Operators: General

Use the precedence operator '()' to guarantee the order of evaluation for an expression. An expression encapsulated by the precedence operator (enclosed in parentheses) overrides existing precedence relationships between operators and is evaluated prior to other expressions in inward-to-outward order.

Grammar

precedence: '(' expression ')';

Examples

• Precedence with numeric operators.

  int x = (5+4)*6;   1
  int y = 12/(x-50); 2
  

  1. declare int x; add int 5 and int 4 → int 9; multiply int 9 and int 6 → int 54; store int 54 to x; (note the add is evaluated before the multiply due to the precedence operator)
  2. declare int y; load from x → int 54; subtract int 50 from int 54 → int 4; divide int 12 by int 4 → int 3; store int 3 to y; (note the subtract is evaluated before the divide due to the precedence operator)

Use the function call operator () to call an existing function. A function call is defined within a script.

Grammar

function_call: ID '(' ( expression (',' expression)* )? ')'';

Examples

• A function call.

  int add(int x, int y) { 1
        return x + y;
    }
  
  int z = add(1, 2); 2
  

  1. define function add that returns int and has parameters (int x, int y)
  2. declare int z; call add with arguments (int 1, int 2) → int 3; store int 3 to z

An explicit cast converts the value of an original type to the equivalent value of a target type forcefully as an operation. Use the cast operator '()' to specify an explicit cast. Refer to casting for more information.

A conditional consists of three expressions. The first expression is evaluated with an expected boolean result type. If the first expression evaluates to true then the second expression will be evaluated. If the first expression evaluates to false then the third expression will be evaluated. The second and third expressions will be promoted if the evaluated values are not the same type. Use the conditional operator '? :' as a shortcut to avoid the need for a full if/else branch in certain expressions.

Errors

• If the first expression does not evaluate to a boolean type value.
• If the values for the second and third expressions cannot be promoted.

Grammar

conditional: expression '?' expression ':' expression;

Promotion

@ If the two reference type values are the same then this promotion will not occur.

Examples

• Evaluation of conditionals.

  boolean b = true;        1
  int x = b ? 1 : 2;       2
  List y = x > 1 ? new ArrayList() : null; 3
  def z = x < 2 ? x : 2.0; 4
  

  1. declare boolean b; store boolean true to b
  2. declare int x; load from b → boolean true evaluate 1st expression: int 1 → int 1; store int 1 to x
  3. declare List y; load from x → int 1; int 1 greater than int 1 → boolean false; evaluate 2nd expression: null → null; store null to y;
  4. declare def z; load from x → int 1; int 1 less than int 2 → boolean true; evaluate 1st expression: load from x → int 1; promote int 1 and double 2.0: result double; implicit cast int 1 to double 1.0 → double 1.0; implicit cast double 1.0 to def → def; store def to z;

Use the assignment operator '=' to store a value in a variable or reference type member field for use in subsequent operations. Any operation that produces a value can be assigned to any variable/field as long as the types are the same or the resultant type can be implicitly cast to the variable/field type.

See variable assignment for examples using variables.

Errors

• If the type of value is unable to match the type of variable or field.

Grammar

assignment: field '=' expression

Examples

The examples use the following reference type definition:

name:
  Example

non-static member fields:
  * int x
  * def y
  * List z

• Field assignments of different type values.

  Example example = new Example(); 1
  example.x = 1;                   2
  example.y = 2.0;                 3
  example.z = new ArrayList();     4
  

  1. declare Example example; allocate Example instance → Example reference; store Example reference to example
  2. load from example → Example reference; store int 1 to x of Example reference
  3. load from example → Example reference; implicit cast double 2.0 to def → def; store def to y of Example reference
  4. load from example → Example reference; allocate ArrayList instance → ArrayList reference; implicit cast ArrayList reference to List reference → List reference; store List reference to z of Example reference

• A field assignment from a field access.

  Example example = new Example(); 1
  example.x = 1;                   2
  example.y = example.x;           3
  

  1. declare Example example; allocate Example instance → Example reference; store Example reference to example
  2. load from example → Example reference; store int 1 to x of Example reference
  3. load from example → Example reference @0; load from example → Example reference @1; load from x of Example reference @1 → int 1; implicit cast int 1 to def → def; store def to y of Example reference @0; (note Example reference @0 and Example reference @1 are the same)

Use the compound assignment operator '$=' as a shortcut for an assignment where a binary operation would occur between the variable/field as the left-hand side expression and a separate right-hand side expression.

A compound assignment is equivalent to the expression below where V is the variable/field and T is the type of variable/member.

V = (T)(V op expression);

Operators

The table below shows the available operators for use in a compound assignment. Each operator follows the casting/promotion rules according to their regular definition. For numeric operations there is an extra implicit cast when necessary to return the promoted numeric type value to the original numeric type value of the variable/field and can result in data loss.

Errors

• If the type of value is unable to match the type of variable or field.

Grammar

compound_assignment: ( ID | field ) '$=' expression;

Note the use of the $= represents the use of any of the possible binary operators.

Examples

• Compound assignment for each numeric operator.

  int i = 10; 1
  i *= 2;     2
  i /= 5;     3
  i %= 3;     4
  i += 5;     5
  i -= 5;     6
  i <<= 2;    7
  i >>= 1;    8
  i >>>= 1;   9
  i &= 15;    10
  i ^= 12;    11
  i |= 2;     12
  

  1. declare int i; store int 10 to i
  2. load from i → int 10; multiply int 10 and int 2 → int 20; store int 20 to i; (note this is equivalent to i = i*2)
  3. load from i → int 20; divide int 20 by int 5 → int 4; store int 4 to i; (note this is equivalent to i = i/5)
  4. load from i → int 4; remainder int 4 by int 3 → int 1; store int 1 to i; (note this is equivalent to i = i%3)
  5. load from i → int 1; add int 1 and int 5 → int 6; store int 6 to i; (note this is equivalent to i = i+5)
  6. load from i → int 6; subtract int 5 from int 6 → int 1; store int 1 to i; (note this is equivalent to i = i-5)
  7. load from i → int 1; left shift int 1 by int 2 → int 4; store int 4 to i; (note this is equivalent to i = i<<2)
  8. load from i → int 4; right shift int 4 by int 1 → int 2; store int 2 to i; (note this is equivalent to i = i>>1)
  9. load from i → int 2; unsigned right shift int 2 by int 1 → int 1; store int 1 to i; (note this is equivalent to i = i>>>1)
  10. load from i → int 1; bitwise and int 1 and int 15 → int 1; store int 1 to i; (note this is equivalent to i = i&2)
  11. load from i → int 1; bitwise xor int 1 and int 12 → int 13; store int 13 to i; (note this is equivalent to i = i^2)
  12. load from i → int 13; bitwise or int 13 and int 2 → int 15; store int 15 to i; (note this is equivalent to i = i|2)

• Compound assignment for each boolean operator.

  boolean b = true; 1
  b &= false;       2
  b ^= false;       3
  b |= true;        4
  

  1. declare boolean b; store boolean true in b;
  2. load from b → boolean true; boolean and boolean true and boolean false → boolean false; store boolean false to b; (note this is equivalent to b = b && false)
  3. load from b → boolean false; boolean xor boolean false and boolean false → boolean false; store boolean false to b; (note this is equivalent to b = b ^ false)
  4. load from b → boolean true; boolean or boolean false and boolean true → boolean true; store boolean true to b; (note this is equivalent to b = b || true)

• A compound assignment with the string concatenation operator.

  String s = 'compound'; 1
  s += ' assignment';    2
  

  1. declare String s; store String 'compound' to s;
  2. load from s → String 'compound'; string concat String 'compound' and String ' assignment'' → String 'compound assignment'; store String 'compound assignment' to s; (note this is equivalent to s = s + ' assignment')

• A compound assignment with the def type.

  def x = 1; 1
  x += 2;    2
  

  1. declare def x; implicit cast int 1 to def; store def to x;
  2. load from x → def; implicit cast def to int 1 → int 1; add int 1 and int 2 → int 3; implicit cast int 3 to def → def; store def to x; (note this is equivalent to x = x+2)

• A compound assignment with an extra implicit cast.

  byte b = 1; 1
  b += 2;     2
  

  1. declare byte b; store byte 1 to x;
  2. load from x → byte 1; implicit cast byte 1 to int 1→int 1; add int 1andint 2→int 3; implicit cast int 3tobyte 3→byte 3; store byte 3tob; (note this is equivalent to b = b+2`)