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Language Reference

Introduction

Brio Lang is implemented in C++, and utilizes various principles and patterns inspired from languages such as Javascript and Python. This document describes the syntax and semantics of the language.

Note: This document is not complete!

Lexical Analysis

A Brio Lang program is read by the lexer, which iterates through the source input file as a stream of characters and generates a stream of tokens. Unicode is the default source encoding, and white space is ignored. If a source file cannot be found or has an unsupported encoding, an error will be raised.

For the example program:

method main(){
    let x = "Hello, world!"
    print(x)
}

The lexer will read the stream of characters: Stream of characters

And produce the following stream of tokens: Stream of tokens

Tokens

The tokens produced by the Brio Lang parser will be of the following types:

Token Description / Example
T_EOF special token for end of file
T_KEYWORD class, method, new, let, return, @, etc.
T_IDENTIFIER foo, bar123, my_identifier, CAPITAL_ID
T_OPERATOR = + - * / == > << >> > >= <= !=, +=, /=, *=, -=
T_DELIMITER ( ) { } [ ] ;
T_LITERAL_INT 42
T_LITERAL_DECIMAL 3.14
T_LITERAL_STRING "hello, world" or 'foo bar'
T_LITERAL_BOOL true or false
T_LITERAL_NONE none
T_SINGLE_LINE_COMMENT # this is a comment
T_MULTI_LINE_COMMENT ### multi line comment ###

Comments

Brio Lang supports single-line and multi-line comments and start with one or more hash # characters. Single-line comments conclude at the new line character, and multi-line comments conclude at the next ###. 

# single-line comment


###
multi-line comment
with two lines
###

Keywords

The following identifiers are reserved keywords in Brio Lang and cannot be used as a variable or class identifier. They are case-sensitive and must be spelled exactly as shown below:

Keywords
class protected if raise
let public elseif as
method private else while
new try skip for
return catch and import
or from each

Identifiers

Identifiers in Brio Lang can be defined with one or more of the following characters: any uppercase or lowercase letter A through Z, optionally followed by subsequent unsigned integers or underscores. Reserved keywords cannot be used as standard variable or class identifiers. Identifiers are case-sensitive, and can be unlimited in length.

myIdentifier  # valid
var123  # valid
CONST_DATA  # valid

my-identifier  # invalid
1_variable  # invalid

Operators

Brio Lang supports the following assignment, binary, bitwise, and boolean operators: =, +=, -=, *=, /=, &=, |=, +, -, *, \, **, %, <, <=, ==, >=, >, <<, >>, &, |, ^.

Operator Precedence

Highest precedence at the top, lowest at the bottom. Operators in the same box evaluate left to right.

Operator Binding Power Description
() 90 Parentheses (grouping)
. 80 Attribute reference
** 70 Exponentiation
*, /, % 60 Multiplication, division, remainder
+, - 50 Addition, subtraction
>>, << 40 Bitwise shifts
& 35 Bitwise AND
^ 34 Bitwise XOR
｜ 33 Bitwise OR
<, >, <=, >=, ==, != 30 Comparisons, identity
and 25 Boolean AND
or 24 Boolean OR
=, +=, -=, *=, /=, ｜=, &= 10 Assignment

Statements

Statements are constructed of a pattern of valid keywords, identifiers, and operators. Statements may be terminated with a trailing semi-colon ; depending on the programmers preference, however it is not required. Statements can be used to assign values, control execution flow, print or capture input, and much more.

let x = 1;  # valid with trailing semi-colon

let y = 2  # also valid without semi-colon

For further examples please refer to the tutorial.

Data Model

Every data type in Brio Lang derives from a common Object class. Objects have a type, an identity, and a value. The type will determine which operations are permissible, and also dictates acceptable values.

Built-in Methods

The following built-in methods are available in Brio:

Method Description
print Print the provided argument.
range Returns an array 0-n, where n is the supplied argument.
traceback Prints the traceback of an exception.
input Capture input from the user.
size Returns the size of an object.
open Returns a File object, accepts path to file and mode as arguments.
close Closes a File object.
exit Exits the program, accepts integer exit code as argument.
boolean Returns a boolean representation of provided argument.
string Returns a string representation of provided argument.
integer Returns an integer representation of provided argument.
decimal Returns a decimal representation of provided argument.
arg Returns the cmd line argument as the provided int position.
getEnv Returns an environment variable.
httpGet Perform an HTTP GET request.
httpPost Perform an HTTP POST request.

Abstract Syntax Tree

The Brio Lang parser takes a stream of tokens provided by the lexer, and generates a homogenous abstract syntax tree which is walked and executed by the interpreter. Each statement in Brio Lang is comprised of a pattern of one or more tokens. Each logical construct is represented in the AST as a node that contains one or more children.

For example, the input "Text" would be provided to the parser as a T_LITERAL_STRING token, which would be defined as a terminal (or leaf) node LiteralStringNode in the AST that has no children.

As another example the input let x = 1 would be read by the parser as T_KEYWORD, T_IDENTIFIER, T_OPERATOR, T_LITERAL_INT and would be represented in the AST as a nonterminal VarDeclarationNode, that has two immediate children, IdentifierNode and LiteralIntNode.

The full list of AST nodes is defined below. Given the homogeneous approach, all nodes inherit from a common base AST node and do not have varying class attributes. The root node of a Brio Lang AST is ProgramNode.

Nodes
ProgramNode VarDeclarationNode VarAssignmentNode AdditionAssignNode
SubtractionAssignNode MultiplicationAssignNode DivisionAssignNode BitOrAssignNode
BitAndAssignNode ClassDeclarationNode ClassInstantiationNode MethodDeclarationNode
MethodCallNode ModifierNode ParamsListNode ParenthesesNode
BinExpressionNode BoolExpressionNode BitExpressionNode BitOrExpressionNode
BitAndExpressionNode BitXorExpressionNode ModulusExpressionNode ExponentExpressionNode
AddExpressionNode SubtractExpressionNode MultiplyExpressionNode DivideExpressionNode
IfStatementNode IfConditionBlockNode ImportNode ImportedModuleNode
FromImportNode ForStatementNode WhileStatementNode SkipStatementNode
TryStatementNode CatchStatementNode RaiseStatementNode AsNode
MemberAccessNode IndexNode BlockNode SuperClassNode
LiteralStringNode LiteralIntNode LiteralDecimalNode LiteralBooleanNode
LiteralNoneNode ArrayNode DictionaryNode DictionaryKeyValueNode
ReturnNode IdentifierNode BoolOrNode BoolAndNode
BoolEqualsNode BoolNotEqualsNode BoolGreaterThanNode BoolGreaterThanOrEqualNode
BoolLessThanNode BoolLessThanOrEqualNode BitShiftLeftNode BitShiftRightNode
EachStatementNode

Interpreter

The Brio Lang interpreter implements a recursive descent pattern with backtracking to walk-through and execute the abstract syntax tree produced by the parser. Once the AST has been generated, the interpreter will do an initial walk and rewrite sub-trees to enforce operator precedence. With the modified tree, the interpeter will perform a second walk to populate the symbol table and build a scope tree, updating nodes in the AST with bidirectional pointers along the way.

With the revised AST and populated symbol table, the interpreter will begin to execute the AST starting with the root ProgramNode. First each child ImportNode will be executed, which will read and parse an import file, produce a secondary AST, and add it in to the main AST. As this takes place, the original ImportNode will become an ImportedModuleNode. If imports are found and added to the program AST, the def/ref phases will be re-run to ensure the symbol table is aware of any new references. Next, any child class declarations or variable declarations will be executed. Finally, the interpreter will find the main() method and begin to execute. If a main() method node is not found, the interpreter will raise an error.

Full Grammar Specification

<program> ::= (<statement>)+
<block> ::= "{" (<statement>)* "}"
<statement> ::= <method_decl> |
                <var_decl> |
                <class_decl> |
                <if_stmt> |
                <for_stmt> |
                <each_stmt> |
                <while_stmt> |
                <return_val> |
                <class_inst> |
                <import> |
                <import_from> |
                <expr>
<import> ::= "import" <id>
<import_from> ::= "from" <id> "import" <id>
<method_decl> ::= (<modifier>)* "method" <id> <params_list> <block> ";"
<method_call> ::= (<id> ".")* <id> <params_list> ";"
<class_decl> ::= (<modifier>) "class" <id> <block> ";"
<class_inst> ::= "new" <id> <params_list> ";"
<var_decl> ::= "let" <id> "=" <class_inst> ";" |
                              <expr> ";"
<var_assign> ::= (<id> ".")* <id> "=" <expr> ";"
<params_list> ::= "(" (<expr>)* ")"
<array_list> ::= "[" (<expr>)* "]"
<dictionary> ::= "{" <expr> ":" <expr> "}"
<return_val> ::= "return" [<expr>] ";"
<modififer> ::= "public" | "private" | "protected"
<if_stmt> ::= "if" "(" <test> ")" <block> 
              ("elseif" "(" <test> ")" <block>)* 
              ("else" <block> ) ";"
<for_stmt> ::= "for" "(" <var_decl> ";" <test> ";" 
                <statement> ")" <block> ";"
<each_stmt> ::= "each" "(" <var_decl> ":" <expr> ")" <block> ";"
<while_stmt> ::= "while" "(" <test> ")" <block> ";"
<expr> ::= <var_assign> | <as> | <test>
<as> ::= <id> "as" <id>
<test> ::= <boolop> | <bitop> | <binop>
<boolop> ::= <term> "<" <test> |
             <term> ">" <test> |
             <term> ">=" <test> |
             <term> "<=" <test> |
             <term> "==" <test> |
             <term> "!=" <test> |
             <term> "and" <test> |
             <term> "or" <test>
<binop> ::= <term> "+" <binop> | <term> "-" <binop> | 
            <term> "*" <binop> | <term> "/" <binop> |
            <term> "%" <binop> | <term> "**" <binop> |
            <bitop> | 
            <term>
<bitop> ::= <term> ">>" <term> |
            <term> "<<" <term> |
            <term> "^" <term> |
            <term> "&" <term> |
            <term> "|" <term>
<parentheses> :: = "(" (<test>)+ ")"
<term> ::= <method_call> | <id> | <int> | <decimal> | <string> |
           <parentheses> | <array_list> | <member_asc> | <index_ascr> |
           <bool> | <dictionary> | <none>
<modifier> ::= "public" | "private"           
<member_asc> ::= ["@"] (<id> .)* <id>
<index_acsr> ::= <id> ("[" <term> "]")+
<id> ::= "a" | "b" | "c" | "d" | ... | "z" | _ | 0 | ... | 9 |
<bool> ::= "true" | "false"
<int> ::= <an_unsigned_integer>
<none> ::= "none"
<decimal> ::= <an_unsigned_decimal_integer>
<string> ::= <set_of_unicode_characters>