Expressions & Patterns

Expressions

In Pinafore, the main program is a single expression. These are the different kind of expressions:

string literals: "abc\ndef". Use backslash for certain escapes.
numeric literals: 34.5, ~34.5. The first is a rational, the second is an inexact number (internally represented as a double).
names: x. These are bound by declarators (e.g let) and patterns in function bindings (fn and match).
functions: fn x => x + 2 * x, match Just x => x; None => 0; end. These are constructed by fn (which have one “case”, matching a pattern to an expression) or by match (with multiple cases)
if expressions: if t then "yes" else "no".
declarated expressions: let x = 3 in x + x, with N in x. The declarator modifies the expressions to pass declarations.
do-notation: do x <- f; return x + x; end. This notation makes it easier to work with monad-like types.
applicative notation: {.List %x + %y}. This notation makes it easier to work with applicative-like types.
function applications: sort mylist. This is applying an expression (the function) to an expression (the argument).
list constructors: [1,2,3].
tuple constructors: (1,"xyz",()). Note that there are no tuple types larger than pairs, so this is equivalent to (1,("xyz",())).

Patterns are for matching against values in function cases (fn and match) and in let-bindings.

An underscore matches everything.
A lower-case name matches everything, and binds to the matched value.
A capitalised name (followed by patterns) matches a data constructor.
The form P@Q matches when both patterns P and Q match.
The form P : T matches when P matches. Pinafore will reject this if pattern P cannot be subsumed to type T.
The form P :? T matches when the value can be dynamically cast to T, and P matches that.
The form P as N matches when P matches. Names matched in P will be put in namespace N.