An expression is the smallest unit of code that has a result when evaluated. In Verse everything is an expression, which means everything evaluates to a value.
An example is an if ... else expression, which in Verse evaluates to a value that depends on the content of
the expression blocks. The following code evaluates to a string value, containing either “Big!” or “Small!” depending on whether MyNumber was greater than 5:
if (MyNumber > 5):
“Big!”
else
“Small!”This means you can use an if ... else directly as input to functions instead of storing a result and using that result as input.
While this example is simple, there are contexts where this becomes more powerful. For example, loops evaluate to arrays of values, so you can quickly create new arrays based on existing ones.
In the following code, MyArray will contain all the values from NumberArray that are less than 5.
MyArray : []int = for(Number := NumberArray, Number < 5):
NumberFailable Expressions
A failable expression is an expression that may succeed and produce a value, or fail and return no value. Failable expressions can only be executed in a failure context because that context will define what happens in the event that the expression fails.
Examples of failable expressions include indexing into an array because an invalid index will fail, and using operators such as comparing two values. For more on failable expressions in Verse, see Failure.
List of Expressions in Verse
The following table describes the different kinds of expressions in Verse. Follow the links to learn more about each expression.
| Expression | Description | Is the Expression Failable? |
|---|---|---|
Literals | A literal is a fixed value in your code, such as a number or a character. In Verse, there are literals for the following types:
| |
Function Calls | A function call is an expression, and can have two forms: | Only when the function call has the form |
Comparison | A comparison expression compares two things using one of the comparison operators:
Refer to Operators for more details. | Yes |
Assignment | An assignment expression stores a value at a mutable location, such as when initializing a constant or changing the value of a variable. Refer to Variables and Constants for more details. | |
Math | A math expression performs computations using the operators:
All of these operators also have assignment variants that can be used with pointers. Refer to Operators for more details. | Only for integer division. |
Decision | A decision expression uses the operators | Yes |
Query | A query expression uses the operator | Yes |
Class and Struct Instantiation | Creating an instance of a | |
Control Flow | Control flow is the order in which a computer executes instructions. You can use expressions such as
Refer to Control Flow for more details. | |
Array | An array is a container where you can store elements of the same type. The elements of an array are in the order you insert them into the array, and you can access the elements by their position in the array, called their index. For more info, see Array. | Only when indexing into an array. |
Tuple | A tuple is a container where you can store elements of one or more types. The elements of a tuple are in the order you insert them into the tuple and you can access the elements by their position in the tuple, called their index.. For more info, see Tuple . | |
Map | A map is a container where you can store values associated with another value, called key-value pairs. Key-value pairs can be any combination of types as long as the key type is comparable. The elements of a map are in the order you insert the key-value pairs into the map, and you can access the elements by their unique keys. For more info, see Map. | |
Option | An option is a container that can have one or no value of a type. For more info, see Option. | |
Range | Range expressions contain all the numbers between and including the two specified values with |