Symbols: binding and grouping

specifies

infix: the right side is the implementation for the thing on the left and is ended by an 'end' keyword.

implies

infix: the right side ...

then

infix: end of something followed (in time and order) by something else. Nota Bene: if the left side fails the right side will not be executed/evaluated

separator

infix: end of something followed (in order, but not neccessary in time) by something else. As soon as anything fails, the whole thing fails

or

infix: left or right can be valid. In case of a relation all possible combinations are checked until one matches, in all others the left side is evaluted first, and only if this fails the right side is evalueted

its

infix: specific sub element

with-its

infix, 'combines' the two variables: it is used as a '.' with the right side having to be a function call, then the left side is inserted as first parameter. Generally used for method calling.

all

postfix: all sub element

aspect

prefix/infix, compile time information of a type (and of variables of that type)

range

infix: a range of values

etcetera

postfix: this value (group) is repeated while needed

force

• prefix: forces an action which would otherwise not be allowed
• prefix/semi-infix: indicates that this variable is going to get altered; the 'semi-infix' means that you can just say 'foo!bar' instead of 'foo.!bar'.

boolean

postfix: in case of a function call replaces a 'fail' action with an extra 'given' boolean; in case of a variable ...

list

is a collection of either enum-values, or variables with their memory placement

index

is used to select a variable sub element of a collection

closure

is used for unnamed functions

A symbol is an 'identifier' consisting of:

Relation Symbols

less-than          ::= <
less-equal-than    ::= <=  | \u02264
greater-than       ::= >
greater-equal-than ::= >=  | \u02265
equal-to           ::= =
identical-to       ::= ==  | \u02261

not-less-than      ::= /<  | \u0226E
not-lessequal-than ::= /<= | \u02270
not-greater-than   ::= />  | \u0226F
not-greatequ-than  ::= />= | \u02271
not-equal-to       ::= /=  | \u02260
not-identical-to   ::= /== | \u02262

true-relations     ::= less-than | less-equal-than | greater-than
                    |  greater-equal-than | equal-to | identical-to
false-relations    ::= not-less-than | not-lessequal-than | not-greater-than
                    |  not-greatequ-than | not-equal-to | not-identical-to
symbol-relation    ::= true-relations | false-relations

Nota Bene: the not-xxx relations are not identical to their logical equivalent (for example not-less and greater-equal). The difference is in their handling of invalid values (qv IEEE NaN).

Binairy Symbols

binary-and         ::= /\
binary-or          ::= \/
binary-xor         ::= %
binary-not         ::= ~
binary-shift-left  ::= <<
binary-shift-right ::= >>

Value Symbols

increase-value     ::= ++
decrease-value     ::= --

Arithmatic Symbols

add                ::= +
subtract           ::= -
raise-to-power     ::= **
multiply           ::= *
divide             ::= /

Other Symbols

Ocean itself only defines relation and order symbols: all others are defined in the standard library.