comma or semicolon. A parameter is given a type
by ``: typename``. The type applies to all parameters immediately before it,
until either the beginning of the parameter list, a semicolon separator or an
already typed parameter, is reached. The semicolon can be used to make
separation of types and subsequent identifiers more distinct.
.. code-block:: nim
# Using only commas
proc foo(a, b: int, c, d: bool): int
# Using semicolon for visual distinction
proc foo(a, b: int; c, d: bool): int
# Will fail: a is untyped since ';' stops type propagation.
proc foo(a; b: int; c, d: bool): int
A parameter may be declared with a default value which is used if the caller
does not provide a value for the argument.
.. code-block:: nim
# b is optional with 47 as its default value
proc foo(a: int, b: int = 47): int
Parameters can be declared mutable and so allow the proc to modify those
arguments, by using the type modifier `var`.
.. code-block:: nim
# "returning" a value to the caller through the 2nd argument
# Notice that the function uses no actual return value at all (ie void)
proc foo(inp: int, outp: var int) =
outp = inp + 47
If the proc declaration has no body, it is a `forward`:idx: declaration. If the
proc returns a value, the procedure body can access an implicitly declared
variable named `result`:idx: that represents the return value. Procs can be
overloaded. The overloading resolution algorithm determines which proc is the
best match for the arguments. Example:
.. code-block:: nim
proc toLower(c: char): char = # toLower for characters
if c in {'A'..'Z'}:
result = chr(ord(c) + (ord('a') - ord('A')))
else:
result = c
proc toLower(s: string): string = # toLower for strings
result = newString(len(s))
for i in 0..len(s) - 1:
result[i] = toLower(s[i]) # calls toLower for characters; no recursion!
Calling a procedure can be done in many different ways:
.. code-block:: nim
proc callme(x, y: int, s: string = "", c: char, b: bool = false) = ...
# call with positional arguments # parameter bindings:
callme(0, 1, "abc", '\t', true) # (x=0, y=1, s="abc", c='\t', b=true)
# call with named and positional arguments:
callme(y=1, x=0, "abd", '\t') # (x=0, y=1, s="abd", c='\t', b=false)
# call with named arguments (order is not relevant):
callme(c='\t', y=1, x=0) # (x=0, y=1, s="", c='\t', b=false)
# call as a command statement: no () needed:
callme 0, 1, "abc", '\t' # (x=0, y=1, s="abc", c='\t', b=false)
A procedure may call itself recursively.
`Operators`:idx: are procedures with a special operator symbol as identifier:
.. code-block:: nim
proc `$` (x: int): string =
# converts an integer to a string; this is a prefix operator.
result = intToStr(x)
Operators with one parameter are prefix operators, operators with two
parameters are infix operators. (However, the parser distinguishes these from
the operator's position within an expression.) There is no way to declare
postfix operators: all postfix operators are built-in and handled by the
grammar explicitly.
Any operator can be called like an ordinary proc with the '`opr`'
notation. (Thus an operator can have more than two parameters):
.. code-block:: nim
proc `*+` (a, b, c: int): int =
# Multiply and add
result = a * b + c
assert `*+`(3, 4, 6) == `+`(`*`(a, b), c)
Export marker
-------------
If a declared symbol is marked with an `asterisk`:idx: it is exported from the
current module:
.. code-block:: nim
proc exportedEcho*(s: string) = echo s
proc `*`*(a: string; b: int): string =
result = newStringOfCap(a.len * b)
for i in 1..b: result.add a
var exportedVar*: int
const exportedConst* = 78
type
ExportedType* = object
exportedField*: int
Method call syntax
------------------
For object oriented programming, the syntax ``obj.method(args)`` can be used
instead of ``method(obj, args)``. The parentheses can be omitted if there are no
remaining arguments: ``obj.len`` (instead of ``len(obj)``).
This method call syntax is not restricted to objects, it can be used
to supply any type of first argument for procedures:
.. code-block:: nim
echo "abc".len # is the same as echo len "abc"
echo "abc".toUpper()
echo {'a', 'b', 'c'}.card
stdout.writeLine("Hallo") # the same as writeLine(stdout, "Hallo")
Another way to look at the method call syntax is that it provides the missing
postfix notation.
The method call syntax conflicts with explicit generic instantiations:
``p[T](x)`` cannot be written as ``x.p[T]`` because ``x.p[T]`` is always
parsed as ``(x.p)[T]``.
See also: `Limitations of the method call syntax
<#templates-limitations-of-the-method-call-syntax>`_.
The ``[: ]`` notation has been designed to mitigate this issue: ``x.p[:T]``
is rewritten by the parser to ``p[T](x)``, ``x.p[:T](y)`` is rewritten to
``p[T](x, y)``. Note that ``[: ]`` has no AST representation, the rewrite
is performed directly in the parsing step.
Properties
----------
Nim has no need for *get-properties*: Ordinary get-procedures that are called
with the *method call syntax* achieve the same. But setting a value is
different; for this a special setter syntax is needed:
.. code-block:: nim
# Module asocket
type
Socket* = ref object of RootObj
host: int # cannot be accessed from the outside of the module
proc `host=`*(s: var Socket, value: int) {.inline.} =
## setter of hostAddr.
## This accesses the 'host' field and is not a recursive call to
## ``host=`` because the builtin dot access is preferred if it is
## avaliable:
s.host = value
proc host*(s: Socket): int {.inline.} =
## getter of hostAddr
## This accesses the 'host' field and is not a recursive call to
## ``host`` because the builtin dot access is preferred if it is
## avaliable:
s.host
.. code-block:: nim
# module B
import asocket
var s: Socket
new s
s.host = 34 # same as `host=`(s, 34)
Command invocation syntax
-------------------------
Routines can be invoked without the ``()`` if the call is syntactically
a statement. This command invocation syntax also works for
expressions, but then only a single argument may follow. This restriction
means ``echo f 1, f 2`` is parsed as ``echo(f(1), f(2))`` and not as
``echo(f(1, f(2)))``. The method call syntax may be used to provide one
more argument in this case:
.. code-block:: nim
proc optarg(x: int, y: int = 0): int = x + y
proc singlearg(x: int): int = 20*x
echo optarg 1, " ", singlearg 2 # prints "1 40"
let fail = optarg 1, optarg 8 # Wrong. Too many arguments for a command call
let x = optarg(1, optarg 8) # traditional procedure call with 2 arguments
let y = 1.optarg optarg 8 # same thing as above, w/o the parenthesis
assert x == y
The command invocation syntax also can't have complex expressions as arguments.
For example: (`anonymous procs`_), ``if``, ``case`` or ``try``. The (`do
notation`_) is limited, but usable for a single proc (see the example in the
corresponding section). Function calls with no arguments still needs () to
distinguish between a call and the function itself as a first class value.
Closures
--------
Procedures can appear at the top level in a module as well as inside other
scopes, in which case they are called nested procs. A nested proc can access
local variables from its enclosing scope and if it does so it becomes a
closure. Any captured variables are stored in a hidden additional argument
to the closure (its environment) and they are accessed by reference by both
the closure and its enclosing scope (i.e. any modifications made to them are
visible in both places). The closure environment may be allocated on the heap
or on the stack if the compiler determines that this would be safe.
Creating closures in loops
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since closures capture local variables by reference it is often not wanted
behavior inside loop bodies. See `closureScope <system.html#closureScope>`_
for details on how to change this behavior.
Anonymous Procs
---------------
Procs can also be treated as expressions, in which case it's allowed to omit
the proc's name.
.. code-block:: nim
var cities = @["Frankfurt", "Tokyo", "New York", "Kyiv"]
cities.sort(proc (x,y: string): int =
cmp(x.len, y.len))
Procs as expressions can appear both as nested procs and inside top level
executable code.
Func
----
The ``func`` keyword introduces a shortcut for a `noSideEffect`:idx: proc.
.. code-block:: nim
func binarySearch[T](a: openArray[T]; elem: T): int
Is short for:
.. code-block:: nim
proc binarySearch[T](a: openArray[T]; elem: T): int {.noSideEffect.}
Do notation
-----------
As a special more convenient notation, proc expressions involved in procedure
calls can use the ``do`` keyword:
.. code-block:: nim
sort(cities) do (x,y: string) -> int:
cmp(x.len, y.len)
# Less parenthesis using the method plus command syntax:
cities = cities.map do (x:string) -> string:
"City of " & x
# In macros, the do notation is often used for quasi-quoting
macroResults.add quote do:
if not `ex`:
echo `info`, ": Check failed: ", `expString`
``do`` is written after the parentheses enclosing the regular proc params.
The proc expression represented by the do block is appended to them.
In calls using the command syntax, the do block will bind to the immediately
preceeding expression, transforming it in a call.
``do`` with parentheses is an anonymous ``proc``; however a ``do`` without
parentheses is just a block of code. The ``do`` notation can be used to
pass multiple blocks to a macro:
.. code-block:: nim
macro performWithUndo(task, undo: untyped) = ...
performWithUndo do:
# multiple-line block of code
# to perform the task
do:
# code to undo it
Nonoverloadable builtins
------------------------
The following builtin procs cannot be overloaded for reasons of implementation
simplicity (they require specialized semantic checking)::
declared, defined, definedInScope, compiles, sizeOf,
is, shallowCopy, getAst, astToStr, spawn, procCall
Thus they act more like keywords than like ordinary identifiers; unlike a
keyword however, a redefinition may `shadow`:idx: the definition in
the ``system`` module. From this list the following should not be written in dot
notation ``x.f`` since ``x`` cannot be type checked before it gets passed
to ``f``::
declared, defined, definedInScope, compiles, getAst, astToStr
Var parameters
--------------
The type of a parameter may be prefixed with the ``var`` keyword:
.. code-block:: nim
proc divmod(a, b: int; res, remainder: var int) =
res = a div b
remainder = a mod b
var
x, y: int
divmod(8, 5, x, y) # modifies x and y
assert x == 1
assert y == 3
In the example, ``res`` and ``remainder`` are `var parameters`.
Var parameters can be modified by the procedure and the changes are
visible to the caller. The argument passed to a var parameter has to be
an l-value. Var parameters are implemented as hidden pointers. The
above example is equivalent to:
.. code-block:: nim
proc divmod(a, b: int; res, remainder: ptr int) =
res[] = a div b
remainder[] = a mod b
var
x, y: int
divmod(8, 5, addr(x), addr(y))
assert x == 1
assert y == 3
In the examples, var parameters or pointers are used to provide two
return values. This can be done in a cleaner way by returning a tuple:
.. code-block:: nim
proc divmod(a, b: int): tuple[res, remainder: int] =
(a div b, a mod b)
var t = divmod(8, 5)
assert t.res == 1
assert t.remainder == 3
One can use `tuple unpacking`:idx: to access the tuple's fields:
.. code-block:: nim
var (x, y) = divmod(8, 5) # tuple unpacking
assert x == 1
assert y == 3
**Note**: ``var`` parameters are never necessary for efficient parameter
passing. Since non-var parameters cannot be modified the compiler is always
free to pass arguments by reference if it considers it can speed up execution.
Var return type
---------------
A proc, converter or iterator may return a ``var`` type which means that the
returned value is an l-value and can be modified by the caller:
.. code-block:: nim
var g = 0
proc writeAccessToG(): var int =
result = g
writeAccessToG() = 6
assert g == 6
It is a compile time error if the implicitly introduced pointer could be
used to access a location beyond its lifetime:
.. code-block:: nim
proc writeAccessToG(): var int =
var g = 0
result = g # Error!
For iterators, a component of a tuple return type can have a ``var`` type too:
.. code-block:: nim
iterator mpairs(a: var seq[string]): tuple[key: int, val: var string] =
for i in 0..a.high:
yield (i, a[i])
In the standard library every name of a routine that returns a ``var`` type
starts with the prefix ``m`` per convention.
.. include:: manual/var_t_return.rst
Future directions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later versions of Nim can be more precise about the borrowing rule with
a syntax like:
.. code-block:: nim
proc foo(other: Y; container: var X): var T from container
Here ``var T from container`` explicitly exposes that the
location is deviated from the second parameter (called
'container' in this case). The syntax ``var T from p`` specifies a type
``varTy[T, 2]`` which is incompatible with ``varTy[T, 1]``.
Overloading of the subscript operator
-------------------------------------
The ``[]`` subscript operator for arrays/openarrays/sequences can be overloaded.
Multi-methods
=============
Procedures always use static dispatch. Multi-methods use dynamic
dispatch. For dynamic dispatch to work on an object it should be a reference
type as well.
.. code-block:: nim
type
Expression = ref object of RootObj ## abstract base class for an expression
Literal = ref object of Expression
x: int
PlusExpr = ref object of Expression
a, b: Expression
method eval(e: Expression): int {.base.} =
# override this base method
quit "to override!"
method eval(e: Literal): int = return e.x
method eval(e: PlusExpr): int =
# watch out: relies on dynamic binding
result = eval(e.a) + eval(e.b)
proc newLit(x: int): Literal =
new(result)
result.x = x
proc newPlus(a, b: Expression): PlusExpr =
new(result)
result.a = a
result.b = b
echo eval(newPlus(newPlus(newLit(1), newLit(2)), newLit(4)))
In the example the constructors ``newLit`` and ``newPlus`` are procs
because they should use static binding, but ``eval`` is a method because it
requires dynamic binding.
As can be seen in the example, base methods have to be annotated with
the `base`:idx: pragma. The ``base`` pragma also acts as a reminder for the
programmer that a base method ``m`` is used as the foundation to determine all
the effects that a call to ``m`` might cause.
In a multi-method all parameters that have an object type are used for the
dispatching:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Thing = ref object of RootObj
Unit = ref object of Thing
x: int
method collide(a, b: Thing) {.base, inline.} =
quit "to override!"
method collide(a: Thing, b: Unit) {.inline.} =
echo "1"
method collide(a: Unit, b: Thing) {.inline.} =
echo "2"
var a, b: Unit
new a
new b
collide(a, b) # output: 2
Invocation of a multi-method cannot be ambiguous: collide 2 is preferred over
collide 1 because the resolution works from left to right.
In the example ``Unit, Thing`` is preferred over ``Thing, Unit``.
**Note**: Compile time evaluation is not (yet) supported for methods.
Inhibit dynamic method resolution via procCall
-----------------------------------------------
Dynamic method resolution can be inhibited via the builtin `system.procCall`:idx:.
This is somewhat comparable to the `super`:idx: keyword that traditional OOP
languages offer.
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
type
Thing = ref object of RootObj
Unit = ref object of Thing
x: int
method m(a: Thing) {.base.} =
echo "base"
method m(a: Unit) =
# Call the base method:
procCall m(Thing(a))
echo "1"
Iterators and the for statement
===============================
The `for`:idx: statement is an abstract mechanism to iterate over the elements
of a container. It relies on an `iterator`:idx: to do so. Like ``while``
statements, ``for`` statements open an `implicit block`:idx:, so that they
can be left with a ``break`` statement.
The ``for`` loop declares iteration variables - their scope reaches until the
end of the loop body. The iteration variables' types are inferred by the
return type of the iterator.
An iterator is similar to a procedure, except that it can be called in the
context of a ``for`` loop. Iterators provide a way to specify the iteration over
an abstract type. A key role in the execution of a ``for`` loop plays the
``yield`` statement in the called iterator. Whenever a ``yield`` statement is
reached the data is bound to the ``for`` loop variables and control continues
in the body of the ``for`` loop. The iterator's local variables and execution
state are automatically saved between calls. Example:
.. code-block:: nim
# this definition exists in the system module
iterator items*(a: string): char {.inline.} =
var i = 0
while i < len(a):
yield a[i]
inc(i)
for ch in items("hello world"): # `ch` is an iteration variable
echo ch
The compiler generates code as if the programmer would have written this:
.. code-block:: nim
var i = 0
while i < len(a):
var ch = a[i]
echo ch
inc(i)
If the iterator yields a tuple, there can be as many iteration variables
as there are components in the tuple. The i'th iteration variable's type is
the type of the i'th component. In other words, implicit tuple unpacking in a
for loop context is supported.
Implict items/pairs invocations
-------------------------------
If the for loop expression ``e`` does not denote an iterator and the for loop
has exactly 1 variable, the for loop expression is rewritten to ``items(e)``;
ie. an ``items`` iterator is implicitly invoked:
.. code-block:: nim
for x in [1,2,3]: echo x
If the for loop has exactly 2 variables, a ``pairs`` iterator is implicitly
invoked.
Symbol lookup of the identifiers ``items``/``pairs`` is performed after
the rewriting step, so that all overloads of ``items``/``pairs`` are taken
into account.
First class iterators
---------------------
There are 2 kinds of iterators in Nim: *inline* and *closure* iterators.
An `inline iterator`:idx: is an iterator that's always inlined by the compiler
leading to zero overhead for the abstraction, but may result in a heavy
increase in code size. Inline iterators are second class citizens;
They can be passed as parameters only to other inlining code facilities like
templates, macros and other inline iterators.
In contrast to that, a `closure iterator`:idx: can be passed around more freely:
.. code-block:: nim
iterator count0(): int {.closure.} =
yield 0
iterator count2(): int {.closure.} =
var x = 1
yield x
inc x
yield x
proc invoke(iter: iterator(): int {.closure.}) =
for x in iter(): echo x
invoke(count0)
invoke(count2)
Closure iterators have other restrictions than inline iterators:
1. ``yield`` in a closure iterator can not occur in a ``try`` statement.
2. For now, a closure iterator cannot be evaluated at compile time.
3. ``return`` is allowed in a closure iterator (but rarely useful) and ends
iteration.
4. Neither inline nor closure iterators can be recursive.
5. Closure iterators are not supported by the js backend.
Iterators that are neither marked ``{.closure.}`` nor ``{.inline.}`` explicitly
default to being inline, but this may change in future versions of the
implementation.
The ``iterator`` type is always of the calling convention ``closure``
implicitly; the following example shows how to use iterators to implement
a `collaborative tasking`:idx: system:
.. code-block:: nim
# simple tasking:
type
Task = iterator (ticker: int)
iterator a1(ticker: int) {.closure.} =
echo "a1: A"
yield
echo "a1: B"
yield
echo "a1: C"
yield
echo "a1: D"
iterator a2(ticker: int) {.closure.} =
echo "a2: A"
yield
echo "a2: B"
yield
echo "a2: C"
proc runTasks(t: varargs[Task]) =
var ticker = 0
while true:
let x = t[ticker mod t.len]
if finished(x): break
x(ticker)
inc ticker
runTasks(a1, a2)
The builtin ``system.finished`` can be used to determine if an iterator has
finished its operation; no exception is raised on an attempt to invoke an
iterator that has already finished its work.
Note that ``system.finished`` is error prone to use because it only returns
``true`` one iteration after the iterator has finished:
.. code-block:: nim
iterator mycount(a, b: int): int {.closure.} =
var x = a
while x <= b:
yield x
inc x
var c = mycount # instantiate the iterator
while not finished(c):
echo c(1, 3)
# Produces
1
2
3
0
Instead this code has to be used:
.. code-block:: nim
var c = mycount # instantiate the iterator
while true:
let value = c(1, 3)
if finished(c): break # and discard 'value'!
echo value
It helps to think that the iterator actually returns a
pair ``(value, done)`` and ``finished`` is used to access the hidden ``done``
field.
Closure iterators are *resumable functions* and so one has to provide the
arguments to every call. To get around this limitation one can capture
parameters of an outer factory proc:
.. code-block:: nim
proc mycount(a, b: int): iterator (): int =
result = iterator (): int =
var x = a
while x <= b:
yield x
inc x
let foo = mycount(1, 4)
for f in foo():
echo f
..
Implicit return type
--------------------
Since inline iterators must always produce values that will be consumed in
a for loop, the compiler will implicitly use the ``auto`` return type if no
type is given by the user. In contrast, since closure iterators can be used
as a collaborative tasking system, ``void`` is a valid return type for them.
Converters
==========
A converter is like an ordinary proc except that it enhances
the "implicitly convertible" type relation (see `Convertible relation`_):
.. code-block:: nim
# bad style ahead: Nim is not C.
converter toBool(x: int): bool = x != 0
if 4:
echo "compiles"
A converter can also be explicitly invoked for improved readability. Note that
implicit converter chaining is not supported: If there is a converter from
type A to type B and from type B to type C the implicit conversion from A to C
is not provided.
Type sections
=============
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
type # example demonstrating mutually recursive types
Node = ref object # an object managed by the garbage collector (ref)
le, ri: Node # left and right subtrees
sym: ref Sym # leaves contain a reference to a Sym
Sym = object # a symbol
name: string # the symbol's name
line: int # the line the symbol was declared in
code: Node # the symbol's abstract syntax tree
A type section begins with the ``type`` keyword. It contains multiple
type definitions. A type definition binds a type to a name. Type definitions
can be recursive or even mutually recursive. Mutually recursive types are only
possible within a single ``type`` section. Nominal types like ``objects``
or ``enums`` can only be defined in a ``type`` section.
Exception handling
==================
Try statement
-------------
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
# read the first two lines of a text file that should contain numbers
# and tries to add them
var
f: File
if open(f, "numbers.txt"):
try:
var a = readLine(f)
var b = readLine(f)
echo "sum: " & $(parseInt(a) + parseInt(b))
except OverflowError:
echo "overflow!"
except ValueError:
echo "could not convert string to integer"
except IOError:
echo "IO error!"
except:
echo "Unknown exception!"
finally:
close(f)
The statements after the ``try`` are executed in sequential order unless
an exception ``e`` is raised. If the exception type of ``e`` matches any
listed in an ``except`` clause the corresponding statements are executed.
The statements following the ``except`` clauses are called
`exception handlers`:idx:.
The empty `except`:idx: clause is executed if there is an exception that is
not listed otherwise. It is similar to an ``else`` clause in ``if`` statements.
If there is a `finally`:idx: clause, it is always executed after the
exception handlers.
The exception is *consumed* in an exception handler. However, an
exception handler may raise another exception. If the exception is not
handled, it is propagated through the call stack. This means that often
the rest of the procedure - that is not within a ``finally`` clause -
is not executed (if an exception occurs).
Try expression
--------------
Try can also be used as an expression; the type of the ``try`` branch then
needs to fit the types of ``except`` branches, but the type of the ``finally``
branch always has to be ``void``:
.. code-block:: nim
let x = try: parseInt("133a")
except: -1
finally: echo "hi"
To prevent confusing code there is a parsing limitation; if the ``try``
follows a ``(`` it has to be written as a one liner:
.. code-block:: nim
let x = (try: parseInt("133a") except: -1)
Except clauses
--------------
Within an ``except`` clause, it is possible to use
``getCurrentException`` to retrieve the exception that has been
raised:
.. code-block:: nim
try:
# ...
except IOError:
let e = getCurrentException()
# Now use "e"
Note that ``getCurrentException`` always returns a ``ref Exception``
type. If a variable of the proper type is needed (in the example
above, ``IOError``), one must convert it explicitly:
.. code-block:: nim
try:
# ...
except IOError:
let e = (ref IOError)(getCurrentException())
# "e" is now of the proper type
However, this is seldom needed. The most common case is to extract an
error message from ``e``, and for such situations it is enough to use
``getCurrentExceptionMsg``:
.. code-block:: nim
try:
# ...
except IOError:
echo "I/O error: " & getCurrentExceptionMsg()
Defer statement
---------------
Instead of a ``try finally`` statement a ``defer`` statement can be used.
Any statements following the ``defer`` in the current block will be considered
to be in an implicit try block:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
proc main =
var f = open("numbers.txt")
defer: close(f)
f.write "abc"
f.write "def"
Is rewritten to:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
proc main =
var f = open("numbers.txt")
try:
f.write "abc"
f.write "def"
finally:
close(f)
Top level ``defer`` statements are not supported
since it's unclear what such a statement should refer to.
Raise statement
---------------
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
raise newEOS("operating system failed")
Apart from built-in operations like array indexing, memory allocation, etc.
the ``raise`` statement is the only way to raise an exception.
.. XXX document this better!
If no exception name is given, the current exception is `re-raised`:idx:. The
`ReraiseError`:idx: exception is raised if there is no exception to
re-raise. It follows that the ``raise`` statement *always* raises an
exception.
Exception hierarchy
-------------------
The exception tree is defined in the `system <system.html>`_ module.
Every exception inherits from ``system.Exception``. Exceptions that indicate
programming bugs inherit from ``system.Defect`` (which is a subtype of ``Exception``)
and are stricly speaking not catchable as they can also be mapped to an operation
that terminates the whole process. Exceptions that indicate any other runtime error
that can be caught inherit from ``system.CatchableError``
(which is a subtype of ``Exception``).
Imported exceptions
-------------------
It is possible to raise/catch imported C++ exceptions. Types imported using
`importcpp` can be raised or caught. Exceptions are raised by value and
caught by reference. Example:
.. code-block:: nim
type
std_exception {.importcpp: "std::exception", header: "<exception>".} = object
proc what(s: std_exception): cstring {.importcpp: "((char *)#.what())".}
try:
raise std_exception()
except std_exception as ex:
echo ex.what()
Effect system
=============
Exception tracking
------------------
Nim supports exception tracking. The `raises`:idx: pragma can be used
to explicitly define which exceptions a proc/iterator/method/converter is
allowed to raise. The compiler verifies this:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
proc p(what: bool) {.raises: [IOError, OSError].} =
if what: raise newException(IOError, "IO")
else: raise newException(OSError, "OS")
An empty ``raises`` list (``raises: []``) means that no exception may be raised:
.. code-block:: nim
proc p(): bool {.raises: [].} =
try:
unsafeCall()
result = true
except:
result = false
A ``raises`` list can also be attached to a proc type. This affects type
compatibility:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
:status: 1
type
Callback = proc (s: string) {.raises: [IOError].}
var
c: Callback
proc p(x: string) =
raise newException(OSError, "OS")
c = p # type error
For a routine ``p`` the compiler uses inference rules to determine the set of
possibly raised exceptions; the algorithm operates on ``p``'s call graph:
1. Every indirect call via some proc type ``T`` is assumed to
raise ``system.Exception`` (the base type of the exception hierarchy) and
thus any exception unless ``T`` has an explicit ``raises`` list.
However if the call is of the form ``f(...)`` where ``f`` is a parameter
of the currently analysed routine it is ignored. The call is optimistically
assumed to have no effect. Rule 2 compensates for this case.
2. Every expression of some proc type within a call that is not a call
itself (and not nil) is assumed to be called indirectly somehow and thus
its raises list is added to ``p``'s raises list.
3. Every call to a proc ``q`` which has an unknown body (due to a forward
declaration or an ``importc`` pragma) is assumed to
raise ``system.Exception`` unless ``q`` has an explicit ``raises`` list.
4. Every call to a method ``m`` is assumed to
raise ``system.Exception`` unless ``m`` has an explicit ``raises`` list.
5. For every other call the analysis can determine an exact ``raises`` list.
6. For determining a ``raises`` list, the ``raise`` and ``try`` statements
of ``p`` are taken into consideration.
Rules 1-2 ensure the following works:
.. code-block:: nim
proc noRaise(x: proc()) {.raises: [].} =
# unknown call that might raise anything, but valid:
x()
proc doRaise() {.raises: [IOError].} =
raise newException(IOError, "IO")
proc use() {.raises: [].} =
# doesn't compile! Can raise IOError!
noRaise(doRaise)
So in many cases a callback does not cause the compiler to be overly
conservative in its effect analysis.
Tag tracking
------------
The exception tracking is part of Nim's `effect system`:idx:. Raising an
exception is an *effect*. Other effects can also be defined. A user defined
effect is a means to *tag* a routine and to perform checks against this tag:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
:status: 1
type IO = object ## input/output effect
proc readLine(): string {.tags: [IO].} = discard
proc no_IO_please() {.tags: [].} =
# the compiler prevents this:
let x = readLine()
A tag has to be a type name. A ``tags`` list - like a ``raises`` list - can
also be attached to a proc type. This affects type compatibility.
The inference for tag tracking is analogous to the inference for
exception tracking.
Read/Write tracking
-------------------
**Note**: Read/write tracking is not yet implemented!
The inference for read/write tracking is analogous to the inference for
exception tracking.
Effects pragma
--------------
The ``effects`` pragma has been designed to assist the programmer with the
effects analysis. It is a statement that makes the compiler output all inferred
effects up to the ``effects``'s position:
.. code-block:: nim
proc p(what: bool) =
if what:
raise newException(IOError, "IO")
{.effects.}
else:
raise newException(OSError, "OS")
The compiler produces a hint message that ``IOError`` can be raised. ``OSError``
is not listed as it cannot be raised in the branch the ``effects`` pragma
appears in.
Generics
========
Generics are Nim's means to parametrize procs, iterators or types with
`type parameters`:idx:. Depending on context, the brackets are used either to
introduce type parameters or to instantiate a generic proc, iterator or type.
The following example shows a generic binary tree can be modelled:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
type
BinaryTree*[T] = ref object # BinaryTree is a generic type with
# generic param ``T``
le, ri: BinaryTree[T] # left and right subtrees; may be nil
data: T # the data stored in a node
proc newNode*[T](data: T): BinaryTree[T] =
# constructor for a node
result = BinaryTree[T](le: nil, ri: nil, data: data)
proc add*[T](root: var BinaryTree[T], n: BinaryTree[T]) =
# insert a node into the tree
if root == nil:
root = n
else:
var it = root
while it != nil:
# compare the data items; uses the generic ``cmp`` proc
# that works for any type that has a ``==`` and ``<`` operator
var c = cmp(it.data, n.data)
if c < 0:
if it.le == nil:
it.le = n
return
it = it.le
else:
if it.ri == nil:
it.ri = n
return
it = it.ri
proc add*[T](root: var BinaryTree[T], data: T) =
# convenience proc:
add(root, newNode(data))
iterator preorder*[T](root: BinaryTree[T]): T =
# Preorder traversal of a binary tree.
# Since recursive iterators are not yet implemented,
# this uses an explicit stack (which is more efficient anyway):
var stack: seq[BinaryTree[T]] = @[root]
while stack.len > 0:
var n = stack.pop()
while n != nil:
yield n.data
add(stack, n.ri) # push right subtree onto the stack
n = n.le # and follow the left pointer
var
root: BinaryTree[string] # instantiate a BinaryTree with ``string``
add(root, newNode("hello")) # instantiates ``newNode`` and ``add``
add(root, "world") # instantiates the second ``add`` proc
for str in preorder(root):
stdout.writeLine(str)
The ``T`` is called a `generic type parameter`:idx: or
a `type variable`:idx:.
Is operator
-----------
The ``is`` operator checks for type equivalence at compile time. It is
therefore very useful for type specialization within generic code:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Table[Key, Value] = object
keys: seq[Key]
values: seq[Value]
when not (Key is string): # empty value for strings used for optimization
deletedKeys: seq[bool]
Type Classes
------------
A type class is a special pseudo-type that can be used to match against
types in the context of overload resolution or the ``is`` operator.
Nim supports the following built-in type classes:
================== ===================================================
type class matches
================== ===================================================
``object`` any object type
``tuple`` any tuple type
``enum`` any enumeration
``proc`` any proc type
``ref`` any ``ref`` type
``ptr`` any ``ptr`` type
``var`` any ``var`` type
``distinct`` any distinct type
``array`` any array type
``set`` any set type
``seq`` any seq type
``auto`` any type
``any`` distinct auto (see below)
================== ===================================================
Furthermore, every generic type automatically creates a type class of the same
name that will match any instantiation of the generic type.
Type classes can be combined using the standard boolean operators to form
more complex type classes:
.. code-block:: nim
# create a type class that will match all tuple and object types
type RecordType = tuple or object
proc printFields(rec: RecordType) =
for key, value in fieldPairs(rec):
echo key, " = ", value
Procedures utilizing type classes in such manner are considered to be
`implicitly generic`:idx:. They will be instantiated once for each unique
combination of param types used within the program.
Nim also allows for type classes and regular types to be specified
as `type constraints`:idx: of the generic type parameter:
.. code-block:: nim
proc onlyIntOrString[T: int|string](x, y: T) = discard
onlyIntOrString(450, 616) # valid
onlyIntOrString(5.0, 0.0) # type mismatch
onlyIntOrString("xy", 50) # invalid as 'T' cannot be both at the same time
By default, during overload resolution each named type class will bind to
exactly one concrete type. We call such type classes `bind once`:idx: types.
Here is an example taken directly from the system module to illustrate this:
.. code-block:: nim
proc `==`*(x, y: tuple): bool =
## requires `x` and `y` to be of the same tuple type
## generic ``==`` operator for tuples that is lifted from the components
## of `x` and `y`.
result = true
for a, b in fields(x, y):
if a != b: result = false
Alternatively, the ``distinct`` type modifier can be applied to the type class
to allow each param matching the type class to bind to a different type. Such
type classes are called `bind many`:idx: types.
Procs written with the implicitly generic style will often need to refer to the
type parameters of the matched generic type. They can be easily accessed using
the dot syntax:
.. code-block:: nim
type Matrix[T, Rows, Columns] = object
...
proc `[]`(m: Matrix, row, col: int): Matrix.T =
m.data[col * high(Matrix.Columns) + row]
Alternatively, the `type` operator can be used over the proc params for similar
effect when anonymous or distinct type classes are used.
When a generic type is instantiated with a type class instead of a concrete
type, this results in another more specific type class:
.. code-block:: nim
seq[ref object] # Any sequence storing references to any object type
type T1 = auto
proc foo(s: seq[T1], e: T1)
# seq[T1] is the same as just `seq`, but T1 will be allowed to bind
# to a single type, while the signature is being matched
Matrix[Ordinal] # Any Matrix instantiation using integer values
As seen in the previous example, in such instantiations, it's not necessary to
supply all type parameters of the generic type, because any missing ones will
be inferred to have the equivalent of the `any` type class and thus they will
match anything without discrimination.
Generic inference restrictions
------------------------------
The types ``var T`` and ``typedesc[T]`` cannot be inferred in a generic
instantiation. The following is not allowed:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
:status: 1
proc g[T](f: proc(x: T); x: T) =
f(x)
proc c(y: int) = echo y
proc v(y: var int) =
y += 100
var i: int
# allowed: infers 'T' to be of type 'int'
g(c, 42)
# not valid: 'T' is not inferred to be of type 'var int'
g(v, i)
# also not allowed: explict instantiation via 'var int'
g[var int](v, i)
Concepts
--------
**Note**: Concepts are still in development.
Concepts, also known as "user-defined type classes", are used to specify an
arbitrary set of requirements that the matched type must satisfy.
Concepts are written in the following form:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Comparable = concept x, y
(x < y) is bool
Stack[T] = concept s, var v
s.pop() is T
v.push(T)
s.len is Ordinal
for value in s:
value is T
The concept is a match if:
a) all of the expressions within the body can be compiled for the tested type
b) all statically evaluable boolean expressions in the body must be true
The identifiers following the ``concept`` keyword represent instances of the
currently matched type. You can apply any of the standard type modifiers such
as ``var``, ``ref``, ``ptr`` and ``static`` to denote a more specific type of
instance. You can also apply the `type` modifier to create a named instance of
the type itself:
.. code-block:: nim
type
MyConcept = concept x, var v, ref r, ptr p, static s, type T
...
Within the concept body, types can appear in positions where ordinary values
and parameters are expected. This provides a more convenient way to check for
the presence of callable symbols with specific signatures:
.. code-block:: nim
type
OutputStream = concept var s
s.write(string)
In order to check for symbols accepting ``type`` params, you must prefix
the type with the explicit ``type`` modifier. The named instance of the
type, following the ``concept`` keyword is also considered to have the
explicit modifier and will be matched only as a type.
.. code-block:: nim
type
# Let's imagine a user-defined casting framework with operators
# such as `val.to(string)` and `val.to(JSonValue)`. We can test
# for these with the following concept:
MyCastables = concept x
x.to(type string)
x.to(type JSonValue)
# Let's define a couple of concepts, known from Algebra:
AdditiveMonoid* = concept x, y, type T
x + y is T
T.zero is T # require a proc such as `int.zero` or 'Position.zero'
AdditiveGroup* = concept x, y, type T
x is AdditiveMonoid
-x is T
x - y is T
Please note that the ``is`` operator allows one to easily verify the precise
type signatures of the required operations, but since type inference and
default parameters are still applied in the concept body, it's also possible
to describe usage protocols that do not reveal implementation details.
Much like generics, concepts are instantiated exactly once for each tested type
and any static code included within the body is executed only once.
Concept diagnostics
-------------------
By default, the compiler will report the matching errors in concepts only when
no other overload can be selected and a normal compilation error is produced.
When you need to understand why the compiler is not matching a particular
concept and, as a result, a wrong overload is selected, you can apply the
``explain`` pragma to either the concept body or a particular call-site.
.. code-block:: nim
type
MyConcept {.explain.} = concept ...
overloadedProc(x, y, z) {.explain.}
This will provide Hints in the compiler output either every time the concept is
not matched or only on the particular call-site.
Generic concepts and type binding rules
---------------------------------------
The concept types can be parametric just like the regular generic types:
.. code-block:: nim
### matrixalgo.nim
import typetraits
type
AnyMatrix*[R, C: static int; T] = concept m, var mvar, type M
M.ValueType is T
M.Rows == R
M.Cols == C
m[int, int] is T
mvar[int, int] = T
type TransposedType = stripGenericParams(M)[C, R, T]
AnySquareMatrix*[N: static int, T] = AnyMatrix[N, N, T]
AnyTransform3D* = AnyMatrix[4, 4, float]
proc transposed*(m: AnyMatrix): m.TransposedType =
for r in 0 ..< m.R:
for c in 0 ..< m.C:
result[r, c] = m[c, r]
proc determinant*(m: AnySquareMatrix): int =
...
proc setPerspectiveProjection*(m: AnyTransform3D) =
...
--------------
### matrix.nim
type
Matrix*[M, N: static int; T] = object
data: array[M*N, T]
proc `[]`*(M: Matrix; m, n: int): M.T =
M.data[m * M.N + n]
proc `[]=`*(M: var Matrix; m, n: int; v: M.T) =
M.data[m * M.N + n] = v
# Adapt the Matrix type to the concept's requirements
template Rows*(M: type Matrix): int = M.M
template Cols*(M: type Matrix): int = M.N
template ValueType*(M: type Matrix): type = M.T
-------------
### usage.nim
import matrix, matrixalgo
var
m: Matrix[3, 3, int]
projectionMatrix: Matrix[4, 4, float]
echo m.transposed.determinant
setPerspectiveProjection projectionMatrix
When the concept type is matched against a concrete type, the unbound type
parameters are inferred from the body of the concept in a way that closely
resembles the way generic parameters of callable symbols are inferred on
call sites.
Unbound types can appear both as params to calls such as `s.push(T)` and
on the right-hand side of the ``is`` operator in cases such as `x.pop is T`
and `x.data is seq[T]`.
Unbound static params will be inferred from expressions involving the `==`
operator and also when types dependent on them are being matched:
.. code-block:: nim
type
MatrixReducer[M, N: static int; T] = concept x
x.reduce(SquareMatrix[N, T]) is array[M, int]
The Nim compiler includes a simple linear equation solver, allowing it to
infer static params in some situations where integer arithmetic is involved.
Just like in regular type classes, Nim discriminates between ``bind once``
and ``bind many`` types when matching the concept. You can add the ``distinct``
modifier to any of the otherwise inferable types to get a type that will be
matched without permanently inferring it. This may be useful when you need
to match several procs accepting the same wide class of types:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Enumerable[T] = concept e
for v in e:
v is T
type
MyConcept = concept o
# this could be inferred to a type such as Enumerable[int]
o.foo is distinct Enumerable
# this could be inferred to a different type such as Enumerable[float]
o.bar is distinct Enumerable
# it's also possible to give an alias name to a `bind many` type class
type Enum = distinct Enumerable
o.baz is Enum
On the other hand, using ``bind once`` types allows you to test for equivalent
types used in multiple signatures, without actually requiring any concrete
types, thus allowing you to encode implementation-defined types:
.. code-block:: nim
type
MyConcept = concept x
type T1 = auto
x.foo(T1)
x.bar(T1) # both procs must accept the same type
type T2 = seq[SomeNumber]
x.alpha(T2)
x.omega(T2) # both procs must accept the same type
# and it must be a numeric sequence
As seen in the previous examples, you can refer to generic concepts such as
`Enumerable[T]` just by their short name. Much like the regular generic types,
the concept will be automatically instantiated with the bind once auto type
in the place of each missing generic param.
Please note that generic concepts such as `Enumerable[T]` can be matched
against concrete types such as `string`. Nim doesn't require the concept
type to have the same number of parameters as the type being matched.
If you wish to express a requirement towards the generic parameters of
the matched type, you can use a type mapping operator such as `genericHead`
or `stripGenericParams` within the body of the concept to obtain the
uninstantiated version of the type, which you can then try to instantiate
in any required way. For example, here is how one might define the classic
`Functor` concept from Haskell and then demonstrate that Nim's `Option[T]`
type is an instance of it:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
import sugar, typetraits
type
Functor[A] = concept f
type MatchedGenericType = genericHead(f.type)
# `f` will be a value of a type such as `Option[T]`
# `MatchedGenericType` will become the `Option` type
f.val is A
# The Functor should provide a way to obtain
# a value stored inside it
type T = auto
map(f, A -> T) is MatchedGenericType[T]
# And it should provide a way to map one instance of
# the Functor to a instance of a different type, given
# a suitable `map` operation for the enclosed values
import options
echo Option[int] is Functor # prints true
Concept derived values
----------------------
All top level constants or types appearing within the concept body are
accessible through the dot operator in procs where the concept was successfully
matched to a concrete type:
.. code-block:: nim
type
DateTime = concept t1, t2, type T
const Min = T.MinDate
T.Now is T
t1 < t2 is bool
type TimeSpan = type(t1 - t2)
TimeSpan * int is TimeSpan
TimeSpan + TimeSpan is TimeSpan
t1 + TimeSpan is T
proc eventsJitter(events: Enumerable[DateTime]): float =
var
# this variable will have the inferred TimeSpan type for
# the concrete Date-like value the proc was called with:
averageInterval: DateTime.TimeSpan
deviation: float
...
Concept refinement
------------------
When the matched type within a concept is directly tested against a different
concept, we say that the outer concept is a refinement of the inner concept and
thus it is more-specific. When both concepts are matched in a call during
overload resolution, Nim will assign a higher precedence to the most specific
one. As an alternative way of defining concept refinements, you can use the
object inheritance syntax involving the ``of`` keyword:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Graph = concept g, type G of EqualyComparable, Copyable
type
VertexType = G.VertexType
EdgeType = G.EdgeType
VertexType is Copyable
EdgeType is Copyable
var
v: VertexType
e: EdgeType
IncidendeGraph = concept of Graph
# symbols such as variables and types from the refined
# concept are automatically in scope:
g.source(e) is VertexType
g.target(e) is VertexType
g.outgoingEdges(v) is Enumerable[EdgeType]
BidirectionalGraph = concept g, type G
# The following will also turn the concept into a refinement when it
# comes to overload resolution, but it doesn't provide the convenient
# symbol inheritance
g is IncidendeGraph
g.incomingEdges(G.VertexType) is Enumerable[G.EdgeType]
proc f(g: IncidendeGraph)
proc f(g: BidirectionalGraph) # this one will be preferred if we pass a type
# matching the BidirectionalGraph concept
..
Converter type classes
----------------------
Concepts can also be used to convert a whole range of types to a single type or
a small set of simpler types. This is achieved with a `return` statement within
the concept body:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Stringable = concept x
$x is string
return $x
StringRefValue[CharType] = object
base: ptr CharType
len: int
StringRef = concept x
# the following would be an overloaded proc for cstring, string, seq and
# other user-defined types, returning either a StringRefValue[char] or
# StringRefValue[wchar]
return makeStringRefValue(x)
# the varargs param will here be converted to an array of StringRefValues
# the proc will have only two instantiations for the two character types
proc log(format: static string, varargs[StringRef])
# this proc will allow char and wchar values to be mixed in
# the same call at the cost of additional instantiations
# the varargs param will be converted to a tuple
proc log(format: static string, varargs[distinct StringRef])
..
VTable types
------------
Concepts allow Nim to define a great number of algorithms, using only
static polymorphism and without erasing any type information or sacrificing
any execution speed. But when polymorphic collections of objects are required,
the user must use one of the provided type erasure techniques - either common
base types or VTable types.
VTable types are represented as "fat pointers" storing a reference to an
object together with a reference to a table of procs implementing a set of
required operations (the so called vtable).
In contrast to other programming languages, the vtable in Nim is stored
externally to the object, allowing you to create multiple different vtable
views for the same object. Thus, the polymorphism in Nim is unbounded -
any type can implement an unlimited number of protocols or interfaces not
originally envisioned by the type's author.
Any concept type can be turned into a VTable type by using the ``vtref``
or the ``vtptr`` compiler magics. Under the hood, these magics generate
a converter type class, which converts the regular instances of the matching
types to the corresponding VTable type.
.. code-block:: nim
type
IntEnumerable = vtref Enumerable[int]
MyObject = object
enumerables: seq[IntEnumerable]
streams: seq[OutputStream.vtref]
proc addEnumerable(o: var MyObject, e: IntEnumerable) =
o.enumerables.add e
proc addStream(o: var MyObject, e: OutputStream.vtref) =
o.streams.add e
The procs that will be included in the vtable are derived from the concept
body and include all proc calls for which all param types were specified as
concrete types. All such calls should include exactly one param of the type
matched against the concept (not necessarily in the first position), which
will be considered the value bound to the vtable.
Overloads will be created for all captured procs, accepting the vtable type
in the position of the captured underlying object.
Under these rules, it's possible to obtain a vtable type for a concept with
unbound type parameters or one instantiated with metatypes (type classes),
but it will include a smaller number of captured procs. A completely empty
vtable will be reported as an error.
The ``vtref`` magic produces types which can be bound to ``ref`` types and
the ``vtptr`` magic produced types bound to ``ptr`` types.
Symbol lookup in generics
-------------------------
Open and Closed symbols
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The symbol binding rules in generics are slightly subtle: There are "open" and
"closed" symbols. A "closed" symbol cannot be re-bound in the instantiation
context, an "open" symbol can. Per default overloaded symbols are open
and every other symbol is closed.
Open symbols are looked up in two different contexts: Both the context
at definition and the context at instantiation are considered:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
type
Index = distinct int
proc `==` (a, b: Index): bool {.borrow.}
var a = (0, 0.Index)
var b = (0, 0.Index)
echo a == b # works!
In the example the generic ``==`` for tuples (as defined in the system module)
uses the ``==`` operators of the tuple's components. However, the ``==`` for
the ``Index`` type is defined *after* the ``==`` for tuples; yet the example
compiles as the instantiation takes the currently defined symbols into account
too.
Mixin statement
---------------
A symbol can be forced to be open by a `mixin`:idx: declaration:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
proc create*[T](): ref T =
# there is no overloaded 'init' here, so we need to state that it's an
# open symbol explicitly:
mixin init
new result
init result
Bind statement
--------------
The ``bind`` statement is the counterpart to the ``mixin`` statement. It
can be used to explicitly declare identifiers that should be bound early (i.e.
the identifiers should be looked up in the scope of the template/generic
definition):
.. code-block:: nim
# Module A
var
lastId = 0
template genId*: untyped =
bind lastId
inc(lastId)
lastId
.. code-block:: nim
# Module B
import A
echo genId()
But a ``bind`` is rarely useful because symbol binding from the definition
scope is the default.
Templates
=========
A template is a simple form of a macro: It is a simple substitution
mechanism that operates on Nim's abstract syntax trees. It is processed in
the semantic pass of the compiler.
The syntax to *invoke* a template is the same as calling a procedure.
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
template `!=` (a, b: untyped): untyped =
# this definition exists in the System module
not (a == b)
assert(5 != 6) # the compiler rewrites that to: assert(not (5 == 6))
The ``!=``, ``>``, ``>=``, ``in``, ``notin``, ``isnot`` operators are in fact
templates:
| ``a > b`` is transformed into ``b < a``.
| ``a in b`` is transformed into ``contains(b, a)``.
| ``notin`` and ``isnot`` have the obvious meanings.
The "types" of templates can be the symbols ``untyped``,
``typed`` or ``type``. These are "meta types", they can only be used in certain
contexts. Regular types can be used too; this implies that ``typed`` expressions
are expected.
Typed vs untyped parameters
---------------------------
An ``untyped`` parameter means that symbol lookups and type resolution is not
performed before the expression is passed to the template. This means that for
example *undeclared* identifiers can be passed to the template:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
template declareInt(x: untyped) =
var x: int
declareInt(x) # valid
x = 3
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
:status: 1
template declareInt(x: typed) =
var x: int
declareInt(x) # invalid, because x has not been declared and so has no type
A template where every parameter is ``untyped`` is called an `immediate`:idx:
template. For historical reasons templates can be explicitly annotated with
an ``immediate`` pragma and then these templates do not take part in
overloading resolution and the parameters' types are *ignored* by the
compiler. Explicit immediate templates are now deprecated.
**Note**: For historical reasons ``stmt`` was an alias for ``typed`` and
``expr`` was an alias for ``untyped``, but they are removed.
Passing a code block to a template
----------------------------------
You can pass a block of statements as the last argument to a template
following the special ``:`` syntax:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
template withFile(f, fn, mode, actions: untyped): untyped =
var f: File
if open(f, fn, mode):
try:
actions
finally:
close(f)
else:
quit("cannot open: " & fn)
withFile(txt, "ttempl3.txt", fmWrite): # special colon
txt.writeLine("line 1")
txt.writeLine("line 2")
In the example, the two ``writeLine`` statements are bound to the ``actions``
parameter.
Usually to pass a block of code to a template the parameter that accepts
the block needs to be of type ``untyped``. Because symbol lookups are then
delayed until template instantiation time:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
:status: 1
template t(body: typed) =
block:
body
t:
var i = 1
echo i
t:
var i = 2 # fails with 'attempt to redeclare i'
echo i
The above code fails with the mysterious error message that ``i`` has already
been declared. The reason for this is that the ``var i = ...`` bodies need to
be type-checked before they are passed to the ``body`` parameter and type
checking in Nim implies symbol lookups. For the symbol lookups to succeed
``i`` needs to be added to the current (i.e. outer) scope. After type checking
these additions to the symbol table are not rolled back (for better or worse).
The same code works with ``untyped`` as the passed body is not required to be
type-checked:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
template t(body: untyped) =
block:
body
t:
var i = 1
echo i
t:
var i = 2 # compiles
echo i
Varargs of untyped
------------------
In addition to the ``untyped`` meta-type that prevents type checking there is
also ``varargs[untyped]`` so that not even the number of parameters is fixed:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
template hideIdentifiers(x: varargs[untyped]) = discard
hideIdentifiers(undeclared1, undeclared2)
However, since a template cannot iterate over varargs, this feature is
generally much more useful for macros.
Symbol binding in templates
---------------------------
A template is a `hygienic`:idx: macro and so opens a new scope. Most symbols are
bound from the definition scope of the template:
.. code-block:: nim
# Module A
var
lastId = 0
template genId*: untyped =
inc(lastId)
lastId
.. code-block:: nim
# Module B
import A
echo genId() # Works as 'lastId' has been bound in 'genId's defining scope
As in generics symbol binding can be influenced via ``mixin`` or ``bind``
statements.
Identifier construction
-----------------------
In templates identifiers can be constructed with the backticks notation:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
template typedef(name: untyped, typ: type) =
type
`T name`* {.inject.} = typ
`P name`* {.inject.} = ref `T name`
typedef(myint, int)
var x: PMyInt
In the example ``name`` is instantiated with ``myint``, so \`T name\` becomes
``Tmyint``.
Lookup rules for template parameters
------------------------------------
A parameter ``p`` in a template is even substituted in the expression ``x.p``.
Thus template arguments can be used as field names and a global symbol can be
shadowed by the same argument name even when fully qualified:
.. code-block:: nim
# module 'm'
type
Lev = enum
levA, levB
var abclev = levB
template tstLev(abclev: Lev) =
echo abclev, " ", m.abclev
tstLev(levA)
# produces: 'levA levA'
But the global symbol can properly be captured by a ``bind`` statement:
.. code-block:: nim
# module 'm'
type
Lev = enum
levA, levB
var abclev = levB
template tstLev(abclev: Lev) =
bind m.abclev
echo abclev, " ", m.abclev
tstLev(levA)
# produces: 'levA levB'
Hygiene in templates
--------------------
Per default templates are `hygienic`:idx:\: Local identifiers declared in a
template cannot be accessed in the instantiation context:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
template newException*(exceptn: type, message: string): untyped =
var
e: ref exceptn # e is implicitly gensym'ed here
new(e)
e.msg = message
e
# so this works:
let e = "message"
raise newException(IoError, e)
Whether a symbol that is declared in a template is exposed to the instantiation
scope is controlled by the `inject`:idx: and `gensym`:idx: pragmas: gensym'ed
symbols are not exposed but inject'ed are.
The default for symbols of entity ``type``, ``var``, ``let`` and ``const``
is ``gensym`` and for ``proc``, ``iterator``, ``converter``, ``template``,
``macro`` is ``inject``. However, if the name of the entity is passed as a
template parameter, it is an inject'ed symbol:
.. code-block:: nim
template withFile(f, fn, mode: untyped, actions: untyped): untyped =
block:
var f: File # since 'f' is a template param, it's injected implicitly
...
withFile(txt, "ttempl3.txt", fmWrite):
txt.writeLine("line 1")
txt.writeLine("line 2")
The ``inject`` and ``gensym`` pragmas are second class annotations; they have
no semantics outside of a template definition and cannot be abstracted over:
.. code-block:: nim
{.pragma myInject: inject.}
template t() =
var x {.myInject.}: int # does NOT work
To get rid of hygiene in templates, one can use the `dirty`:idx: pragma for
a template. ``inject`` and ``gensym`` have no effect in ``dirty`` templates.
Limitations of the method call syntax
-------------------------------------
The expression ``x`` in ``x.f`` needs to be semantically checked (that means
symbol lookup and type checking) before it can be decided that it needs to be
rewritten to ``f(x)``. Therefore the dot syntax has some limitations when it
is used to invoke templates/macros:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
:status: 1
template declareVar(name: untyped) =
const name {.inject.} = 45
# Doesn't compile:
unknownIdentifier.declareVar
Another common example is this:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
:status: 1
from sequtils import toSeq
iterator something: string =
yield "Hello"
yield "World"
var info = something().toSeq
The problem here is that the compiler already decided that ``something()`` as
an iterator is not callable in this context before ``toSeq`` gets its
chance to convert it into a sequence.
Macros
======
A macro is a special function that is executed at compile-time.
Normally the input for a macro is an abstract syntax
tree (AST) of the code that is passed to it. The macro can then do
transformations on it and return the transformed AST. The
transformed AST is then passed to the compiler as if the macro
invocation would have been replaced by its result in the source
code. This can be used to implement `domain specific
languages`:idx:.
While macros enable advanced compile-time code transformations, they
cannot change Nim's syntax. However, this is no real restriction because
Nim's syntax is flexible enough anyway.
To write macros, one needs to know how the Nim concrete syntax is converted
to an AST.
There are two ways to invoke a macro:
(1) invoking a macro like a procedure call (`expression macros`)
(2) invoking a macro with the special ``macrostmt`` syntax (`statement macros`)
Expression Macros
-----------------
The following example implements a powerful ``debug`` command that accepts a
variable number of arguments:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
# to work with Nim syntax trees, we need an API that is defined in the
# ``macros`` module:
import macros
macro debug(args: varargs[untyped]): untyped =
# `args` is a collection of `NimNode` values that each contain the
# AST for an argument of the macro. A macro always has to
# return a `NimNode`. A node of kind `nnkStmtList` is suitable for
# this use case.
result = nnkStmtList.newTree()
# iterate over any argument that is passed to this macro:
for n in args:
# add a call to the statement list that writes the expression;
# `toStrLit` converts an AST to its string representation:
result.add newCall("write", newIdentNode("stdout"), newLit(n.repr))
# add a call to the statement list that writes ": "
result.add newCall("write", newIdentNode("stdout"), newLit(": "))
# add a call to the statement list that writes the expressions value:
result.add newCall("writeLine", newIdentNode("stdout"), n)
var
a: array[0..10, int]
x = "some string"
a[0] = 42
a[1] = 45
debug(a[0], a[1], x)
The macro call expands to:
.. code-block:: nim
write(stdout, "a[0]")
write(stdout, ": ")
writeLine(stdout, a[0])
write(stdout, "a[1]")
write(stdout, ": ")
writeLine(stdout, a[1])
write(stdout, "x")
write(stdout, ": ")
writeLine(stdout, x)
Arguments that are passed to a ``varargs`` parameter are wrapped in an array
constructor expression. This is why ``debug`` iterates over all of ``n``'s
children.
BindSym
-------
The above ``debug`` macro relies on the fact that ``write``, ``writeLine`` and
``stdout`` are declared in the system module and thus visible in the
instantiating context. There is a way to use bound identifiers
(aka `symbols`:idx:) instead of using unbound identifiers. The ``bindSym``
builtin can be used for that:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
import macros
macro debug(n: varargs[typed]): untyped =
result = newNimNode(nnkStmtList, n)
for x in n:
# we can bind symbols in scope via 'bindSym':
add(result, newCall(bindSym"write", bindSym"stdout", toStrLit(x)))
add(result, newCall(bindSym"write", bindSym"stdout", newStrLitNode(": ")))
add(result, newCall(bindSym"writeLine", bindSym"stdout", x))
var
a: array[0..10, int]
x = "some string"
a[0] = 42
a[1] = 45
debug(a[0], a[1], x)
The macro call expands to:
.. code-block:: nim
write(stdout, "a[0]")
write(stdout, ": ")
writeLine(stdout, a[0])
write(stdout, "a[1]")
write(stdout, ": ")
writeLine(stdout, a[1])
write(stdout, "x")
write(stdout, ": ")
writeLine(stdout, x)
However, the symbols ``write``, ``writeLine`` and ``stdout`` are already bound
and are not looked up again. As the example shows, ``bindSym`` does work with
overloaded symbols implicitly.
Statement Macros
----------------
Statement macros are defined just as expression macros. However, they are
invoked by an expression following a colon.
The following example outlines a macro that generates a lexical analyzer from
regular expressions:
.. code-block:: nim
import macros
macro case_token(n: untyped): untyped =
# creates a lexical analyzer from regular expressions
# ... (implementation is an exercise for the reader :-)
discard
case_token: # this colon tells the parser it is a macro statement
of r"[A-Za-z_]+[A-Za-z_0-9]*":
return tkIdentifier
of r"0-9+":
return tkInteger
of r"[\+\-\*\?]+":
return tkOperator
else:
return tkUnknown
**Style note**: For code readability, it is the best idea to use the least
powerful programming construct that still suffices. So the "check list" is:
(1) Use an ordinary proc/iterator, if possible.
(2) Else: Use a generic proc/iterator, if possible.
(3) Else: Use a template, if possible.
(4) Else: Use a macro.
Macros as pragmas
-----------------
Whole routines (procs, iterators etc.) can also be passed to a template or
a macro via the pragma notation:
.. code-block:: nim
template m(s: untyped) = discard
proc p() {.m.} = discard
This is a simple syntactic transformation into:
.. code-block:: nim
template m(s: untyped) = discard
m:
proc p() = discard
For loop macros
---------------
A macro that takes as its only input parameter an expression of the special
type ``system.ForLoopStmt`` can rewrite the entirety of a ``for`` loop:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
import macros
{.experimental: "forLoopMacros".}
macro enumerate(x: ForLoopStmt): untyped =
expectKind x, nnkForStmt
# we strip off the first for loop variable and use
# it as an integer counter:
result = newStmtList()
result.add newVarStmt(x[0], newLit(0))
var body = x[^1]
if body.kind != nnkStmtList:
body = newTree(nnkStmtList, body)
body.add newCall(bindSym"inc", x[0])
var newFor = newTree(nnkForStmt)
for i in 1..x.len-3:
newFor.add x[i]
# transform enumerate(X) to 'X'
newFor.add x[^2][1]
newFor.add body
result.add newFor
# now wrap the whole macro in a block to create a new scope
result = quote do:
block: `result`
for a, b in enumerate(items([1, 2, 3])):
echo a, " ", b
# without wrapping the macro in a block, we'd need to choose different
# names for `a` and `b` here to avoid redefinition errors
for a, b in enumerate([1, 2, 3, 5]):
echo a, " ", b
Currently for loop macros must be enabled explicitly
via ``{.experimental: "forLoopMacros".}``.
Case statement macros
---------------------
A macro that needs to be called `match`:idx: can be used to rewrite
``case`` statements in order to implement `pattern matching`:idx: for
certain types. The following example implements a simplistic form of
pattern matching for tuples, leveraging the existing equality operator
for tuples (as provided in ``system.==``):
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
{.experimental: "caseStmtMacros".}
import macros
macro match(n: tuple): untyped =
result = newTree(nnkIfStmt)
let selector = n[0]
for i in 1 ..< n.len:
let it = n[i]
case it.kind
of nnkElse, nnkElifBranch, nnkElifExpr, nnkElseExpr:
result.add it
of nnkOfBranch:
for j in 0..it.len-2:
let cond = newCall("==", selector, it[j])
result.add newTree(nnkElifBranch, cond, it[^1])
else:
error "'match' cannot handle this node", it
echo repr result
case ("foo", 78)
of ("foo", 78): echo "yes"
of ("bar", 88): echo "no"
else: discard
Currently case statement macros must be enabled explicitly
via ``{.experimental: "caseStmtMacros".}``.
``match`` macros are subject to overload resolution. First the
``case``'s selector expression is used to determine which ``match``
macro to call. To this macro is then passed the complete ``case``
statement body and the macro is evaluated.
In other words, the macro needs to transform the full ``case`` statement
but only the statement's selector expression is used to determine which
macro to call.
Special Types
=============
static[T]
---------
**Note**: static[T] is still in development.
As their name suggests, static parameters must be known at compile-time:
.. code-block:: nim
proc precompiledRegex(pattern: static string): RegEx =
var res {.global.} = re(pattern)
return res
precompiledRegex("/d+") # Replaces the call with a precompiled
# regex, stored in a global variable
precompiledRegex(paramStr(1)) # Error, command-line options
# are not known at compile-time
For the purposes of code generation, all static params are treated as
generic params - the proc will be compiled separately for each unique
supplied value (or combination of values).
Static params can also appear in the signatures of generic types:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Matrix[M,N: static int; T: Number] = array[0..(M*N - 1), T]
# Note how `Number` is just a type constraint here, while
# `static int` requires us to supply a compile-time int value
AffineTransform2D[T] = Matrix[3, 3, T]
AffineTransform3D[T] = Matrix[4, 4, T]
var m1: AffineTransform3D[float] # OK
var m2: AffineTransform2D[string] # Error, `string` is not a `Number`
Please note that ``static T`` is just a syntactic convenience for the
underlying generic type ``static[T]``. The type param can be omitted
to obtain the type class of all values known at compile-time. A more
specific type class can be created by instantiating ``static`` with
another type class.
You can force the evaluation of a certain expression at compile-time by
coercing it to a corresponding ``static`` type:
.. code-block:: nim
import math
echo static(fac(5)), " ", static[bool](16.isPowerOfTwo)
The complier will report any failure to evaluate the expression or a
possible type mismatch error.
type[T]
-------
In many contexts, Nim allows you to treat the names of types as regular
values. These values exists only during the compilation phase, but since
all values must have a type, ``type`` is considered their special type.
``type`` acts like a generic type. For instance, the type of the symbol
``int`` is ``type[int]``. Just like with regular generic types, when the
generic param is ommited, ``type`` denotes the type class of all types.
As a syntactic convenience, you can also use ``type`` as a modifier.
``type int`` is considered the same as ``type[int]``.
Procs featuring ``type`` params are considered implicitly generic.
They will be instantiated for each unique combination of supplied types
and within the body of the proc, the name of each param will refer to
the bound concrete type:
.. code-block:: nim
proc new(T: type): ref T =
echo "allocating ", T.name
new(result)
var n = Node.new
var tree = new(BinaryTree[int])
When multiple type params are present, they will bind freely to different
types. To force a bind-once behavior one can use an explicit generic param:
.. code-block:: nim
proc acceptOnlyTypePairs[T, U](A, B: type[T]; C, D: type[U])
Once bound, type params can appear in the rest of the proc signature:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
template declareVariableWithType(T: type, value: T) =
var x: T = value
declareVariableWithType int, 42
Overload resolution can be further influenced by constraining the set of
types that will match the type param:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
template maxval(T: type int): int = high(int)
template maxval(T: type float): float = Inf
var i = int.maxval
var f = float.maxval
when false:
var s = string.maxval # error, maxval is not implemented for string
The constraint can be a concrete type or a type class.
type operator
-------------
You can obtain the type of a given expression by constructing a ``type``
value from it (in many other languages this is known as the `typeof`:idx:
operator):
.. code-block:: nim
var x = 0
var y: type(x) # y has type int
You may add a constraint to the resulting type to trigger a compile-time error
if the expression doesn't have the expected type:
.. code-block:: nim
var x = 0
var y: type[object](x) # Error: type mismatch: got <int> but expected 'object'
If ``type`` is used to determine the result type of a proc/iterator/converter
call ``c(X)`` (where ``X`` stands for a possibly empty list of arguments), the
interpretation where ``c`` is an iterator is preferred over the
other interpretations:
.. code-block:: nim
import strutils
# strutils contains both a ``split`` proc and iterator, but since an
# an iterator is the preferred interpretation, `y` has the type ``string``:
var y: type("a b c".split)
Special Operators
=================
dot operators
-------------
**Note**: Dot operators are still experimental and so need to be enabled
via ``{.experimental: "dotOperators".}``.
Nim offers a special family of dot operators that can be used to
intercept and rewrite proc call and field access attempts, referring
to previously undeclared symbol names. They can be used to provide a
fluent interface to objects lying outside the static confines of the
type system such as values from dynamic scripting languages
or dynamic file formats such as JSON or XML.
When Nim encounters an expression that cannot be resolved by the
standard overload resolution rules, the current scope will be searched
for a dot operator that can be matched against a re-written form of
the expression, where the unknown field or proc name is passed to
an ``untyped`` parameter:
.. code-block:: nim
a.b # becomes `.`(a, b)
a.b(c, d) # becomes `.`(a, b, c, d)
The matched dot operators can be symbols of any callable kind (procs,
templates and macros), depending on the desired effect:
.. code-block:: nim
template `.` (js: PJsonNode, field: untyped): JSON = js[astToStr(field)]
var js = parseJson("{ x: 1, y: 2}")
echo js.x # outputs 1
echo js.y # outputs 2
The following dot operators are available:
operator `.`
------------
This operator will be matched against both field accesses and method calls.
operator `.()`
---------------
This operator will be matched exclusively against method calls. It has higher
precedence than the `.` operator and this allows one to handle expressions like
`x.y` and `x.y()` differently if one is interfacing with a scripting language
for example.
operator `.=`
-------------
This operator will be matched against assignments to missing fields.
.. code-block:: nim
a.b = c # becomes `.=`(a, b, c)
Type bound operations
=====================
There are 3 operations that are bound to a type:
1. Assignment
2. Destruction
3. Deep copying for communication between threads
These operations can be *overridden* instead of *overloaded*. This means the
implementation is automatically lifted to structured types. For instance if type
``T`` has an overridden assignment operator ``=`` this operator is also used
for assignments of the type ``seq[T]``. Since these operations are bound to a
type they have to be bound to a nominal type for reasons of simplicity of
implementation: This means an overridden ``deepCopy`` for ``ref T`` is really
bound to ``T`` and not to ``ref T``. This also means that one cannot override
``deepCopy`` for both ``ptr T`` and ``ref T`` at the same time; instead a
helper distinct or object type has to be used for one pointer type.
operator `=`
------------
This operator is the assignment operator. Note that in the contexts
``result = expr``, ``parameter = defaultValue`` or for
parameter passing no assignment is performed. For a type ``T`` that has an
overloaded assignment operator ``var v = T()`` is rewritten
to ``var v: T; v = T()``; in other words ``var`` and ``let`` contexts do count
as assignments.
The assignment operator needs to be attached to an object or distinct
type ``T``. Its signature has to be ``(var T, T)``. Example:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Concrete = object
a, b: string
proc `=`(d: var Concrete; src: Concrete) =
shallowCopy(d.a, src.a)
shallowCopy(d.b, src.b)
echo "Concrete '=' called"
var x, y: array[0..2, Concrete]
var cA, cB: Concrete
var cATup, cBTup: tuple[x: int, ha: Concrete]
x = y
cA = cB
cATup = cBTup
destructors
-----------
A destructor must have a single parameter with a concrete type (the name of a
generic type is allowed too). The name of the destructor has to be ``=destroy``.
``=destroy(v)`` will be automatically invoked for every local stack
variable ``v`` that goes out of scope.
If a structured type features a field with destructable type and
the user has not provided an explicit implementation, a destructor for the
structured type will be automatically generated. Calls to any base class
destructors in both user-defined and generated destructors will be inserted.
A destructor is attached to the type it destructs; expressions of this type
can then only be used in *destructible contexts* and as parameters:
.. code-block:: nim
type
MyObj = object
x, y: int
p: pointer
proc `=destroy`(o: var MyObj) =
if o.p != nil: dealloc o.p
proc open: MyObj =
result = MyObj(x: 1, y: 2, p: alloc(3))
proc work(o: MyObj) =
echo o.x
# No destructor invoked here for 'o' as 'o' is a parameter.
proc main() =
# destructor automatically invoked at the end of the scope:
var x = open()
# valid: pass 'x' to some other proc:
work(x)
# Error: usage of a type with a destructor in a non destructible context
echo open()
A destructible context is currently only the following:
1. The ``expr`` in ``var x = expr``.
2. The ``expr`` in ``let x = expr``.
3. The ``expr`` in ``return expr``.
4. The ``expr`` in ``result = expr`` where ``result`` is the special symbol
introduced by the compiler.
These rules ensure that the construction is tied to a variable and can easily
be destructed at its scope exit. Later versions of the language will improve
the support of destructors.
Be aware that destructors are not called for objects allocated with ``new``.
This may change in future versions of language, but for now the `finalizer`:idx:
parameter to ``new`` has to be used.
**Note**: Destructors are still experimental and the spec might change
significantly in order to incorporate an escape analysis.
deepCopy
--------
``=deepCopy`` is a builtin that is invoked whenever data is passed to
a ``spawn``'ed proc to ensure memory safety. The programmer can override its
behaviour for a specific ``ref`` or ``ptr`` type ``T``. (Later versions of the
language may weaken this restriction.)
The signature has to be:
.. code-block:: nim
proc `=deepCopy`(x: T): T
This mechanism will be used by most data structures that support shared memory
like channels to implement thread safe automatic memory management.
The builtin ``deepCopy`` can even clone closures and their environments. See
the documentation of `spawn`_ for details.
Term rewriting macros
=====================
Term rewriting macros are macros or templates that have not only
a *name* but also a *pattern* that is searched for after the semantic checking
phase of the compiler: This means they provide an easy way to enhance the
compilation pipeline with user defined optimizations:
.. code-block:: nim
template optMul{`*`(a, 2)}(a: int): int = a+a
let x = 3
echo x * 2
The compiler now rewrites ``x * 2`` as ``x + x``. The code inside the
curlies is the pattern to match against. The operators ``*``, ``**``,
``|``, ``~`` have a special meaning in patterns if they are written in infix
notation, so to match verbatim against ``*`` the ordinary function call syntax
needs to be used.
Term rewriting macro are applied recursively, up to a limit. This means that
if the result of a term rewriting macro is eligible for another rewriting,
the compiler will try to perform it, and so on, until no more optimizations
are applicable. To avoid putting the compiler into an infinite loop, there is
a hard limit on how many times a single term rewriting macro can be applied.
Once this limit has been passed, the term rewriting macro will be ignored.
Unfortunately optimizations are hard to get right and even the tiny example
is **wrong**:
.. code-block:: nim
template optMul{`*`(a, 2)}(a: int): int = a+a
proc f(): int =
echo "side effect!"
result = 55
echo f() * 2
We cannot duplicate 'a' if it denotes an expression that has a side effect!
Fortunately Nim supports side effect analysis:
.. code-block:: nim
template optMul{`*`(a, 2)}(a: int{noSideEffect}): int = a+a
proc f(): int =
echo "side effect!"
result = 55
echo f() * 2 # not optimized ;-)
You can make one overload matching with a constraint and one without, and the
one with a constraint will have precedence, and so you can handle both cases
differently.
So what about ``2 * a``? We should tell the compiler ``*`` is commutative. We
cannot really do that however as the following code only swaps arguments
blindly:
.. code-block:: nim
template mulIsCommutative{`*`(a, b)}(a, b: int): int = b*a
What optimizers really need to do is a *canonicalization*:
.. code-block:: nim
template canonMul{`*`(a, b)}(a: int{lit}, b: int): int = b*a
The ``int{lit}`` parameter pattern matches against an expression of
type ``int``, but only if it's a literal.
Parameter constraints
---------------------
The `parameter constraint`:idx: expression can use the operators ``|`` (or),
``&`` (and) and ``~`` (not) and the following predicates:
=================== =====================================================
Predicate Meaning
=================== =====================================================
``atom`` The matching node has no children.
``lit`` The matching node is a literal like "abc", 12.
``sym`` The matching node must be a symbol (a bound
identifier).
``ident`` The matching node must be an identifier (an unbound
identifier).
``call`` The matching AST must be a call/apply expression.
``lvalue`` The matching AST must be an lvalue.
``sideeffect`` The matching AST must have a side effect.
``nosideeffect`` The matching AST must have no side effect.
``param`` A symbol which is a parameter.
``genericparam`` A symbol which is a generic parameter.
``module`` A symbol which is a module.
``type`` A symbol which is a type.
``var`` A symbol which is a variable.
``let`` A symbol which is a ``let`` variable.
``const`` A symbol which is a constant.
``result`` The special ``result`` variable.
``proc`` A symbol which is a proc.
``method`` A symbol which is a method.
``iterator`` A symbol which is an iterator.
``converter`` A symbol which is a converter.
``macro`` A symbol which is a macro.
``template`` A symbol which is a template.
``field`` A symbol which is a field in a tuple or an object.
``enumfield`` A symbol which is a field in an enumeration.
``forvar`` A for loop variable.
``label`` A label (used in ``block`` statements).
``nk*`` The matching AST must have the specified kind.
(Example: ``nkIfStmt`` denotes an ``if`` statement.)
``alias`` States that the marked parameter needs to alias
with *some* other parameter.
``noalias`` States that *every* other parameter must not alias
with the marked parameter.
=================== =====================================================
Predicates that share their name with a keyword have to be escaped with
backticks: `` `const` ``.
The ``alias`` and ``noalias`` predicates refer not only to the matching AST,
but also to every other bound parameter; syntactically they need to occur after
the ordinary AST predicates:
.. code-block:: nim
template ex{a = b + c}(a: int{noalias}, b, c: int) =
# this transformation is only valid if 'b' and 'c' do not alias 'a':
a = b
inc a, c
Pattern operators
-----------------
The operators ``*``, ``**``, ``|``, ``~`` have a special meaning in patterns
if they are written in infix notation.
The ``|`` operator
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ``|`` operator if used as infix operator creates an ordered choice:
.. code-block:: nim
template t{0|1}(): untyped = 3
let a = 1
# outputs 3:
echo a
The matching is performed after the compiler performed some optimizations like
constant folding, so the following does not work:
.. code-block:: nim
template t{0|1}(): untyped = 3
# outputs 1:
echo 1
The reason is that the compiler already transformed the 1 into "1" for
the ``echo`` statement. However, a term rewriting macro should not change the
semantics anyway. In fact they can be deactivated with the ``--patterns:off``
command line option or temporarily with the ``patterns`` pragma.
The ``{}`` operator
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A pattern expression can be bound to a pattern parameter via the ``expr{param}``
notation:
.. code-block:: nim
template t{(0|1|2){x}}(x: untyped): untyped = x+1
let a = 1
# outputs 2:
echo a
The ``~`` operator
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ``~`` operator is the **not** operator in patterns:
.. code-block:: nim
template t{x = (~x){y} and (~x){z}}(x, y, z: bool) =
x = y
if x: x = z
var
a = false
b = true
c = false
a = b and c
echo a
The ``*`` operator
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ``*`` operator can *flatten* a nested binary expression like ``a & b & c``
to ``&(a, b, c)``:
.. code-block:: nim
var
calls = 0
proc `&&`(s: varargs[string]): string =
result = s[0]
for i in 1..len(s)-1: result.add s[i]
inc calls
template optConc{ `&&` * a }(a: string): untyped = &&a
let space = " "
echo "my" && (space & "awe" && "some " ) && "concat"
# check that it's been optimized properly:
doAssert calls == 1
The second operator of `*` must be a parameter; it is used to gather all the
arguments. The expression ``"my" && (space & "awe" && "some " ) && "concat"``
is passed to ``optConc`` in ``a`` as a special list (of kind ``nkArgList``)
which is flattened into a call expression; thus the invocation of ``optConc``
produces:
.. code-block:: nim
`&&`("my", space & "awe", "some ", "concat")
The ``**`` operator
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ``**`` is much like the ``*`` operator, except that it gathers not only
all the arguments, but also the matched operators in reverse polish notation:
.. code-block:: nim
import macros
type
Matrix = object
dummy: int
proc `*`(a, b: Matrix): Matrix = discard
proc `+`(a, b: Matrix): Matrix = discard
proc `-`(a, b: Matrix): Matrix = discard
proc `$`(a: Matrix): string = result = $a.dummy
proc mat21(): Matrix =
result.dummy = 21
macro optM{ (`+`|`-`|`*`) ** a }(a: Matrix): untyped =
echo treeRepr(a)
result = newCall(bindSym"mat21")
var x, y, z: Matrix
echo x + y * z - x
This passes the expression ``x + y * z - x`` to the ``optM`` macro as
an ``nnkArgList`` node containing::
Arglist
Sym "x"
Sym "y"
Sym "z"
Sym "*"
Sym "+"
Sym "x"
Sym "-"
(Which is the reverse polish notation of ``x + y * z - x``.)
Parameters
----------
Parameters in a pattern are type checked in the matching process. If a
parameter is of the type ``varargs`` it is treated specially and it can match
0 or more arguments in the AST to be matched against:
.. code-block:: nim
template optWrite{
write(f, x)
((write|writeLine){w})(f, y)
}(x, y: varargs[untyped], f: File, w: untyped) =
w(f, x, y)
Example: Partial evaluation
---------------------------
The following example shows how some simple partial evaluation can be
implemented with term rewriting:
.. code-block:: nim
proc p(x, y: int; cond: bool): int =
result = if cond: x + y else: x - y
template optP1{p(x, y, true)}(x, y: untyped): untyped = x + y
template optP2{p(x, y, false)}(x, y: untyped): untyped = x - y
Example: Hoisting
-----------------
The following example shows how some form of hoisting can be implemented:
.. code-block:: nim
import pegs
template optPeg{peg(pattern)}(pattern: string{lit}): Peg =
var gl {.global, gensym.} = peg(pattern)
gl
for i in 0 .. 3:
echo match("(a b c)", peg"'(' @ ')'")
echo match("W_HI_Le", peg"\y 'while'")
The ``optPeg`` template optimizes the case of a peg constructor with a string
literal, so that the pattern will only be parsed once at program startup and
stored in a global ``gl`` which is then re-used. This optimization is called
hoisting because it is comparable to classical loop hoisting.
AST based overloading
=====================
Parameter constraints can also be used for ordinary routine parameters; these
constraints affect ordinary overloading resolution then:
.. code-block:: nim
proc optLit(a: string{lit|`const`}) =
echo "string literal"
proc optLit(a: string) =
echo "no string literal"
const
constant = "abc"
var
variable = "xyz"
optLit("literal")
optLit(constant)
optLit(variable)
However, the constraints ``alias`` and ``noalias`` are not available in
ordinary routines.
Move optimization
-----------------
The ``call`` constraint is particularly useful to implement a move
optimization for types that have copying semantics:
.. code-block:: nim
proc `[]=`*(t: var Table, key: string, val: string) =
## puts a (key, value)-pair into `t`. The semantics of string require
## a copy here:
let idx = findInsertionPosition(key)
t[idx].key = key
t[idx].val = val
proc `[]=`*(t: var Table, key: string{call}, val: string{call}) =
## puts a (key, value)-pair into `t`. Optimized version that knows that
## the strings are unique and thus don't need to be copied:
let idx = findInsertionPosition(key)
shallowCopy t[idx].key, key
shallowCopy t[idx].val, val
var t: Table
# overloading resolution ensures that the optimized []= is called here:
t[f()] = g()
Modules
=======
Nim supports splitting a program into pieces by a module concept.
Each module needs to be in its own file and has its own `namespace`:idx:.
Modules enable `information hiding`:idx: and `separate compilation`:idx:.
A module may gain access to symbols of another module by the `import`:idx:
statement. `Recursive module dependencies`:idx: are allowed, but slightly
subtle. Only top-level symbols that are marked with an asterisk (``*``) are
exported. A valid module name can only be a valid Nim identifier (and thus its
filename is ``identifier.nim``).
The algorithm for compiling modules is:
- compile the whole module as usual, following import statements recursively
- if there is a cycle only import the already parsed symbols (that are
exported); if an unknown identifier occurs then abort
This is best illustrated by an example:
.. code-block:: nim
# Module A
type
T1* = int # Module A exports the type ``T1``
import B # the compiler starts parsing B
proc main() =
var i = p(3) # works because B has been parsed completely here
main()
.. code-block:: nim
# Module B
import A # A is not parsed here! Only the already known symbols
# of A are imported.
proc p*(x: A.T1): A.T1 =
# this works because the compiler has already
# added T1 to A's interface symbol table
result = x + 1
Import statement
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the ``import`` statement a list of module names can follow or a single
module name followed by an ``except`` list to prevent some symbols to be
imported:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
:status: 1
import strutils except `%`, toUpperAscii
# doesn't work then:
echo "$1" % "abc".toUpperAscii
It is not checked that the ``except`` list is really exported from the module.
This feature allows to compile against an older version of the module that
does not export these identifiers.
Include statement
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ``include`` statement does something fundamentally different than
importing a module: it merely includes the contents of a file. The ``include``
statement is useful to split up a large module into several files:
.. code-block:: nim
include fileA, fileB, fileC
Module names in imports
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A module alias can be introduced via the ``as`` keyword:
.. code-block:: nim
import strutils as su, sequtils as qu
echo su.format("$1", "lalelu")
The original module name is then not accessible. The notations
``path/to/module`` or ``"path/to/module"`` can be used to refer to a module
in subdirectories:
.. code-block:: nim
import lib/pure/os, "lib/pure/times"
Note that the module name is still ``strutils`` and not ``lib/pure/strutils``
and so one **cannot** do:
.. code-block:: nim
import lib/pure/strutils
echo lib/pure/strutils.toUpperAscii("abc")
Likewise the following does not make sense as the name is ``strutils`` already:
.. code-block:: nim
import lib/pure/strutils as strutils
Collective imports from a directory
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The syntax ``import dir / [moduleA, moduleB]`` can be used to import multiple modules
from the same directory.
Path names are syntactically either Nim identifiers or string literals. If the path
name is not a valid Nim identifier it needs to be a string literal:
.. code-block:: nim
import "gfx/3d/somemodule" # in quotes because '3d' is not a valid Nim identifier
Pseudo import/include paths
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A directory can also be a so called "pseudo directory". They can be used to
avoid ambiguity when there are multiple modules with the same path.
There are two pseudo directories:
1. ``std``: The ``std`` pseudo directory is the abstract location of Nim's standard
library. For example, the syntax ``import std / strutils`` is used to unambiguously
refer to the standard library's ``strutils`` module.
2. ``pkg``: The ``pkg`` pseudo directory is used to unambiguously refer to a Nimble
package. However, for technical details that lie outside of the scope of this document
its semantics are: *Use the search path to look for module name but ignore the standard
library locations*. In other words, it is the opposite of ``std``.
From import statement
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the ``from`` statement a module name follows followed by
an ``import`` to list the symbols one likes to use without explicit
full qualification:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c $1"
from strutils import `%`
echo "$1" % "abc"
# always possible: full qualification:
echo strutils.replace("abc", "a", "z")
It's also possible to use ``from module import nil`` if one wants to import
the module but wants to enforce fully qualified access to every symbol
in ``module``.
Export statement
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An ``export`` statement can be used for symbol forwarding so that client
modules don't need to import a module's dependencies:
.. code-block:: nim
# module B
type MyObject* = object
.. code-block:: nim
# module A
import B
export B.MyObject
proc `$`*(x: MyObject): string = "my object"
.. code-block:: nim
# module C
import A
# B.MyObject has been imported implicitly here:
var x: MyObject
echo $x
When the exported symbol is another module, all of its definitions will
be forwarded. You can use an ``except`` list to exclude some of the symbols.
Scope rules
-----------
Identifiers are valid from the point of their declaration until the end of
the block in which the declaration occurred. The range where the identifier
is known is the scope of the identifier. The exact scope of an
identifier depends on the way it was declared.
Block scope
~~~~~~~~~~~
The *scope* of a variable declared in the declaration part of a block
is valid from the point of declaration until the end of the block. If a
block contains a second block, in which the identifier is redeclared,
then inside this block, the second declaration will be valid. Upon
leaving the inner block, the first declaration is valid again. An
identifier cannot be redefined in the same block, except if valid for
procedure or iterator overloading purposes.
Tuple or object scope
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The field identifiers inside a tuple or object definition are valid in the
following places:
* To the end of the tuple/object definition.
* Field designators of a variable of the given tuple/object type.
* In all descendant types of the object type.
Module scope
~~~~~~~~~~~~
All identifiers of a module are valid from the point of declaration until
the end of the module. Identifiers from indirectly dependent modules are *not*
available. The `system`:idx: module is automatically imported in every module.
If a module imports an identifier by two different modules, each occurrence of
the identifier has to be qualified, unless it is an overloaded procedure or
iterator in which case the overloading resolution takes place:
.. code-block:: nim
# Module A
var x*: string
.. code-block:: nim
# Module B
var x*: int
.. code-block:: nim
# Module C
import A, B
write(stdout, x) # error: x is ambiguous
write(stdout, A.x) # no error: qualifier used
var x = 4
write(stdout, x) # not ambiguous: uses the module C's x
Code reordering
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**Note**: Code reordering is experimental and must be enabled via the
``{.experimental.}`` pragma.
The code reordering feature can implicitly rearrange procedure, template, and
macro definitions along with variable declarations and initializations at the top
level scope so that, to a large extent, a programmer should not have to worry
about ordering definitions correctly or be forced to use forward declarations to
preface definitions inside a module.
..
NOTE: The following was documentation for the code reordering precursor,
which was {.noForward.}.
In this mode, procedure definitions may appear out of order and the compiler
will postpone their semantic analysis and compilation until it actually needs
to generate code using the definitions. In this regard, this mode is similar
to the modus operandi of dynamic scripting languages, where the function
calls are not resolved until the code is executed. Here is the detailed
algorithm taken by the compiler:
1. When a callable symbol is first encountered, the compiler will only note
the symbol callable name and it will add it to the appropriate overload set
in the current scope. At this step, it won't try to resolve any of the type
expressions used in the signature of the symbol (so they can refer to other
not yet defined symbols).
2. When a top level call is encountered (usually at the very end of the
module), the compiler will try to determine the actual types of all of the
symbols in the matching overload set. This is a potentially recursive process
as the signatures of the symbols may include other call expressions, whose
types will be resolved at this point too.
3. Finally, after the best overload is picked, the compiler will start
compiling the body of the respective symbol. This in turn will lead the
compiler to discover more call expressions that need to be resolved and steps
2 and 3 will be repeated as necessary.
Please note that if a callable symbol is never used in this scenario, its
body will never be compiled. This is the default behavior leading to best
compilation times, but if exhaustive compilation of all definitions is
required, using ``nim check`` provides this option as well.
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
{.experimental: "codeReordering".}
proc foo(x: int) =
bar(x)
proc bar(x: int) =
echo(x)
foo(10)
Variables can also be reordered as well. Variables that are *initialized* (i.e.
variables that have their declaration and assignment combined in a single
statement) can have their entire initialization statement reordered. Be wary of
what code is executed at the top level:
.. code-block:: nim
{.experimental: "codeReordering".}
proc a() =
echo(foo)
var foo = 5
a() # outputs: "5"
..
TODO: Let's table this for now. This is an *experimental feature* and so the
specific manner in which ``declared`` operates with it can be decided in
eventuality, because right now it works a bit weirdly.
The values of expressions involving ``declared`` are decided *before* the
code reordering process, and not after. As an example, the output of this
code is the same as it would be with code reordering disabled.
.. code-block:: nim
{.experimental: "codeReordering".}
proc x() =
echo(declared(foo))
var foo = 4
x() # "false"
It is important to note that reordering *only* works for symbols at top level
scope. Therefore, the following will *fail to compile:*
.. code-block:: nim
{.experimental: "codeReordering".}
proc a() =
b()
proc b() =
echo("Hello!")
a()
Compiler Messages
=================
The Nim compiler emits different kinds of messages: `hint`:idx:,
`warning`:idx:, and `error`:idx: messages. An *error* message is emitted if
the compiler encounters any static error.
Pragmas
=======
Pragmas are Nim's method to give the compiler additional information /
commands without introducing a massive number of new keywords. Pragmas are
processed on the fly during semantic checking. Pragmas are enclosed in the
special ``{.`` and ``.}`` curly brackets. Pragmas are also often used as a
first implementation to play with a language feature before a nicer syntax
to access the feature becomes available.
deprecated pragma
-----------------
The deprecated pragma is used to mark a symbol as deprecated:
.. code-block:: nim
proc p() {.deprecated.}
var x {.deprecated.}: char
This pragma can also take in an optional warning string to relay to developers.
.. code-block:: nim
proc thing(x: bool) {.deprecated: "use thong instead".}
noSideEffect pragma
-------------------
The ``noSideEffect`` pragma is used to mark a proc/iterator to have no side
effects. This means that the proc/iterator only changes locations that are
reachable from its parameters and the return value only depends on the
arguments. If none of its parameters have the type ``var T``
or ``ref T`` or ``ptr T`` this means no locations are modified. It is a static
error to mark a proc/iterator to have no side effect if the compiler cannot
verify this.
As a special semantic rule, the built-in `debugEcho <system.html#debugEcho>`_
pretends to be free of side effects, so that it can be used for debugging
routines marked as ``noSideEffect``.
``func`` is syntactic sugar for a proc with no side effects:
.. code-block:: nim
func `+` (x, y: int): int
compileTime pragma
------------------
The ``compileTime`` pragma is used to mark a proc or variable to be used at
compile time only. No code will be generated for it. Compile time procs are
useful as helpers for macros. Since version 0.12.0 of the language, a proc
that uses ``system.NimNode`` within its parameter types is implicitly declared
``compileTime``:
.. code-block:: nim
proc astHelper(n: NimNode): NimNode =
result = n
Is the same as:
.. code-block:: nim
proc astHelper(n: NimNode): NimNode {.compileTime.} =
result = n
noReturn pragma
---------------
The ``noreturn`` pragma is used to mark a proc that never returns.
acyclic pragma
--------------
The ``acyclic`` pragma can be used for object types to mark them as acyclic
even though they seem to be cyclic. This is an **optimization** for the garbage
collector to not consider objects of this type as part of a cycle:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Node = ref NodeObj
NodeObj {.acyclic.} = object
left, right: Node
data: string
Or if we directly use a ref object:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Node = ref object {.acyclic.}
left, right: Node
data: string
In the example a tree structure is declared with the ``Node`` type. Note that
the type definition is recursive and the GC has to assume that objects of
this type may form a cyclic graph. The ``acyclic`` pragma passes the
information that this cannot happen to the GC. If the programmer uses the
``acyclic`` pragma for data types that are in reality cyclic, the GC may leak
memory, but nothing worse happens.
**Future directions**: The ``acyclic`` pragma may become a property of a
``ref`` type:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Node = acyclic ref NodeObj
NodeObj = object
left, right: Node
data: string
final pragma
------------
The ``final`` pragma can be used for an object type to specify that it
cannot be inherited from. Note that inheritance is only available for
objects that inherit from an existing object (via the ``object of SuperType``
syntax) or that have been marked as ``inheritable``.
shallow pragma
--------------
The ``shallow`` pragma affects the semantics of a type: The compiler is
allowed to make a shallow copy. This can cause serious semantic issues and
break memory safety! However, it can speed up assignments considerably,
because the semantics of Nim require deep copying of sequences and strings.
This can be expensive, especially if sequences are used to build a tree
structure:
.. code-block:: nim
type
NodeKind = enum nkLeaf, nkInner
Node {.shallow.} = object
case kind: NodeKind
of nkLeaf:
strVal: string
of nkInner:
children: seq[Node]
pure pragma
-----------
An object type can be marked with the ``pure`` pragma so that its type
field which is used for runtime type identification is omitted. This used to be
necessary for binary compatibility with other compiled languages.
An enum type can be marked as ``pure``. Then access of its fields always
requires full qualification.
asmNoStackFrame pragma
----------------------
A proc can be marked with the ``asmNoStackFrame`` pragma to tell the compiler
it should not generate a stack frame for the proc. There are also no exit
statements like ``return result;`` generated and the generated C function is
declared as ``__declspec(naked)`` or ``__attribute__((naked))`` (depending on
the used C compiler).
**Note**: This pragma should only be used by procs which consist solely of
assembler statements.
error pragma
------------
The ``error`` pragma is used to make the compiler output an error message
with the given content. Compilation does not necessarily abort after an error
though.
The ``error`` pragma can also be used to
annotate a symbol (like an iterator or proc). The *usage* of the symbol then
triggers a compile-time error. This is especially useful to rule out that some
operation is valid due to overloading and type conversions:
.. code-block:: nim
## check that underlying int values are compared and not the pointers:
proc `==`(x, y: ptr int): bool {.error.}
fatal pragma
------------
The ``fatal`` pragma is used to make the compiler output an error message
with the given content. In contrast to the ``error`` pragma, compilation
is guaranteed to be aborted by this pragma. Example:
.. code-block:: nim
when not defined(objc):
{.fatal: "Compile this program with the objc command!".}
warning pragma
--------------
The ``warning`` pragma is used to make the compiler output a warning message
with the given content. Compilation continues after the warning.
hint pragma
-----------
The ``hint`` pragma is used to make the compiler output a hint message with
the given content. Compilation continues after the hint.
line pragma
-----------
The ``line`` pragma can be used to affect line information of the annotated
statement as seen in stack backtraces:
.. code-block:: nim
template myassert*(cond: untyped, msg = "") =
if not cond:
# change run-time line information of the 'raise' statement:
{.line: InstantiationInfo().}:
raise newException(EAssertionFailed, msg)
If the ``line`` pragma is used with a parameter, the parameter needs be a
``tuple[filename: string, line: int]``. If it is used without a parameter,
``system.InstantiationInfo()`` is used.
linearScanEnd pragma
--------------------
The ``linearScanEnd`` pragma can be used to tell the compiler how to
compile a Nim `case`:idx: statement. Syntactically it has to be used as a
statement:
.. code-block:: nim
case myInt
of 0:
echo "most common case"
of 1:
{.linearScanEnd.}
echo "second most common case"
of 2: echo "unlikely: use branch table"
else: echo "unlikely too: use branch table for ", myInt
In the example, the case branches ``0`` and ``1`` are much more common than
the other cases. Therefore the generated assembler code should test for these
values first, so that the CPU's branch predictor has a good chance to succeed
(avoiding an expensive CPU pipeline stall). The other cases might be put into a
jump table for O(1) overhead, but at the cost of a (very likely) pipeline
stall.
The ``linearScanEnd`` pragma should be put into the last branch that should be
tested against via linear scanning. If put into the last branch of the
whole ``case`` statement, the whole ``case`` statement uses linear scanning.
computedGoto pragma
-------------------
The ``computedGoto`` pragma can be used to tell the compiler how to
compile a Nim `case`:idx: in a ``while true`` statement.
Syntactically it has to be used as a statement inside the loop:
.. code-block:: nim
type
MyEnum = enum
enumA, enumB, enumC, enumD, enumE
proc vm() =
var instructions: array[0..100, MyEnum]
instructions[2] = enumC
instructions[3] = enumD
instructions[4] = enumA
instructions[5] = enumD
instructions[6] = enumC
instructions[7] = enumA
instructions[8] = enumB
instructions[12] = enumE
var pc = 0
while true:
{.computedGoto.}
let instr = instructions[pc]
case instr
of enumA:
echo "yeah A"
of enumC, enumD:
echo "yeah CD"
of enumB:
echo "yeah B"
of enumE:
break
inc(pc)
vm()
As the example shows ``computedGoto`` is mostly useful for interpreters. If
the underlying backend (C compiler) does not support the computed goto
extension the pragma is simply ignored.
unroll pragma
-------------
The ``unroll`` pragma can be used to tell the compiler that it should unroll
a `for`:idx: or `while`:idx: loop for runtime efficiency:
.. code-block:: nim
proc searchChar(s: string, c: char): int =
for i in 0 .. s.high:
{.unroll: 4.}
if s[i] == c: return i
result = -1
In the above example, the search loop is unrolled by a factor 4. The unroll
factor can be left out too; the compiler then chooses an appropriate unroll
factor.
**Note**: Currently the compiler recognizes but ignores this pragma.
immediate pragma
----------------
The immediate pragma is obsolete. See `Typed vs untyped parameters`_.
compilation option pragmas
--------------------------
The listed pragmas here can be used to override the code generation options
for a proc/method/converter.
The implementation currently provides the following possible options (various
others may be added later).
=============== =============== ============================================
pragma allowed values description
=============== =============== ============================================
checks on|off Turns the code generation for all runtime
checks on or off.
boundChecks on|off Turns the code generation for array bound
checks on or off.
overflowChecks on|off Turns the code generation for over- or
underflow checks on or off.
nilChecks on|off Turns the code generation for nil pointer
checks on or off.
assertions on|off Turns the code generation for assertions
on or off.
warnings on|off Turns the warning messages of the compiler
on or off.
hints on|off Turns the hint messages of the compiler
on or off.
optimization none|speed|size Optimize the code for speed or size, or
disable optimization.
patterns on|off Turns the term rewriting templates/macros
on or off.
callconv cdecl|... Specifies the default calling convention for
all procedures (and procedure types) that
follow.
=============== =============== ============================================
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
{.checks: off, optimization: speed.}
# compile without runtime checks and optimize for speed
push and pop pragmas
--------------------
The `push/pop`:idx: pragmas are very similar to the option directive,
but are used to override the settings temporarily. Example:
.. code-block:: nim
{.push checks: off.}
# compile this section without runtime checks as it is
# speed critical
# ... some code ...
{.pop.} # restore old settings
register pragma
---------------
The ``register`` pragma is for variables only. It declares the variable as
``register``, giving the compiler a hint that the variable should be placed
in a hardware register for faster access. C compilers usually ignore this
though and for good reasons: Often they do a better job without it anyway.
In highly specific cases (a dispatch loop of a bytecode interpreter for
example) it may provide benefits, though.
global pragma
-------------
The ``global`` pragma can be applied to a variable within a proc to instruct
the compiler to store it in a global location and initialize it once at program
startup.
.. code-block:: nim
proc isHexNumber(s: string): bool =
var pattern {.global.} = re"[0-9a-fA-F]+"
result = s.match(pattern)
When used within a generic proc, a separate unique global variable will be
created for each instantiation of the proc. The order of initialization of
the created global variables within a module is not defined, but all of them
will be initialized after any top-level variables in their originating module
and before any variable in a module that imports it.
pragma pragma
-------------
The ``pragma`` pragma can be used to declare user defined pragmas. This is
useful because Nim's templates and macros do not affect pragmas. User
defined pragmas are in a different module-wide scope than all other symbols.
They cannot be imported from a module.
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
when appType == "lib":
{.pragma: rtl, exportc, dynlib, cdecl.}
else:
{.pragma: rtl, importc, dynlib: "client.dll", cdecl.}
proc p*(a, b: int): int {.rtl.} =
result = a+b
In the example a new pragma named ``rtl`` is introduced that either imports
a symbol from a dynamic library or exports the symbol for dynamic library
generation.
Disabling certain messages
--------------------------
Nim generates some warnings and hints ("line too long") that may annoy the
user. A mechanism for disabling certain messages is provided: Each hint
and warning message contains a symbol in brackets. This is the message's
identifier that can be used to enable or disable it:
.. code-block:: Nim
{.hint[LineTooLong]: off.} # turn off the hint about too long lines
This is often better than disabling all warnings at once.
used pragma
-----------
Nim produces a warning for symbols that are not exported and not used either.
The ``used`` pragma can be attached to a symbol to suppress this warning. This
is particularly useful when the symbol was generated by a macro:
.. code-block:: nim
template implementArithOps(T) =
proc echoAdd(a, b: T) {.used.} =
echo a + b
proc echoSub(a, b: T) {.used.} =
echo a - b
# no warning produced for the unused 'echoSub'
implementArithOps(int)
echoAdd 3, 5
experimental pragma
-------------------
The ``experimental`` pragma enables experimental language features. Depending
on the concrete feature this means that the feature is either considered
too unstable for an otherwise stable release or that the future of the feature
is uncertain (it may be removed any time).
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
{.experimental: "parallel".}
proc useParallel() =
parallel:
for i in 0..4:
echo "echo in parallel"
As a top level statement, the experimental pragma enables a feature for the
rest of the module it's enabled in. This is problematic for macro and generic
instantiations that cross a module scope. Currently these usages have to be
put into a ``.push/pop`` environment:
.. code-block:: nim
# client.nim
proc useParallel*[T](unused: T) =
# use a generic T here to show the problem.
{.push experimental: "parallel".}
parallel:
for i in 0..4:
echo "echo in parallel"
{.pop.}
.. code-block:: nim
import client
useParallel(1)
Implementation Specific Pragmas
===============================
This section describes additional pragmas that the current Nim implementation
supports but which should not be seen as part of the language specification.
Bitsize pragma
--------------
The ``bitsize`` pragma is for object field members. It declares the field as
a bitfield in C/C++.
.. code-block:: Nim
type
mybitfield = object
flag {.bitsize:1.}: cuint
generates:
.. code-block:: C
struct mybitfield {
unsigned int flag:1;
};
Volatile pragma
---------------
The ``volatile`` pragma is for variables only. It declares the variable as
``volatile``, whatever that means in C/C++ (its semantics are not well defined
in C/C++).
**Note**: This pragma will not exist for the LLVM backend.
NoDecl pragma
-------------
The ``noDecl`` pragma can be applied to almost any symbol (variable, proc,
type, etc.) and is sometimes useful for interoperability with C:
It tells Nim that it should not generate a declaration for the symbol in
the C code. For example:
.. code-block:: Nim
var
EACCES {.importc, noDecl.}: cint # pretend EACCES was a variable, as
# Nim does not know its value
However, the ``header`` pragma is often the better alternative.
**Note**: This will not work for the LLVM backend.
Header pragma
-------------
The ``header`` pragma is very similar to the ``noDecl`` pragma: It can be
applied to almost any symbol and specifies that it should not be declared
and instead the generated code should contain an ``#include``:
.. code-block:: Nim
type
PFile {.importc: "FILE*", header: "<stdio.h>".} = distinct pointer
# import C's FILE* type; Nim will treat it as a new pointer type
The ``header`` pragma always expects a string constant. The string contant
contains the header file: As usual for C, a system header file is enclosed
in angle brackets: ``<>``. If no angle brackets are given, Nim
encloses the header file in ``""`` in the generated C code.
**Note**: This will not work for the LLVM backend.
IncompleteStruct pragma
-----------------------
The ``incompleteStruct`` pragma tells the compiler to not use the
underlying C ``struct`` in a ``sizeof`` expression:
.. code-block:: Nim
type
DIR* {.importc: "DIR", header: "<dirent.h>",
pure, incompleteStruct.} = object
Compile pragma
--------------
The ``compile`` pragma can be used to compile and link a C/C++ source file
with the project:
.. code-block:: Nim
{.compile: "myfile.cpp".}
**Note**: Nim computes a SHA1 checksum and only recompiles the file if it
has changed. You can use the ``-f`` command line option to force recompilation
of the file.
Link pragma
-----------
The ``link`` pragma can be used to link an additional file with the project:
.. code-block:: Nim
{.link: "myfile.o".}
PassC pragma
------------
The ``passC`` pragma can be used to pass additional parameters to the C
compiler like you would using the commandline switch ``--passC``:
.. code-block:: Nim
{.passC: "-Wall -Werror".}
Note that you can use ``gorge`` from the `system module <system.html>`_ to
embed parameters from an external command at compile time:
.. code-block:: Nim
{.passC: gorge("pkg-config --cflags sdl").}
PassL pragma
------------
The ``passL`` pragma can be used to pass additional parameters to the linker
like you would using the commandline switch ``--passL``:
.. code-block:: Nim
{.passL: "-lSDLmain -lSDL".}
Note that you can use ``gorge`` from the `system module <system.html>`_ to
embed parameters from an external command at compile time:
.. code-block:: Nim
{.passL: gorge("pkg-config --libs sdl").}
Emit pragma
-----------
The ``emit`` pragma can be used to directly affect the output of the
compiler's code generator. So it makes your code unportable to other code
generators/backends. Its usage is highly discouraged! However, it can be
extremely useful for interfacing with `C++`:idx: or `Objective C`:idx: code.
Example:
.. code-block:: Nim
{.emit: """
static int cvariable = 420;
""".}
{.push stackTrace:off.}
proc embedsC() =
var nimVar = 89
# access Nim symbols within an emit section outside of string literals:
{.emit: ["""fprintf(stdout, "%d\n", cvariable + (int)""", nimVar, ");"].}
{.pop.}
embedsC()
For backwards compatibility, if the argument to the ``emit`` statement
is a single string literal, Nim symbols can be referred to via backticks.
This usage is however deprecated.
For a toplevel emit statement the section where in the generated C/C++ file
the code should be emitted can be influenced via the
prefixes ``/*TYPESECTION*/`` or ``/*VARSECTION*/`` or ``/*INCLUDESECTION*/``:
.. code-block:: Nim
{.emit: """/*TYPESECTION*/
struct Vector3 {
public:
Vector3(): x(5) {}
Vector3(float x_): x(x_) {}
float x;
};
""".}
type Vector3 {.importcpp: "Vector3", nodecl} = object
x: cfloat
proc constructVector3(a: cfloat): Vector3 {.importcpp: "Vector3(@)", nodecl}
ImportCpp pragma
----------------
**Note**: `c2nim <https://nim-lang.org/docs/c2nim.html>`_ can parse a large subset of C++ and knows
about the ``importcpp`` pragma pattern language. It is not necessary
to know all the details described here.
Similar to the `importc pragma for C
<#foreign-function-interface-importc-pragma>`_, the
``importcpp`` pragma can be used to import `C++`:idx: methods or C++ symbols
in general. The generated code then uses the C++ method calling
syntax: ``obj->method(arg)``. In combination with the ``header`` and ``emit``
pragmas this allows *sloppy* interfacing with libraries written in C++:
.. code-block:: Nim
# Horrible example of how to interface with a C++ engine ... ;-)
{.link: "/usr/lib/libIrrlicht.so".}
{.emit: """
using namespace irr;
using namespace core;
using namespace scene;
using namespace video;
using namespace io;
using namespace gui;
""".}
const
irr = "<irrlicht/irrlicht.h>"
type
IrrlichtDeviceObj {.header: irr,
importcpp: "IrrlichtDevice".} = object
IrrlichtDevice = ptr IrrlichtDeviceObj
proc createDevice(): IrrlichtDevice {.
header: irr, importcpp: "createDevice(@)".}
proc run(device: IrrlichtDevice): bool {.
header: irr, importcpp: "#.run(@)".}
The compiler needs to be told to generate C++ (command ``cpp``) for
this to work. The conditional symbol ``cpp`` is defined when the compiler
emits C++ code.
Namespaces
~~~~~~~~~~
The *sloppy interfacing* example uses ``.emit`` to produce ``using namespace``
declarations. It is usually much better to instead refer to the imported name
via the ``namespace::identifier`` notation:
.. code-block:: nim
type
IrrlichtDeviceObj {.header: irr,
importcpp: "irr::IrrlichtDevice".} = object
Importcpp for enums
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When ``importcpp`` is applied to an enum type the numerical enum values are
annotated with the C++ enum type, like in this example: ``((TheCppEnum)(3))``.
(This turned out to be the simplest way to implement it.)
Importcpp for procs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note that the ``importcpp`` variant for procs uses a somewhat cryptic pattern
language for maximum flexibility:
- A hash ``#`` symbol is replaced by the first or next argument.
- A dot following the hash ``#.`` indicates that the call should use C++'s dot
or arrow notation.
- An at symbol ``@`` is replaced by the remaining arguments, separated by
commas.
For example:
.. code-block:: nim
proc cppMethod(this: CppObj, a, b, c: cint) {.importcpp: "#.CppMethod(@)".}
var x: ptr CppObj
cppMethod(x[], 1, 2, 3)
Produces:
.. code-block:: C
x->CppMethod(1, 2, 3)
As a special rule to keep backwards compatibility with older versions of the
``importcpp`` pragma, if there is no special pattern
character (any of ``# ' @``) at all, C++'s
dot or arrow notation is assumed, so the above example can also be written as:
.. code-block:: nim
proc cppMethod(this: CppObj, a, b, c: cint) {.importcpp: "CppMethod".}
Note that the pattern language naturally also covers C++'s operator overloading
capabilities:
.. code-block:: nim
proc vectorAddition(a, b: Vec3): Vec3 {.importcpp: "# + #".}
proc dictLookup(a: Dict, k: Key): Value {.importcpp: "#[#]".}
- An apostrophe ``'`` followed by an integer ``i`` in the range 0..9
is replaced by the i'th parameter *type*. The 0th position is the result
type. This can be used to pass types to C++ function templates. Between
the ``'`` and the digit an asterisk can be used to get to the base type
of the type. (So it "takes away a star" from the type; ``T*`` becomes ``T``.)
Two stars can be used to get to the element type of the element type etc.
For example:
.. code-block:: nim
type Input {.importcpp: "System::Input".} = object
proc getSubsystem*[T](): ptr T {.importcpp: "SystemManager::getSubsystem<'*0>()", nodecl.}
let x: ptr Input = getSubsystem[Input]()
Produces:
.. code-block:: C
x = SystemManager::getSubsystem<System::Input>()
- ``#@`` is a special case to support a ``cnew`` operation. It is required so
that the call expression is inlined directly, without going through a
temporary location. This is only required to circumvent a limitation of the
current code generator.
For example C++'s ``new`` operator can be "imported" like this:
.. code-block:: nim
proc cnew*[T](x: T): ptr T {.importcpp: "(new '*0#@)", nodecl.}
# constructor of 'Foo':
proc constructFoo(a, b: cint): Foo {.importcpp: "Foo(@)".}
let x = cnew constructFoo(3, 4)
Produces:
.. code-block:: C
x = new Foo(3, 4)
However, depending on the use case ``new Foo`` can also be wrapped like this
instead:
.. code-block:: nim
proc newFoo(a, b: cint): ptr Foo {.importcpp: "new Foo(@)".}
let x = newFoo(3, 4)
Wrapping constructors
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometimes a C++ class has a private copy constructor and so code like
``Class c = Class(1,2);`` must not be generated but instead ``Class c(1,2);``.
For this purpose the Nim proc that wraps a C++ constructor needs to be
annotated with the `constructor`:idx: pragma. This pragma also helps to generate
faster C++ code since construction then doesn't invoke the copy constructor:
.. code-block:: nim
# a better constructor of 'Foo':
proc constructFoo(a, b: cint): Foo {.importcpp: "Foo(@)", constructor.}
Wrapping destructors
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since Nim generates C++ directly, any destructor is called implicitly by the
C++ compiler at the scope exits. This means that often one can get away with
not wrapping the destructor at all! However when it needs to be invoked
explicitly, it needs to be wrapped. The pattern language provides
everything that is required:
.. code-block:: nim
proc destroyFoo(this: var Foo) {.importcpp: "#.~Foo()".}
Importcpp for objects
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Generic ``importcpp``'ed objects are mapped to C++ templates. This means that
you can import C++'s templates rather easily without the need for a pattern
language for object types:
.. code-block:: nim
type
StdMap {.importcpp: "std::map", header: "<map>".} [K, V] = object
proc `[]=`[K, V](this: var StdMap[K, V]; key: K; val: V) {.
importcpp: "#[#] = #", header: "<map>".}
var x: StdMap[cint, cdouble]
x[6] = 91.4
Produces:
.. code-block:: C
std::map<int, double> x;
x[6] = 91.4;
- If more precise control is needed, the apostrophe ``'`` can be used in the
supplied pattern to denote the concrete type parameters of the generic type.
See the usage of the apostrophe operator in proc patterns for more details.
.. code-block:: nim
type
VectorIterator {.importcpp: "std::vector<'0>::iterator".} [T] = object
var x: VectorIterator[cint]
Produces:
.. code-block:: C
std::vector<int>::iterator x;
ImportObjC pragma
-----------------
Similar to the `importc pragma for C
<#foreign-function-interface-importc-pragma>`_, the ``importobjc`` pragma can
be used to import `Objective C`:idx: methods. The generated code then uses the
Objective C method calling syntax: ``[obj method param1: arg]``.
In addition with the ``header`` and ``emit`` pragmas this
allows *sloppy* interfacing with libraries written in Objective C:
.. code-block:: Nim
# horrible example of how to interface with GNUStep ...
{.passL: "-lobjc".}
{.emit: """
#include <objc/Object.h>
@interface Greeter:Object
{
}
- (void)greet:(long)x y:(long)dummy;
@end
#include <stdio.h>
@implementation Greeter
- (void)greet:(long)x y:(long)dummy
{
printf("Hello, World!\n");
}
@end
#include <stdlib.h>
""".}
type
Id {.importc: "id", header: "<objc/Object.h>", final.} = distinct int
proc newGreeter: Id {.importobjc: "Greeter new", nodecl.}
proc greet(self: Id, x, y: int) {.importobjc: "greet", nodecl.}
proc free(self: Id) {.importobjc: "free", nodecl.}
var g = newGreeter()
g.greet(12, 34)
g.free()
The compiler needs to be told to generate Objective C (command ``objc``) for
this to work. The conditional symbol ``objc`` is defined when the compiler
emits Objective C code.
CodegenDecl pragma
------------------
The ``codegenDecl`` pragma can be used to directly influence Nim's code
generator. It receives a format string that determines how the variable
or proc is declared in the generated code.
For variables $1 in the format string represents the type of the variable
and $2 is the name of the variable.
The following Nim code:
.. code-block:: nim
var
a {.codegenDecl: "$# progmem $#".}: int
will generate this C code:
.. code-block:: c
int progmem a
For procedures $1 is the return type of the procedure, $2 is the name of
the procedure and $3 is the parameter list.
The following nim code:
.. code-block:: nim
proc myinterrupt() {.codegenDecl: "__interrupt $# $#$#".} =
echo "realistic interrupt handler"
will generate this code:
.. code-block:: c
__interrupt void myinterrupt()
InjectStmt pragma
-----------------
The ``injectStmt`` pragma can be used to inject a statement before every
other statement in the current module. It is only supposed to be used for
debugging:
.. code-block:: nim
{.injectStmt: gcInvariants().}
# ... complex code here that produces crashes ...
compile time define pragmas
---------------------------
The pragmas listed here can be used to optionally accept values from
the -d/--define option at compile time.
The implementation currently provides the following possible options (various
others may be added later).
================= ============================================
pragma description
================= ============================================
`intdefine`:idx: Reads in a build-time define as an integer
`strdefine`:idx: Reads in a build-time define as a string
================= ============================================
.. code-block:: nim
const FooBar {.intdefine.}: int = 5
echo FooBar
::
nim c -d:FooBar=42 foobar.c
In the above example, providing the -d flag causes the symbol
``FooBar`` to be overwritten at compile time, printing out 42. If the
``-d:FooBar=42`` were to be omitted, the default value of 5 would be
used.
Custom annotations
------------------
It is possible to define custom typed pragmas. Custom pragmas do not effect
code generation directly, but their presence can be detected by macros.
Custom pragmas are defined using templates annotated with pragma ``pragma``:
.. code-block:: nim
template dbTable(name: string, table_space: string = "") {.pragma.}
template dbKey(name: string = "", primary_key: bool = false) {.pragma.}
template dbForeignKey(t: type) {.pragma.}
template dbIgnore {.pragma.}
Consider stylized example of possible Object Relation Mapping (ORM) implementation:
.. code-block:: nim
const tblspace {.strdefine.} = "dev" # switch for dev, test and prod environments
type
User {.dbTable("users", tblspace).} = object
id {.dbKey(primary_key = true).}: int
name {.dbKey"full_name".}: string
is_cached {.dbIgnore.}: bool
age: int
UserProfile {.dbTable("profiles", tblspace).} = object
id {.dbKey(primary_key = true).}: int
user_id {.dbForeignKey: User.}: int
read_access: bool
write_access: bool
admin_acess: bool
In this example custom pragmas are used to describe how Nim objects are
mapped to the schema of the relational database. Custom pragmas can have
zero or more arguments. In order to pass multiple arguments use one of
template call syntaxes. All arguments are typed and follow standard
overload resolution rules for templates. Therefore, it is possible to have
default values for arguments, pass by name, varargs, etc.
Custom pragmas can be used in all locations where ordinary pragmas can be
specified. It is possible to annotate procs, templates, type and variable
definitions, statements, etc.
Macros module includes helpers which can be used to simplify custom pragma
access `hasCustomPragma`, `getCustomPragmaVal`. Please consult macros module
documentation for details. These macros are no magic, they don't do anything
you cannot do yourself by walking AST object representation.
More examples with custom pragmas:
- Better serialization/deserialization control:
.. code-block:: nim
type MyObj = object
a {.dontSerialize.}: int
b {.defaultDeserialize: 5.}: int
c {.serializationKey: "_c".}: string
- Adopting type for gui inspector in a game engine:
.. code-block:: nim
type MyComponent = object
position {.editable, animatable.}: Vector3
alpha {.editRange: [0.0..1.0], animatable.}: float32
Foreign function interface
==========================
Nim's `FFI`:idx: (foreign function interface) is extensive and only the
parts that scale to other future backends (like the LLVM/JavaScript backends)
are documented here.
Importc pragma
--------------
The ``importc`` pragma provides a means to import a proc or a variable
from C. The optional argument is a string containing the C identifier. If
the argument is missing, the C name is the Nim identifier *exactly as
spelled*:
.. code-block::
proc printf(formatstr: cstring) {.header: "<stdio.h>", importc: "printf", varargs.}
Note that this pragma is somewhat of a misnomer: Other backends do provide
the same feature under the same name. Also, if one is interfacing with C++
the `ImportCpp pragma <manual.html#implementation-specific-pragmas-importcpp-pragma>`_ and
interfacing with Objective-C the `ImportObjC pragma
<manual.html#implementation-specific-pragmas-importobjc-pragma>`_ can be used.
The string literal passed to ``importc`` can be a format string:
.. code-block:: Nim
proc p(s: cstring) {.importc: "prefix$1".}
In the example the external name of ``p`` is set to ``prefixp``. Only ``$1``
is available and a literal dollar sign must be written as ``$$``.
Exportc pragma
--------------
The ``exportc`` pragma provides a means to export a type, a variable, or a
procedure to C. Enums and constants can't be exported. The optional argument
is a string containing the C identifier. If the argument is missing, the C
name is the Nim identifier *exactly as spelled*:
.. code-block:: Nim
proc callme(formatstr: cstring) {.exportc: "callMe", varargs.}
Note that this pragma is somewhat of a misnomer: Other backends do provide
the same feature under the same name.
The string literal passed to ``exportc`` can be a format string:
.. code-block:: Nim
proc p(s: string) {.exportc: "prefix$1".} =
echo s
In the example the external name of ``p`` is set to ``prefixp``. Only ``$1``
is available and a literal dollar sign must be written as ``$$``.
Extern pragma
-------------
Like ``exportc`` or ``importc``, the ``extern`` pragma affects name
mangling. The string literal passed to ``extern`` can be a format string:
.. code-block:: Nim
proc p(s: string) {.extern: "prefix$1".} =
echo s
In the example the external name of ``p`` is set to ``prefixp``. Only ``$1``
is available and a literal dollar sign must be written as ``$$``.
Bycopy pragma
-------------
The ``bycopy`` pragma can be applied to an object or tuple type and
instructs the compiler to pass the type by value to procs:
.. code-block:: nim
type
Vector {.bycopy.} = object
x, y, z: float
Byref pragma
------------
The ``byref`` pragma can be applied to an object or tuple type and instructs
the compiler to pass the type by reference (hidden pointer) to procs.
Varargs pragma
--------------
The ``varargs`` pragma can be applied to procedures only (and procedure
types). It tells Nim that the proc can take a variable number of parameters
after the last specified parameter. Nim string values will be converted to C
strings automatically:
.. code-block:: Nim
proc printf(formatstr: cstring) {.nodecl, varargs.}
printf("hallo %s", "world") # "world" will be passed as C string
Union pragma
------------
The ``union`` pragma can be applied to any ``object`` type. It means all
of the object's fields are overlaid in memory. This produces a ``union``
instead of a ``struct`` in the generated C/C++ code. The object declaration
then must not use inheritance or any GC'ed memory but this is currently not
checked.
**Future directions**: GC'ed memory should be allowed in unions and the GC
should scan unions conservatively.
Packed pragma
-------------
The ``packed`` pragma can be applied to any ``object`` type. It ensures
that the fields of an object are packed back-to-back in memory. It is useful
to store packets or messages from/to network or hardware drivers, and for
interoperability with C. Combining packed pragma with inheritance is not
defined, and it should not be used with GC'ed memory (ref's).
**Future directions**: Using GC'ed memory in packed pragma will result in
compile-time error. Usage with inheritance should be defined and documented.
Unchecked pragma
----------------
The ``unchecked`` pragma can be used to mark a named array as ``unchecked``
meaning its bounds are not checked. This is often useful to
implement customized flexibly sized arrays. Additionally an unchecked array is
translated into a C array of undetermined size:
.. code-block:: nim
type
ArrayPart{.unchecked.} = array[0, int]
MySeq = object
len, cap: int
data: ArrayPart
Produces roughly this C code:
.. code-block:: C
typedef struct {
NI len;
NI cap;
NI data[];
} MySeq;
The base type of the unchecked array may not contain any GC'ed memory but this
is currently not checked.
**Future directions**: GC'ed memory should be allowed in unchecked arrays and
there should be an explicit annotation of how the GC is to determine the
runtime size of the array.
Dynlib pragma for import
------------------------
With the ``dynlib`` pragma a procedure or a variable can be imported from
a dynamic library (``.dll`` files for Windows, ``lib*.so`` files for UNIX).
The non-optional argument has to be the name of the dynamic library:
.. code-block:: Nim
proc gtk_image_new(): PGtkWidget
{.cdecl, dynlib: "libgtk-x11-2.0.so", importc.}
In general, importing a dynamic library does not require any special linker
options or linking with import libraries. This also implies that no *devel*
packages need to be installed.
The ``dynlib`` import mechanism supports a versioning scheme:
.. code-block:: nim
proc Tcl_Eval(interp: pTcl_Interp, script: cstring): int {.cdecl,
importc, dynlib: "libtcl(|8.5|8.4|8.3).so.(1|0)".}
At runtime the dynamic library is searched for (in this order)::
libtcl.so.1
libtcl.so.0
libtcl8.5.so.1
libtcl8.5.so.0
libtcl8.4.so.1
libtcl8.4.so.0
libtcl8.3.so.1
libtcl8.3.so.0
The ``dynlib`` pragma supports not only constant strings as argument but also
string expressions in general:
.. code-block:: nim
import os
proc getDllName: string =
result = "mylib.dll"
if existsFile(result): return
result = "mylib2.dll"
if existsFile(result): return
quit("could not load dynamic library")
proc myImport(s: cstring) {.cdecl, importc, dynlib: getDllName().}
**Note**: Patterns like ``libtcl(|8.5|8.4).so`` are only supported in constant
strings, because they are precompiled.
**Note**: Passing variables to the ``dynlib`` pragma will fail at runtime
because of order of initialization problems.
**Note**: A ``dynlib`` import can be overridden with
the ``--dynlibOverride:name`` command line option. The Compiler User Guide
contains further information.
Dynlib pragma for export
------------------------
With the ``dynlib`` pragma a procedure can also be exported to
a dynamic library. The pragma then has no argument and has to be used in
conjunction with the ``exportc`` pragma:
.. code-block:: Nim
proc exportme(): int {.cdecl, exportc, dynlib.}
This is only useful if the program is compiled as a dynamic library via the
``--app:lib`` command line option. This pragma only has an effect for the code
generation on the Windows target, so when this pragma is forgotten and the dynamic
library is only tested on Mac and/or Linux, there won't be an error. On Windows
this pragma adds ``__declspec(dllexport)`` to the function declaration.
Threads
=======
To enable thread support the ``--threads:on`` command line switch needs to
be used. The ``system`` module then contains several threading primitives.
See the `threads <threads.html>`_ and `channels <channels.html>`_ modules
for the low level thread API. There are also high level parallelism constructs
available. See `spawn <#parallel-amp-spawn>`_ for further details.
Nim's memory model for threads is quite different than that of other common
programming languages (C, Pascal, Java): Each thread has its own (garbage
collected) heap and sharing of memory is restricted to global variables. This
helps to prevent race conditions. GC efficiency is improved quite a lot,
because the GC never has to stop other threads and see what they reference.
Memory allocation requires no lock at all! This design easily scales to massive
multicore processors that are becoming the norm.
Thread pragma
-------------
A proc that is executed as a new thread of execution should be marked by the
``thread`` pragma for reasons of readability. The compiler checks for
violations of the `no heap sharing restriction`:idx:\: This restriction implies
that it is invalid to construct a data structure that consists of memory
allocated from different (thread local) heaps.
A thread proc is passed to ``createThread`` or ``spawn`` and invoked
indirectly; so the ``thread`` pragma implies ``procvar``.
GC safety
---------
We call a proc ``p`` `GC safe`:idx: when it doesn't access any global variable
that contains GC'ed memory (``string``, ``seq``, ``ref`` or a closure) either
directly or indirectly through a call to a GC unsafe proc.
The `gcsafe`:idx: annotation can be used to mark a proc to be gcsafe,
otherwise this property is inferred by the compiler. Note that ``noSideEffect``
implies ``gcsafe``. The only way to create a thread is via ``spawn`` or
``createThread``. ``spawn`` is usually the preferable method. Either way
the invoked proc must not use ``var`` parameters nor must any of its parameters
contain a ``ref`` or ``closure`` type. This enforces
the *no heap sharing restriction*.
Routines that are imported from C are always assumed to be ``gcsafe``.
To disable the GC-safety checking the ``--threadAnalysis:off`` command line
switch can be used. This is a temporary workaround to ease the porting effort
from old code to the new threading model.
To override the compiler's gcsafety analysis a ``{.gcsafe.}`` pragma block can
be used:
.. code-block:: nim
var
someGlobal: string = "some string here"
perThread {.threadvar.}: string
proc setPerThread() =
{.gcsafe.}:
deepCopy(perThread, someGlobal)
Future directions:
- A shared GC'ed heap might be provided.
Threadvar pragma
----------------
A variable can be marked with the ``threadvar`` pragma, which makes it a
`thread-local`:idx: variable; Additionally, this implies all the effects
of the ``global`` pragma.
.. code-block:: nim
var checkpoints* {.threadvar.}: seq[string]
Due to implementation restrictions thread local variables cannot be
initialized within the ``var`` section. (Every thread local variable needs to
be replicated at thread creation.)
Threads and exceptions
----------------------
The interaction between threads and exceptions is simple: A *handled* exception
in one thread cannot affect any other thread. However, an *unhandled* exception
in one thread terminates the whole *process*!
Parallel & Spawn
================
Nim has two flavors of parallelism:
1) `Structured`:idx: parallelism via the ``parallel`` statement.
2) `Unstructured`:idx: parallelism via the standalone ``spawn`` statement.
Nim has a builtin thread pool that can be used for CPU intensive tasks. For
IO intensive tasks the ``async`` and ``await`` features should be
used instead. Both parallel and spawn need the `threadpool <threadpool.html>`_
module to work.
Somewhat confusingly, ``spawn`` is also used in the ``parallel`` statement
with slightly different semantics. ``spawn`` always takes a call expression of
the form ``f(a, ...)``. Let ``T`` be ``f``'s return type. If ``T`` is ``void``
then ``spawn``'s return type is also ``void`` otherwise it is ``FlowVar[T]``.
Within a ``parallel`` section sometimes the ``FlowVar[T]`` is eliminated
to ``T``. This happens when ``T`` does not contain any GC'ed memory.
The compiler can ensure the location in ``location = spawn f(...)`` is not
read prematurely within a ``parallel`` section and so there is no need for
the overhead of an indirection via ``FlowVar[T]`` to ensure correctness.
**Note**: Currently exceptions are not propagated between ``spawn``'ed tasks!
Spawn statement
---------------
`spawn`:idx: can be used to pass a task to the thread pool:
.. code-block:: nim
import threadpool
proc processLine(line: string) =
discard "do some heavy lifting here"
for x in lines("myinput.txt"):
spawn processLine(x)
sync()
For reasons of type safety and implementation simplicity the expression
that ``spawn`` takes is restricted:
* It must be a call expression ``f(a, ...)``.
* ``f`` must be ``gcsafe``.
* ``f`` must not have the calling convention ``closure``.
* ``f``'s parameters may not be of type ``var``.
This means one has to use raw ``ptr``'s for data passing reminding the
programmer to be careful.
* ``ref`` parameters are deeply copied which is a subtle semantic change and
can cause performance problems but ensures memory safety. This deep copy
is performed via ``system.deepCopy`` and so can be overridden.
* For *safe* data exchange between ``f`` and the caller a global ``TChannel``
needs to be used. However, since spawn can return a result, often no further
communication is required.
``spawn`` executes the passed expression on the thread pool and returns
a `data flow variable`:idx: ``FlowVar[T]`` that can be read from. The reading
with the ``^`` operator is **blocking**. However, one can use ``blockUntilAny`` to
wait on multiple flow variables at the same time:
.. code-block:: nim
import threadpool, ...
# wait until 2 out of 3 servers received the update:
proc main =
var responses = newSeq[FlowVarBase](3)
for i in 0..2:
responses[i] = spawn tellServer(Update, "key", "value")
var index = blockUntilAny(responses)
assert index >= 0
responses.del(index)
discard blockUntilAny(responses)
Data flow variables ensure that no data races
are possible. Due to technical limitations not every type ``T`` is possible in
a data flow variable: ``T`` has to be of the type ``ref``, ``string``, ``seq``
or of a type that doesn't contain a type that is garbage collected. This
restriction is not hard to work-around in practice.
Parallel statement
------------------
Example:
.. code-block:: nim
:test: "nim c --threads:on $1"
# Compute PI in an inefficient way
import strutils, math, threadpool
{.experimental: "parallel".}
proc term(k: float): float = 4 * math.pow(-1, k) / (2*k + 1)
proc pi(n: int): float =
var ch = newSeq[float](n+1)
parallel:
for k in 0..ch.high:
ch[k] = spawn term(float(k))
for k in 0..ch.high:
result += ch[k]
echo formatFloat(pi(5000))
The parallel statement is the preferred mechanism to introduce parallelism
in a Nim program. A subset of the Nim language is valid within a
``parallel`` section. This subset is checked to be free of data races at
compile time. A sophisticated `disjoint checker`:idx: ensures that no data
races are possible even though shared memory is extensively supported!
The subset is in fact the full language with the following
restrictions / changes:
* ``spawn`` within a ``parallel`` section has special semantics.
* Every location of the form ``a[i]`` and ``a[i..j]`` and ``dest`` where
``dest`` is part of the pattern ``dest = spawn f(...)`` has to be
provably disjoint. This is called the *disjoint check*.
* Every other complex location ``loc`` that is used in a spawned
proc (``spawn f(loc)``) has to be immutable for the duration of
the ``parallel`` section. This is called the *immutability check*. Currently
it is not specified what exactly "complex location" means. We need to make
this an optimization!
* Every array access has to be provably within bounds. This is called
the *bounds check*.
* Slices are optimized so that no copy is performed. This optimization is not
yet performed for ordinary slices outside of a ``parallel`` section.
Guards and locks
================
Apart from ``spawn`` and ``parallel`` Nim also provides all the common low level
concurrency mechanisms like locks, atomic intrinsics or condition variables.
Nim significantly improves on the safety of these features via additional
pragmas:
1) A `guard`:idx: annotation is introduced to prevent data races.
2) Every access of a guarded memory location needs to happen in an
appropriate `locks`:idx: statement.
3) Locks and routines can be annotated with `lock levels`:idx: to prevent
deadlocks at compile time.
Guards and the locks section
----------------------------
Protecting global variables
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Object fields and global variables can be annotated via a ``guard`` pragma:
.. code-block:: nim
var glock: TLock
var gdata {.guard: glock.}: int
The compiler then ensures that every access of ``gdata`` is within a ``locks``
section:
.. code-block:: nim
proc invalid =
# invalid: unguarded access:
echo gdata
proc valid =
# valid access:
{.locks: [glock].}:
echo gdata
Top level accesses to ``gdata`` are always allowed so that it can be initialized
conveniently. It is *assumed* (but not enforced) that every top level statement
is executed before any concurrent action happens.
The ``locks`` section deliberately looks ugly because it has no runtime
semantics and should not be used directly! It should only be used in templates
that also implement some form of locking at runtime:
.. code-block:: nim
template lock(a: TLock; body: untyped) =
pthread_mutex_lock(a)
{.locks: [a].}:
try:
body
finally:
pthread_mutex_unlock(a)
The guard does not need to be of any particular type. It is flexible enough to
model low level lockfree mechanisms:
.. code-block:: nim
var dummyLock {.compileTime.}: int
var atomicCounter {.guard: dummyLock.}: int
template atomicRead(x): untyped =
{.locks: [dummyLock].}:
memoryReadBarrier()
x
echo atomicRead(atomicCounter)
The ``locks`` pragma takes a list of lock expressions ``locks: [a, b, ...]``
in order to support *multi lock* statements. Why these are essential is
explained in the `lock levels <#guards-and-locks-lock-levels>`_ section.
Protecting general locations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ``guard`` annotation can also be used to protect fields within an object.
The guard then needs to be another field within the same object or a
global variable.
Since objects can reside on the heap or on the stack this greatly enhances the
expressivity of the language:
.. code-block:: nim
type
ProtectedCounter = object
v {.guard: L.}: int
L: TLock
proc incCounters(counters: var openArray[ProtectedCounter]) =
for i in 0..counters.high:
lock counters[i].L:
inc counters[i].v
The access to field ``x.v`` is allowed since its guard ``x.L`` is active.
After template expansion, this amounts to:
.. code-block:: nim
proc incCounters(counters: var openArray[ProtectedCounter]) =
for i in 0..counters.high:
pthread_mutex_lock(counters[i].L)
{.locks: [counters[i].L].}:
try:
inc counters[i].v
finally:
pthread_mutex_unlock(counters[i].L)
There is an analysis that checks that ``counters[i].L`` is the lock that
corresponds to the protected location ``counters[i].v``. This analysis is called
`path analysis`:idx: because it deals with paths to locations
like ``obj.field[i].fieldB[j]``.
The path analysis is **currently unsound**, but that doesn't make it useless.
Two paths are considered equivalent if they are syntactically the same.
This means the following compiles (for now) even though it really should not:
.. code-block:: nim
{.locks: [a[i].L].}:
inc i
access a[i].v
Lock levels
-----------
Lock levels are used to enforce a global locking order in order to prevent
deadlocks at compile-time. A lock level is an constant integer in the range
0..1_000. Lock level 0 means that no lock is acquired at all.
If a section of code holds a lock of level ``M`` than it can also acquire any
lock of level ``N < M``. Another lock of level ``M`` cannot be acquired. Locks
of the same level can only be acquired *at the same time* within a
single ``locks`` section:
.. code-block:: nim
var a, b: TLock[2]
var x: TLock[1]
# invalid locking order: TLock[1] cannot be acquired before TLock[2]:
{.locks: [x].}:
{.locks: [a].}:
...
# valid locking order: TLock[2] acquired before TLock[1]:
{.locks: [a].}:
{.locks: [x].}:
...
# invalid locking order: TLock[2] acquired before TLock[2]:
{.locks: [a].}:
{.locks: [b].}:
...
# valid locking order, locks of the same level acquired at the same time:
{.locks: [a, b].}:
...
Here is how a typical multilock statement can be implemented in Nim. Note how
the runtime check is required to ensure a global ordering for two locks ``a``
and ``b`` of the same lock level:
.. code-block:: nim
template multilock(a, b: ptr TLock; body: untyped) =
if cast[ByteAddress](a) < cast[ByteAddress](b):
pthread_mutex_lock(a)
pthread_mutex_lock(b)
else:
pthread_mutex_lock(b)
pthread_mutex_lock(a)
{.locks: [a, b].}:
try:
body
finally:
pthread_mutex_unlock(a)
pthread_mutex_unlock(b)
Whole routines can also be annotated with a ``locks`` pragma that takes a lock
level. This then means that the routine may acquire locks of up to this level.
This is essential so that procs can be called within a ``locks`` section:
.. code-block:: nim
proc p() {.locks: 3.} = discard
var a: TLock[4]
{.locks: [a].}:
# p's locklevel (3) is strictly less than a's (4) so the call is allowed:
p()
As usual ``locks`` is an inferred effect and there is a subtype
relation: ``proc () {.locks: N.}`` is a subtype of ``proc () {.locks: M.}``
iff (M <= N).
The ``locks`` pragma can also take the special value ``"unknown"``. This
is useful in the context of dynamic method dispatching. In the following
example, the compiler can infer a lock level of 0 for the ``base`` case.
However, one of the overloaded methods calls a procvar which is
potentially locking. Thus, the lock level of calling ``g.testMethod``
cannot be inferred statically, leading to compiler warnings. By using
``{.locks: "unknown".}``, the base method can be marked explicitly as
having unknown lock level as well:
.. code-block:: nim
type SomeBase* = ref object of RootObj
type SomeDerived* = ref object of SomeBase
memberProc*: proc ()
method testMethod(g: SomeBase) {.base, locks: "unknown".} = discard
method testMethod(g: SomeDerived) =
if g.memberProc != nil:
g.memberProc()
Taint mode
==========
The Nim compiler and most parts of the standard library support
a taint mode. Input strings are declared with the `TaintedString`:idx:
string type declared in the ``system`` module.
If the taint mode is turned on (via the ``--taintMode:on`` command line
option) it is a distinct string type which helps to detect input
validation errors:
.. code-block:: nim
echo "your name: "
var name: TaintedString = stdin.readline
# it is safe here to output the name without any input validation, so
# we simply convert `name` to string to make the compiler happy:
echo "hi, ", name.string
If the taint mode is turned off, ``TaintedString`` is simply an alias for
``string``.
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