154 KiB
V Documentation
Introduction
V is a statically typed compiled programming language designed for building maintainable software.
It's similar to Go and its design has also been influenced by Oberon, Rust, Swift, Kotlin, and Python.
V is a very simple language. Going through this documentation will take you about an hour, and by the end of it you will have pretty much learned the entire language.
The language promotes writing simple and clear code with minimal abstraction.
Despite being simple, V gives the developer a lot of power. Anything you can do in other languages, you can do in V.
Install from source
The major way to get the latest and greatest V, is to install it from source. It is easy, and it usually takes only a few seconds.
Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, etc:
You need git
, and a C compiler like tcc
, gcc
or clang
, and make
:
git clone https://github.com/vlang/v
cd v
make
See here for how to install the development tools.
Windows:
You need git
, and a C compiler like tcc
, gcc
, clang
or msvc
:
git clone https://github.com/vlang/v
cd v
make.bat -tcc
NB: You can also pass one of -gcc
, -msvc
, -clang
to make.bat
instead,
if you do prefer to use a different C compiler, but -tcc is small, fast, and
easy to install (V will download a prebuilt binary automatically).
For C compiler downloads and more info, see here.
It is recommended to add this folder to the PATH of your environment variables.
This can be done with the command v.exe symlink
.
NB: Some antivirus programs (like Symantec) are paranoid about executables with
1 letter names (like v.exe
). One possible workaround in that situation is
copying v.exe
to vlang.exe
(so that the copy is newer), or whitelisting the
V folder in your antivirus program.
Android
Running V graphical apps on Android is also possible via vab.
V Android dependencies: V, Java JDK >= 8, Android SDK + NDK.
- Install dependencies (see vab)
- Connect your Android device
- Run:
git clone https://github.com/vlang/vab && cd vab && v vab.v
./vab --device auto run /path/to/v/examples/sokol/particles
For more details and troubleshooting, please visit the vab GitHub repository.
Table of Contents
Hello World
fn main() {
println('hello world')
}
Save this snippet into a file named hello.v
. Now do: v run hello.v
.
That is assuming you have symlinked your V with
v symlink
, as described here. If you haven't yet, you have to type the path to V manually.
Congratulations - you just wrote and executed your first V program!
You can compile a program without execution with v hello.v
.
See v help
for all supported commands.
From the example above, you can see that functions are declared with the fn
keyword.
The return type is specified after the function name.
In this case main
doesn't return anything, so there is no return type.
As in many other languages (such as C, Go, and Rust), main
is the entry point of your program.
println
is one of the few built-in functions.
It prints the value passed to it to standard output.
fn main()
declaration can be skipped in one file programs.
This is useful when writing small programs, "scripts", or just learning the language.
For brevity, fn main()
will be skipped in this tutorial.
This means that a "hello world" program in V is as simple as
println('hello world')
Running a project folder with several files
Suppose you have a folder with several .v files in it, where one of them
contains your main()
function, and the other files have other helper
functions. They may be organized by topic, but still not yet structured
enough to be their own separate reusable modules, and you want to compile
them all into one program.
In other languages, you would have to use includes or a build system to enumerate all files, compile them separately to object files, then link them into one final executable.
In V however, you can compile and run the whole folder of .v files together,
using just v run .
. Passing parameters also works, so you can
do: v run . --yourparam some_other_stuff
The above will first compile your files into a single program (named
after your folder/project), and then it will execute the program with
--yourparam some_other_stuff
passed to it as CLI parameters.
Your program can then use the CLI parameters like this:
import os
println(os.args)
NB: after a successful run, V will delete the generated executable.
If you want to keep it, use v -keepc run .
instead, or just compile
manually with v .
.
NB: any V compiler flags should be passed before the run
command.
Everything after the source file/folder, will be passed to the program
as is - it will not be processed by V.
Comments
// This is a single line comment.
/*
This is a multiline comment.
/* It can be nested. */
*/
Functions
fn main() {
println(add(77, 33))
println(sub(100, 50))
}
fn add(x int, y int) int {
return x + y
}
fn sub(x int, y int) int {
return x - y
}
Again, the type comes after the argument's name.
Just like in Go and C, functions cannot be overloaded. This simplifies the code and improves maintainability and readability.
Hoistings
Functions can be used before their declaration:
add
and sub
are declared after main
, but can still be called from main
.
This is true for all declarations in V and eliminates the need for header files
or thinking about the order of files and declarations.
Returning multiple values
fn foo() (int, int) {
return 2, 3
}
a, b := foo()
println(a) // 2
println(b) // 3
c, _ := foo() // ignore values using `_`
Symbol visibility
pub fn public_function() {
}
fn private_function() {
}
Functions are private (not exported) by default.
To allow other modules to use them, prepend pub
. The same applies
to constants and types.
Note: pub
can only be used from a named module.
For information about creating a module, see Modules.
Variables
name := 'Bob'
age := 20
large_number := i64(9999999999)
println(name)
println(age)
println(large_number)
Variables are declared and initialized with :=
. This is the only
way to declare variables in V. This means that variables always have an initial
value.
The variable's type is inferred from the value on the right hand side.
To choose a different type, use type conversion:
the expression T(v)
converts the value v
to the
type T
.
Unlike most other languages, V only allows defining variables in functions. Global (module level) variables are not allowed. There's no global state in V (see Pure functions by default for details).
For consistency across different code bases, all variable and function names
must use the snake_case
style, as opposed to type names, which must use PascalCase
.
Mutable variables
mut age := 20
println(age)
age = 21
println(age)
To change the value of the variable use =
. In V, variables are
immutable by default.
To be able to change the value of the variable, you have to declare it with mut
.
Try compiling the program above after removing mut
from the first line.
Initialization vs assignment
Note the (important) difference between :=
and =
.
:=
is used for declaring and initializing, =
is used for assigning.
fn main() {
age = 21
}
This code will not compile, because the variable age
is not declared.
All variables need to be declared in V.
fn main() {
age := 21
}
The values of multiple variables can be changed in one line. In this way, their values can be swapped without an intermediary variable.
mut a := 0
mut b := 1
println('$a, $b') // 0, 1
a, b = b, a
println('$a, $b') // 1, 0
Declaration errors
In development mode the compiler will warn you that you haven't used the variable
(you'll get an "unused variable" warning).
In production mode (enabled by passing the -prod
flag to v – v -prod foo.v
)
it will not compile at all (like in Go).
fn main() {
a := 10
if true {
a := 20 // error: redefinition of `a`
}
// warning: unused variable `a`
}
Unlike most languages, variable shadowing is not allowed. Declaring a variable with a name that is already used in a parent scope will cause a compilation error.
You can shadow imported modules though, as it is very useful in some situations:
import ui
import gg
fn draw(ctx &gg.Context) {
gg := ctx.parent.get_ui().gg
gg.draw_rect(10, 10, 100, 50)
}
V Types
Primitive types
bool
string
i8 i16 int i64 i128 (soon)
byte u16 u32 u64 u128 (soon)
rune // represents a Unicode code point
f32 f64
isize, usize // platform-dependent, the size is how many bytes it takes to reference any location in memory
voidptr // this one is mostly used for C interoperability
any // similar to C's void* and Go's interface{}
Please note that unlike C and Go, int
is always a 32 bit integer.
There is an exception to the rule that all operators in V must have values of the same type on both sides. A small primitive type on one side can be automatically promoted if it fits completely into the data range of the type on the other side. These are the allowed possibilities:
i8 → i16 → int → i64
↘ ↘
f32 → f64
↗ ↗
byte → u16 → u32 → u64 ⬎
↘ ↘ ↘ ptr
i8 → i16 → int → i64 ⬏
An int
value for example can be automatically promoted to f64
or i64
but not to u32
. (u32
would mean loss of the sign for
negative values).
Promotion from int
to f32
, however, is currently done automatically
(but can lead to precision loss for large values).
Literals like 123
or 4.56
are treated in a special way. They do
not lead to type promotions, however they default to int
and f64
respectively, when their type has to be decided:
u := u16(12)
v := 13 + u // v is of type `u16` - no promotion
x := f32(45.6)
y := x + 3.14 // x is of type `f32` - no promotion
a := 75 // a is of type `int` - default for int literal
b := 14.7 // b is of type `f64` - default for float literal
c := u + a // c is of type `int` - automatic promotion of `u`'s value
d := b + x // d is of type `f64` - automatic promotion of `x`'s value
Strings
name := 'Bob'
assert name.len == 3 // will print 3
assert name[0] == byte(66) // indexing gives a byte, byte(66) == `B`
assert name[1..3] == 'ob' // slicing gives a string 'ob'
// escape codes
windows_newline := '\r\n' // escape special characters like in C
assert windows_newline.len == 2
// arbitrary bytes can be directly specified using `\x##` notation where `#` is
// a hex digit aardvark_str := '\x61ardvark' assert aardvark_str == 'aardvark'
assert '\xc0'[0] == byte(0xc0)
// or using octal escape `\###` notation where `#` is an octal digit
aardvark_str2 := '\141ardvark'
assert aardvark_str2 == 'aardvark'
// Unicode can be specified directly as `\u####` where # is a hex digit
// and will be converted internally to its UTF-8 representation
star_str := '\u2605' // ★
assert star_str == '★'
assert star_str == '\xe2\x98\x85' // UTF-8 can be specified this way too.
In V, a string is a read-only array of bytes. All Unicode characters are encoded using UTF-8:
s := 'hello 🌎' // emoji takes 4 bytes
assert s.len == 10
arr := s.bytes() // convert `string` to `[]byte`
assert arr.len == 10
s2 := arr.bytestr() // convert `[]byte` to `string`
assert s2 == s
String values are immutable. You cannot mutate elements:
mut s := 'hello 🌎'
s[0] = `H` // not allowed
error: cannot assign to
s[i]
since V strings are immutable
Note that indexing a string will produce a byte
, not a rune
nor another string
. Indexes
correspond to bytes in the string, not Unicode code points. If you want to convert the byte
to a
string
, use the .ascii_str()
method on the byte
:
country := 'Netherlands'
println(country[0]) // Output: 78
println(country[0].ascii_str()) // Output: N
Both single and double quotes can be used to denote strings. For consistency, vfmt
converts double
quotes to single quotes unless the string contains a single quote character.
For raw strings, prepend r
. Escape handling is not done for raw strings:
s := r'hello\nworld' // the `\n` will be preserved as two characters
println(s) // "hello\nworld"
Strings can be easily converted to integers:
s := '42'
n := s.int() // 42
// all int literals are supported
assert '0xc3'.int() == 195
assert '0o10'.int() == 8
assert '0b1111_0000_1010'.int() == 3850
assert '-0b1111_0000_1010'.int() == -3850
For more advanced string
processing and conversions, refer to the
vlib/strconv module.
String interpolation
Basic interpolation syntax is pretty simple - use $
before a variable name. The variable will be
converted to a string and embedded into the literal:
name := 'Bob'
println('Hello, $name!') // Hello, Bob!
It also works with fields: 'age = $user.age'
. If you need more complex expressions, use ${}
:
'can register = ${user.age > 13}'
.
Format specifiers similar to those in C's printf()
are also supported. f
, g
, x
, o
, b
,
etc. are optional and specify the output format. The compiler takes care of the storage size, so
there is no hd
or llu
.
To use a format specifier, follow this pattern:
${varname:[flags][width][.precision][type]}
- flags: may be zero or more of the following:
-
to left-align output within the field,0
to use0
as the padding character instead of the defaultspace
character. (Note: V does not currently support the use of'
or#
as format flags, and V supports but doesn't need+
to right-align since that's the default.) - width: may be an integer value describing the minimum width of total field to output.
- precision: an integer value preceded by a
.
will guarantee that many digits after the decimal point, if the input variable is a float. Ignored if variable is an integer. - type:
f
andF
specify the input is a float and should be rendered as such,e
andE
specify the input is a float and should be rendered as an exponent (partially broken),g
andG
specify the input is a float--the renderer will use floating point notation for small values and exponent notation for large values,d
specifies the input is an integer and should be rendered in base-10 digits,x
andX
require an integer and will render it as hexadecimal digits,o
requires an integer and will render it as octal digits,b
requires an integer and will render it as binary digits,s
requires a string (almost never used).
Note: when a numeric type can render alphabetic characters, such as hex strings or special values
like infinity
, the lowercase version of the type forces lowercase alphabetics and the uppercase
version forces uppercase alphabetics.
Also note: in most cases, it's best to leave the format type empty. Floats will be rendered by
default as g
, integers will be rendered by default as d
, and s
is almost always redundant.
There are only three cases where specifying a type is recommended:
- format strings are parsed at compile time, so specifing a type can help detect errors then
- format strings default to using lowercase letters for hex digits and the
e
in exponents. Use a uppercase type to force the use of uppercase hex digits and an uppercaseE
in exponents. - format strings are the most convenient way to get hex, binary or octal strings from an integer.
See Format Placeholder Specification for more information.
x := 123.4567
println('[${x:.2}]') // round to two decimal places => [123.46]
println('[${x:10}]') // right-align with spaces on the left => [ 123.457]
println('[${int(x):-10}]') // left-align with spaces on the right => [123 ]
println('[${int(x):010}]') // pad with zeros on the left => [0000000123]
println('[${int(x):b}]') // output as binary => [1111011]
println('[${int(x):o}]') // output as octal => [173]
println('[${int(x):X}]') // output as uppercase hex => [7B]
println('[${10.0000:.2}]') // remove insignificant 0s at the end => [10]
println('[${10.0000:.2f}]') // do show the 0s at the end, even though they do not change the number => [10.00]
String operators
name := 'Bob'
bobby := name + 'by' // + is used to concatenate strings
println(bobby) // "Bobby"
mut s := 'hello '
s += 'world' // `+=` is used to append to a string
println(s) // "hello world"
All operators in V must have values of the same type on both sides. You cannot concatenate an integer to a string:
age := 10
println('age = ' + age) // not allowed
error: infix expr: cannot use
int
(right expression) asstring
We have to either convert age
to a string
:
age := 11
println('age = ' + age.str())
or use string interpolation (preferred):
age := 12
println('age = $age')
Runes
A rune
represents a single Unicode character and is an alias for u32
. To denote them, use `
(backticks) :
rocket := `🚀`
A rune
can be converted to a UTF-8 string by using the .str()
method.
rocket := `🚀`
assert rocket.str() == '🚀'
A rune
can be converted to UTF-8 bytes by using the .bytes()
method.
rocket := `🚀`
assert rocket.bytes() == [byte(0xf0), 0x9f, 0x9a, 0x80]
Hex, Unicode, and Octal escape sequences also work in a rune
literal:
assert `\x61` == `a`
assert `\141` == `a`
assert `\u0061` == `a`
// multibyte literals work too
assert `\u2605` == `★`
assert `\u2605`.bytes() == [byte(0xe2), 0x98, 0x85]
assert `\xe2\x98\x85`.bytes() == [byte(0xe2), 0x98, 0x85]
assert `\342\230\205`.bytes() == [byte(0xe2), 0x98, 0x85]
Note that rune
literals use the same escape syntax as strings, but they can only hold one unicode
character. Therefore, if your code does not specify a single Unicode character, you will receive an
error at compile time.
Also remember that strings are indexed as bytes, not runes, so beware:
rocket_string := '🚀'
assert rocket_string[0] != `🚀`
assert 'aloha!'[0] == `a`
A string can be converted to runes by the .runes()
method.
hello := 'Hello World 👋'
hello_runes := hello.runes() // [`H`, `e`, `l`, `l`, `o`, ` `, `W`, `o`, `r`, `l`, `d`, ` `, `👋`]
assert hello_runes.string() == hello
Numbers
a := 123
This will assign the value of 123 to a
. By default a
will have the
type int
.
You can also use hexadecimal, binary or octal notation for integer literals:
a := 0x7B
b := 0b01111011
c := 0o173
All of these will be assigned the same value, 123. They will all have type
int
, no matter what notation you used.
V also supports writing numbers with _
as separator:
num := 1_000_000 // same as 1000000
three := 0b0_11 // same as 0b11
float_num := 3_122.55 // same as 3122.55
hexa := 0xF_F // same as 255
oct := 0o17_3 // same as 0o173
If you want a different type of integer, you can use casting:
a := i64(123)
b := byte(42)
c := i16(12345)
Assigning floating point numbers works the same way:
f := 1.0
f1 := f64(3.14)
f2 := f32(3.14)
If you do not specify the type explicitly, by default float literals
will have the type of f64
.
Float literals can also be declared as a power of ten:
f0 := 42e1 // 420
f1 := 123e-2 // 1.23
f2 := 456e+2 // 45600
Arrays
An array is a collection of data elements of the same type. An array literal is a
list of expressions surrounded by square brackets. An individual element can be
accessed using an index expression. Indexes start from 0
:
mut nums := [1, 2, 3]
println(nums) // `[1, 2, 3]`
println(nums[0]) // `1`
println(nums[1]) // `2`
nums[1] = 5
println(nums) // `[1, 5, 3]`
An element can be appended to the end of an array using the push operator <<
.
It can also append an entire array.
mut nums := [1, 2, 3]
nums << 4
println(nums) // "[1, 2, 3, 4]"
// append array
nums << [5, 6, 7]
println(nums) // "[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]"
mut names := ['John']
names << 'Peter'
names << 'Sam'
// names << 10 <-- This will not compile. `names` is an array of strings.
val in array
returns true if the array contains val
. See in
operator.
names := ['John', 'Peter', 'Sam']
println('Alex' in names) // "false"
Array Fields
There are two fields that control the "size" of an array:
len
: length - the number of pre-allocated and initialized elements in the arraycap
: capacity - the amount of memory space which has been reserved for elements, but not initialized or counted as elements. The array can grow up to this size without being reallocated. Usually, V takes care of this field automatically but there are cases where the user may want to do manual optimizations (see below).
mut nums := [1, 2, 3]
println(nums.len) // "3"
println(nums.cap) // "3" or greater
nums = [] // The array is now empty
println(nums.len) // "0"
data
is a field (of type voidptr
) with the address of the first
element. This is for low-level unsafe
code.
Note that the fields are read-only and can't be modified by the user.
Array Initialization
The type of an array is determined by the first element:
[1, 2, 3]
is an array of ints ([]int
).['a', 'b']
is an array of strings ([]string
).
The user can explicitly specify the type for the first element: [byte(16), 32, 64, 128]
.
V arrays are homogeneous (all elements must have the same type).
This means that code like [1, 'a']
will not compile.
The above syntax is fine for a small number of known elements but for very large or empty arrays there is a second initialization syntax:
mut a := []int{len: 10000, cap: 30000, init: 3}
This creates an array of 10000 int
elements that are all initialized with 3
. Memory
space is reserved for 30000 elements. The parameters len
, cap
and init
are optional;
len
defaults to 0
and init
to the default initialization of the element type (0
for numerical type, ''
for string
, etc). The run time system makes sure that the
capacity is not smaller than len
(even if a smaller value is specified explicitly):
arr := []int{len: 5, init: -1}
// `arr == [-1, -1, -1, -1, -1]`, arr.cap == 5
// Declare an empty array:
users := []int{}
Setting the capacity improves performance of pushing elements to the array as reallocations can be avoided:
mut numbers := []int{cap: 1000}
println(numbers.len) // 0
// Now appending elements won't reallocate
for i in 0 .. 1000 {
numbers << i
}
Note: The above code uses a range for
statement.
You can initialize the array by accessing the it
variable which gives
the index as shown here:
count := []int{len: 4, init: it}
assert count == [0, 1, 2, 3]
mut square := []int{len: 6, init: it * it}
// square == [0, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25]
Array Types
An array can be of these types:
Types | Example Definition |
---|---|
Number | []int,[]i64 |
String | []string |
Rune | []rune |
Boolean | []bool |
Array | [][]int |
Struct | []MyStructName |
Channel | []chan f64 |
Function | []MyFunctionType []fn (int) bool |
Interface | []MyInterfaceName |
Sum Type | []MySumTypeName |
Generic Type | []T |
Map | []map[string]f64 |
Enum | []MyEnumType |
Alias | []MyAliasTypeName |
Thread | []thread int |
Reference | []&f64 |
Shared | []shared MyStructType |
Example Code:
This example uses Structs and Sum Types to create an array which can handle different types (e.g. Points, Lines) of data elements.
struct Point {
x int
y int
}
struct Line {
p1 Point
p2 Point
}
type ObjectSumType = Line | Point
mut object_list := []ObjectSumType{}
object_list << Point{1, 1}
object_list << Line{
p1: Point{3, 3}
p2: Point{4, 4}
}
dump(object_list)
/*
object_list: [ObjectSumType(Point{
x: 1
y: 1
}), ObjectSumType(Line{
p1: Point{
x: 3
y: 3
}
p2: Point{
x: 4
y: 4
}
})]
*/
Multidimensional Arrays
Arrays can have more than one dimension.
2d array example:
mut a := [][]int{len: 2, init: []int{len: 3}}
a[0][1] = 2
println(a) // [[0, 2, 0], [0, 0, 0]]
3d array example:
mut a := [][][]int{len: 2, init: [][]int{len: 3, init: []int{len: 2}}}
a[0][1][1] = 2
println(a) // [[[0, 0], [0, 2], [0, 0]], [[0, 0], [0, 0], [0, 0]]]
Array methods
All arrays can be easily printed with println(arr)
and converted to a string
with s := arr.str()
.
Copying the data from the array is done with .clone()
:
nums := [1, 2, 3]
nums_copy := nums.clone()
Arrays can be efficiently filtered and mapped with the .filter()
and
.map()
methods:
nums := [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
even := nums.filter(it % 2 == 0)
println(even) // [2, 4, 6]
// filter can accept anonymous functions
even_fn := nums.filter(fn (x int) bool {
return x % 2 == 0
})
println(even_fn)
words := ['hello', 'world']
upper := words.map(it.to_upper())
println(upper) // ['HELLO', 'WORLD']
// map can also accept anonymous functions
upper_fn := words.map(fn (w string) string {
return w.to_upper()
})
println(upper_fn) // ['HELLO', 'WORLD']
it
is a builtin variable which refers to the element currently being
processed in filter/map methods.
Additionally, .any()
and .all()
can be used to conveniently test
for elements that satisfy a condition.
nums := [1, 2, 3]
println(nums.any(it == 2)) // true
println(nums.all(it >= 2)) // false
There are further built-in methods for arrays:
a.repeat(n)
concatenates the array elementsn
timesa.insert(i, val)
inserts a new elementval
at indexi
and shifts all following elements to the righta.insert(i, [3, 4, 5])
inserts several elementsa.prepend(val)
inserts a value at the beginning, equivalent toa.insert(0, val)
a.prepend(arr)
inserts elements of arrayarr
at the beginninga.trim(new_len)
truncates the length (ifnew_length < a.len
, otherwise does nothing)a.clear()
empties the array without changingcap
(equivalent toa.trim(0)
)a.delete_many(start, size)
removessize
consecutive elements from indexstart
– triggers reallocationa.delete(index)
equivalent toa.delete_many(index, 1)
a.delete_last()
removes the last elementa.first()
equivalent toa[0]
a.last()
equivalent toa[a.len - 1]
a.pop()
removes the last element and returns ita.reverse()
makes a new array with the elements ofa
in reverse ordera.reverse_in_place()
reverses the order of elements ina
a.join(joiner)
concatenates an array of strings into one string usingjoiner
string as a separator
See also vlib/arrays.
Sorting Arrays
Sorting arrays of all kinds is very simple and intuitive. Special variables a
and b
are used when providing a custom sorting condition.
mut numbers := [1, 3, 2]
numbers.sort() // 1, 2, 3
numbers.sort(a > b) // 3, 2, 1
struct User {
age int
name string
}
mut users := [User{21, 'Bob'}, User{20, 'Zarkon'}, User{25, 'Alice'}]
users.sort(a.age < b.age) // sort by User.age int field
users.sort(a.name > b.name) // reverse sort by User.name string field
V also supports custom sorting, through the sort_with_compare
array method.
Which expects a comparing function which will define the sort order.
Useful for sorting on multiple fields at the same time by custom sorting rules.
The code below sorts the array ascending on name
and descending age
.
struct User {
age int
name string
}
mut users := [User{21, 'Bob'}, User{65, 'Bob'}, User{25, 'Alice'}]
custom_sort_fn := fn (a &User, b &User) int {
// return -1 when a comes before b
// return 0, when both are in same order
// return 1 when b comes before a
if a.name == b.name {
if a.age < b.age {
return 1
}
if a.age > b.age {
return -1
}
return 0
}
if a.name < b.name {
return -1
} else if a.name > b.name {
return 1
}
return 0
}
users.sort_with_compare(custom_sort_fn)
Array Slices
A slice is a part of a parent array. Initially it refers to the elements
between two indices separated by a ..
operator. The right-side index must
be greater than or equal to the left side index.
If a right-side index is absent, it is assumed to be the array length. If a left-side index is absent, it is assumed to be 0.
nums := [0, 10, 20, 30, 40]
println(nums[1..4]) // [10, 20, 30]
println(nums[..4]) // [0, 10, 20, 30]
println(nums[1..]) // [10, 20, 30, 40]
In V slices are arrays themselves (they are not distinct types). As a result all array operations may be performed on them. E.g. they can be pushed onto an array of the same type:
array_1 := [3, 5, 4, 7, 6]
mut array_2 := [0, 1]
array_2 << array_1[..3]
println(array_2) // `[0, 1, 3, 5, 4]`
A slice is always created with the smallest possible capacity cap == len
(see
cap
above) no matter what the capacity or length
of the parent array is. As a result it is immediately reallocated and copied to another
memory location when the size increases thus becoming independent from the
parent array (copy on grow). In particular pushing elements to a slice
does not alter the parent:
mut a := [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
mut b := a[2..4]
b[0] = 7 // `b[0]` is referring to `a[2]`
println(a) // `[0, 1, 7, 3, 4, 5]`
b << 9
// `b` has been reallocated and is now independent from `a`
println(a) // `[0, 1, 7, 3, 4, 5]` - no change
println(b) // `[7, 3, 9]`
Appending to the parent array may or may not make it independent from its child slices. The behaviour depends on the parent's capacity and is predictable:
mut a := []int{len: 5, cap: 6, init: 2}
mut b := a[1..4]
a << 3
// no reallocation - fits in `cap`
b[2] = 13 // `a[3]` is modified
a << 4
// a has been reallocated and is now independent from `b` (`cap` was exceeded)
b[1] = 3 // no change in `a`
println(a) // `[2, 2, 2, 13, 2, 3, 4]`
println(b) // `[2, 3, 13]`
You can call .clone() on the slice, if you do want to have an independent copy right away:
mut a := [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
mut b := a[2..4].clone()
b[0] = 7 // NB: `b[0]` is NOT referring to `a[2]`, as it would have been, without the .clone()
println(a) // [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
println(b) // [7, 3]
Slices with negative indexes
V supports array and string slices with negative indexes.
Negative indexing starts from the end of the array towards the start,
for example -3
is equal to array.len - 3
.
Negative slices have a different syntax from normal slices, i.e. you need
to add a gate
between the array name and the square bracket: a#[..-3]
.
The gate
specifies that this is a different type of slice and remember that
the result is "locked" inside the array.
The returned slice is always a valid array, though it may be empty:
a := [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
println(a#[-3..]) // [7, 8, 9]
println(a#[-20..]) // [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
println(a#[-20..-8]) // [0, 1]
println(a#[..-3]) // [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
// empty arrays
println(a#[-20..-10]) // []
println(a#[20..10]) // []
println(a#[20..30]) // []
Array method chaining
You can chain the calls of array methods like .filter()
and .map()
and use
the it
built-in variable to achieve a classic map/filter
functional paradigm:
// using filter, map and negatives array slices
files := ['pippo.jpg', '01.bmp', '_v.txt', 'img_02.jpg', 'img_01.JPG']
filtered := files.filter(it#[-4..].to_lower() == '.jpg').map(it.to_upper())
// ['PIPPO.JPG', 'IMG_02.JPG', 'IMG_01.JPG']
Fixed size arrays
V also supports arrays with fixed size. Unlike ordinary arrays, their length is constant. You cannot append elements to them, nor shrink them. You can only modify their elements in place.
However, access to the elements of fixed size arrays is more efficient, they need less memory than ordinary arrays, and unlike ordinary arrays, their data is on the stack, so you may want to use them as buffers if you do not want additional heap allocations.
Most methods are defined to work on ordinary arrays, not on fixed size arrays. You can convert a fixed size array to an ordinary array with slicing:
mut fnums := [3]int{} // fnums is a fixed size array with 3 elements.
fnums[0] = 1
fnums[1] = 10
fnums[2] = 100
println(fnums) // => [1, 10, 100]
println(typeof(fnums).name) // => [3]int
fnums2 := [1, 10, 100]! // short init syntax that does the same (the syntax will probably change)
anums := fnums[..] // same as `anums := fnums[0..fnums.len]`
println(anums) // => [1, 10, 100]
println(typeof(anums).name) // => []int
Note that slicing will cause the data of the fixed size array to be copied to the newly created ordinary array.
Maps
mut m := map[string]int{} // a map with `string` keys and `int` values
m['one'] = 1
m['two'] = 2
println(m['one']) // "1"
println(m['bad_key']) // "0"
println('bad_key' in m) // Use `in` to detect whether such key exists
println(m.keys()) // ['one', 'two']
m.delete('two')
Maps can have keys of type string, rune, integer, float or voidptr.
The whole map can be initialized using this short syntax:
numbers := {
'one': 1
'two': 2
}
println(numbers)
If a key is not found, a zero value is returned by default:
sm := {
'abc': 'xyz'
}
val := sm['bad_key']
println(val) // ''
intm := {
1: 1234
2: 5678
}
s := intm[3]
println(s) // 0
It's also possible to use an or {}
block to handle missing keys:
mm := map[string]int{}
val := mm['bad_key'] or { panic('key not found') }
The same optional check applies to arrays:
arr := [1, 2, 3]
large_index := 999
val := arr[large_index] or { panic('out of bounds') }
println(val)
// you can also do this, if you want to *propagate* the access error:
val2 := arr[333] ?
println(val2)
Module imports
For information about creating a module, see Modules.
Modules can be imported using the import
keyword:
import os
fn main() {
// read text from stdin
name := os.input('Enter your name: ')
println('Hello, $name!')
}
This program can use any public definitions from the os
module, such
as the input
function. See the standard library
documentation for a list of common modules and their public symbols.
By default, you have to specify the module prefix every time you call an external function. This may seem verbose at first, but it makes code much more readable and easier to understand - it's always clear which function from which module is being called. This is especially useful in large code bases.
Cyclic module imports are not allowed, like in Go.
Selective imports
You can also import specific functions and types from modules directly:
import os { input }
fn main() {
// read text from stdin
name := input('Enter your name: ')
println('Hello, $name!')
}
Note: This will import the module as well. Also, this is not allowed for constants - they must always be prefixed.
You can import several specific symbols at once:
import os { input, user_os }
name := input('Enter your name: ')
println('Name: $name')
os := user_os()
println('Your OS is ${os}.')
Module import aliasing
Any imported module name can be aliased using the as
keyword:
NOTE: this example will not compile unless you have created mymod/sha256.v
import crypto.sha256
import mymod.sha256 as mysha256
fn main() {
v_hash := sha256.sum('hi'.bytes()).hex()
my_hash := mysha256.sum('hi'.bytes()).hex()
assert my_hash == v_hash
}
You cannot alias an imported function or type. However, you can redeclare a type.
import time
import math
type MyTime = time.Time
fn (mut t MyTime) century() int {
return int(1.0 + math.trunc(f64(t.year) * 0.009999794661191))
}
fn main() {
mut my_time := MyTime{
year: 2020
month: 12
day: 25
}
println(time.new_time(my_time).utc_string())
println('Century: $my_time.century()')
}
Statements & expressions
If
a := 10
b := 20
if a < b {
println('$a < $b')
} else if a > b {
println('$a > $b')
} else {
println('$a == $b')
}
if
statements are pretty straightforward and similar to most other languages.
Unlike other C-like languages,
there are no parentheses surrounding the condition and the braces are always required.
if
can be used as an expression:
num := 777
s := if num % 2 == 0 { 'even' } else { 'odd' }
println(s)
// "odd"
Type checks and casts
You can check the current type of a sum type using is
and its negated form !is
.
You can do it either in an if
:
struct Abc {
val string
}
struct Xyz {
foo string
}
type Alphabet = Abc | Xyz
x := Alphabet(Abc{'test'}) // sum type
if x is Abc {
// x is automatically casted to Abc and can be used here
println(x)
}
if x !is Abc {
println('Not Abc')
}
or using match
:
match x {
Abc {
// x is automatically casted to Abc and can be used here
println(x)
}
Xyz {
// x is automatically casted to Xyz and can be used here
println(x)
}
}
This works also with struct fields:
struct MyStruct {
x int
}
struct MyStruct2 {
y string
}
type MySumType = MyStruct | MyStruct2
struct Abc {
bar MySumType
}
x := Abc{
bar: MyStruct{123} // MyStruct will be converted to MySumType type automatically
}
if x.bar is MyStruct {
// x.bar is automatically casted
println(x.bar)
}
match x.bar {
MyStruct {
// x.bar is automatically casted
println(x.bar)
}
else {}
}
Mutable variables can change, and doing a cast would be unsafe.
However, sometimes it's useful to type cast despite mutability.
In such cases the developer must mark the expression with the mut
keyword
to tell the compiler that they know what they're doing.
It works like this:
mut x := MySumType(MyStruct{123})
if mut x is MyStruct {
// x is casted to MyStruct even if it's mutable
// without the mut keyword that wouldn't work
println(x)
}
// same with match
match mut x {
MyStruct {
// x is casted to MyStruct even if it's mutable
// without the mut keyword that wouldn't work
println(x)
}
}
In operator
in
allows to check whether an array or a map contains an element.
To do the opposite, use !in
.
nums := [1, 2, 3]
println(1 in nums) // true
println(4 !in nums) // true
m := {
'one': 1
'two': 2
}
println('one' in m) // true
println('three' !in m) // true
It's also useful for writing boolean expressions that are clearer and more compact:
enum Token {
plus
minus
div
mult
}
struct Parser {
token Token
}
parser := Parser{}
if parser.token == .plus || parser.token == .minus || parser.token == .div || parser.token == .mult {
// ...
}
if parser.token in [.plus, .minus, .div, .mult] {
// ...
}
V optimizes such expressions,
so both if
statements above produce the same machine code and no arrays are created.
For loop
V has only one looping keyword: for
, with several forms.
for
/in
This is the most common form. You can use it with an array, map or numeric range.
Array for
numbers := [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
for num in numbers {
println(num)
}
names := ['Sam', 'Peter']
for i, name in names {
println('$i) $name')
// Output: 0) Sam
// 1) Peter
}
The for value in arr
form is used for going through elements of an array.
If an index is required, an alternative form for index, value in arr
can be used.
Note, that the value is read-only. If you need to modify the array while looping, you need to declare the element as mutable:
mut numbers := [0, 1, 2]
for mut num in numbers {
num++
}
println(numbers) // [1, 2, 3]
When an identifier is just a single underscore, it is ignored.
Custom iterators
Types that implement a next
method returning an Option
can be iterated
with a for
loop.
struct SquareIterator {
arr []int
mut:
idx int
}
fn (mut iter SquareIterator) next() ?int {
if iter.idx >= iter.arr.len {
return error('')
}
defer {
iter.idx++
}
return iter.arr[iter.idx] * iter.arr[iter.idx]
}
nums := [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
iter := SquareIterator{
arr: nums
}
for squared in iter {
println(squared)
}
The code above prints:
1
4
9
16
25
Map for
m := {
'one': 1
'two': 2
}
for key, value in m {
println('$key -> $value')
// Output: one -> 1
// two -> 2
}
Either key or value can be ignored by using a single underscore as the identifier.
m := {
'one': 1
'two': 2
}
// iterate over keys
for key, _ in m {
println(key)
// Output: one
// two
}
// iterate over values
for _, value in m {
println(value)
// Output: 1
// 2
}
Range for
// Prints '01234'
for i in 0 .. 5 {
print(i)
}
low..high
means an exclusive range, which represents all values
from low
up to but not including high
.
Condition for
mut sum := 0
mut i := 0
for i <= 100 {
sum += i
i++
}
println(sum) // "5050"
This form of the loop is similar to while
loops in other languages.
The loop will stop iterating once the boolean condition evaluates to false.
Again, there are no parentheses surrounding the condition, and the braces are always required.
Bare for
mut num := 0
for {
num += 2
if num >= 10 {
break
}
}
println(num) // "10"
The condition can be omitted, resulting in an infinite loop.
C for
for i := 0; i < 10; i += 2 {
// Don't print 6
if i == 6 {
continue
}
println(i)
}
Finally, there's the traditional C style for
loop. It's safer than the while
form
because with the latter it's easy to forget to update the counter and get
stuck in an infinite loop.
Here i
doesn't need to be declared with mut
since it's always going to be mutable by definition.
Labelled break & continue
break
and continue
control the innermost for
loop by default.
You can also use break
and continue
followed by a label name to refer to an outer for
loop:
outer: for i := 4; true; i++ {
println(i)
for {
if i < 7 {
continue outer
} else {
break outer
}
}
}
The label must immediately precede the outer loop. The above code prints:
4
5
6
7
Match
os := 'windows'
print('V is running on ')
match os {
'darwin' { println('macOS.') }
'linux' { println('Linux.') }
else { println(os) }
}
A match statement is a shorter way to write a sequence of if - else
statements.
When a matching branch is found, the following statement block will be run.
The else branch will be run when no other branches match.
number := 2
s := match number {
1 { 'one' }
2 { 'two' }
else { 'many' }
}
A match statement can also to be used as an if - else if - else
alternative:
match true {
2 > 4 { println('if') }
3 == 4 { println('else if') }
2 == 2 { println('else if2') }
else { println('else') }
}
// 'else if2' should be printed
or as an unless
alternative: unless Ruby
match false {
2 > 4 { println('if') }
3 == 4 { println('else if') }
2 == 2 { println('else if2') }
else { println('else') }
}
// 'if' should be printed
A match expression returns the value of the final expression from the matching branch.
enum Color {
red
blue
green
}
fn is_red_or_blue(c Color) bool {
return match c {
.red, .blue { true } // comma can be used to test multiple values
.green { false }
}
}
A match statement can also be used to branch on the variants of an enum
by using the shorthand .variant_here
syntax. An else
branch is not allowed
when all the branches are exhaustive.
c := `v`
typ := match c {
`0`...`9` { 'digit' }
`A`...`Z` { 'uppercase' }
`a`...`z` { 'lowercase' }
else { 'other' }
}
println(typ)
// 'lowercase'
You can also use ranges as match
patterns. If the value falls within the range
of a branch, that branch will be executed.
Note that the ranges use ...
(three dots) rather than ..
(two dots). This is
because the range is inclusive of the last element, rather than exclusive
(as ..
ranges are). Using ..
in a match branch will throw an error.
Note: match
as an expression is not usable in for
loop and if
statements.
Defer
A defer statement defers the execution of a block of statements until the surrounding function returns.
import os
fn read_log() {
mut ok := false
mut f := os.open('log.txt') or { panic(err) }
defer {
f.close()
}
// ...
if !ok {
// defer statement will be called here, the file will be closed
return
}
// ...
// defer statement will be called here, the file will be closed
}
If the function returns a value the defer
block is executed after the return
expression is evaluated:
import os
enum State {
normal
write_log
return_error
}
// write log file and return number of bytes written
fn write_log(s State) ?int {
mut f := os.create('log.txt') ?
defer {
f.close()
}
if s == .write_log {
// `f.close()` will be called after `f.write()` has been
// executed, but before `write_log()` finally returns the
// number of bytes written to `main()`
return f.writeln('This is a log file')
} else if s == .return_error {
// the file will be closed after the `error()` function
// has returned - so the error message will still report
// it as open
return error('nothing written; file open: $f.is_opened')
}
// the file will be closed here, too
return 0
}
fn main() {
n := write_log(.return_error) or {
println('Error: $err')
0
}
println('$n bytes written')
}
Structs
struct Point {
x int
y int
}
mut p := Point{
x: 10
y: 20
}
println(p.x) // Struct fields are accessed using a dot
// Alternative literal syntax for structs with 3 fields or fewer
p = Point{10, 20}
assert p.x == 10
Heap structs
Structs are allocated on the stack. To allocate a struct on the heap
and get a reference to it, use the &
prefix:
struct Point {
x int
y int
}
p := &Point{10, 10}
// References have the same syntax for accessing fields
println(p.x)
The type of p
is &Point
. It's a reference to Point
.
References are similar to Go pointers and C++ references.
struct Foo {
mut:
x int
}
fa := Foo{1}
mut a := fa
a.x = 2
assert fa.x == 1
assert a.x == 2
// fb := Foo{ 1 }
// mut b := &fb // error: `fb` is immutable, cannot have a mutable reference to it
// b.x = 2
mut fc := Foo{1}
mut c := &fc
c.x = 2
assert fc.x == 2
assert c.x == 2
println(fc) // Foo{ x: 2 }
println(c) // &Foo{ x: 2 } // Note `&` prefixed.
see also Stack and Heap
Default field values
struct Foo {
n int // n is 0 by default
s string // s is '' by default
a []int // a is `[]int{}` by default
pos int = -1 // custom default value
}
All struct fields are zeroed by default during the creation of the struct. Array and map fields are allocated.
It's also possible to define custom default values.
Required fields
struct Foo {
n int [required]
}
You can mark a struct field with the [required]
attribute, to tell V that
that field must be initialized when creating an instance of that struct.
This example will not compile, since the field n
isn't explicitly initialized:
_ = Foo{}
Short struct literal syntax
struct Point {
x int
y int
}
mut p := Point{
x: 10
y: 20
}
p = Point{
x: 30
y: 4
}
assert p.y == 4
//
// array: first element defines type of array
points := [Point{10, 20}, Point{20, 30}, Point{40, 50}]
println(points) // [Point{x: 10, y: 20}, Point{x: 20, y: 30}, Point{x: 40,y: 50}]
Omitting the struct name also works for returning a struct literal or passing one as a function argument.
Trailing struct literal arguments
V doesn't have default function arguments or named arguments, for that trailing struct literal syntax can be used instead:
[params]
struct ButtonConfig {
text string
is_disabled bool
width int = 70
height int = 20
}
struct Button {
text string
width int
height int
}
fn new_button(c ButtonConfig) &Button {
return &Button{
width: c.width
height: c.height
text: c.text
}
}
button := new_button(text: 'Click me', width: 100)
// the height is unset, so it's the default value
assert button.height == 20
As you can see, both the struct name and braces can be omitted, instead of:
new_button(ButtonConfig{text:'Click me', width:100})
This only works for functions that take a struct for the last argument.
NB: the [params]
tag is used to tell V, that the trailing struct parameter
can be omitted entirely, so that you can write button := new_button()
.
Without it, you have to specify at least one of the field names, even if it
has its default value, otherwise the compiler will produce this error message,
when you call the function with no parameters:
error: expected 1 arguments, but got 0
.
Access modifiers
Struct fields are private and immutable by default (making structs immutable as well).
Their access modifiers can be changed with
pub
and mut
. In total, there are 5 possible options:
struct Foo {
a int // private immutable (default)
mut:
b int // private mutable
c int // (you can list multiple fields with the same access modifier)
pub:
d int // public immutable (readonly)
pub mut:
e int // public, but mutable only in parent module
__global:
// (not recommended to use, that's why the 'global' keyword starts with __)
f int // public and mutable both inside and outside parent module
}
Private fields are available only inside the same module, any attempt to directly access them from another module will cause an error during compilation. Public immutable fields are readonly everywhere.
Methods
struct User {
age int
}
fn (u User) can_register() bool {
return u.age > 16
}
user := User{
age: 10
}
println(user.can_register()) // "false"
user2 := User{
age: 20
}
println(user2.can_register()) // "true"
V doesn't have classes, but you can define methods on types.
A method is a function with a special receiver argument.
The receiver appears in its own argument list between the fn
keyword and the method name.
Methods must be in the same module as the receiver type.
In this example, the can_register
method has a receiver of type User
named u
.
The convention is not to use receiver names like self
or this
,
but a short, preferably one letter long, name.
Embedded structs
V support embedded structs .
struct Size {
mut:
width int
height int
}
fn (s &Size) area() int {
return s.width * s.height
}
struct Button {
Size
title string
}
With embedding, the struct Button
will automatically have get all the fields and methods from
the struct Size
, which allows you to do:
mut button := Button{
title: 'Click me'
height: 2
}
button.width = 3
assert button.area() == 6
assert button.Size.area() == 6
print(button)
output :
Button{
Size: Size{
width: 3
height: 2
}
title: 'Click me'
}
Unlike inheritance, you cannot type cast between structs and embedded structs (the embedding struct can also has its own fields, and it can also embed multiple structs).
If you need to access embedded structs directly, use an explicit reference like button.Size
.
Conceptually, embedded structs are similar to mixins in OOP, NOT base classes.
You can also initialize an embedded struct:
mut button := Button{
Size: Size{
width: 3
height: 2
}
}
or assign values:
button.Size = Size{
width: 4
height: 5
}
If multiple embedded structs have methods or fields with the same name, or if methods or fields
with the same name are defined in the struct, you can call methods or assign to variables in
the embedded struct like button.Size.area()
.
When you do not specify the embedded struct name, the method of the outermost struct will be
targeted.
Unions
Just like structs, unions support embedding.
struct Rgba32_Component {
r byte
g byte
b byte
a byte
}
union Rgba32 {
Rgba32_Component
value u32
}
clr1 := Rgba32{
value: 0x008811FF
}
clr2 := Rgba32{
Rgba32_Component: Rgba32_Component{
a: 128
}
}
sz := sizeof(Rgba32)
unsafe {
println('Size: ${sz}B,clr1.b: $clr1.b,clr2.b: $clr2.b')
}
Output: Size: 4B, clr1.b: 136, clr2.b: 0
Union member access must be performed in an unsafe
block.
Note that the embedded struct arguments are not necessarily stored in the order listed.
Functions 2
Pure functions by default
V functions are pure by default, meaning that their return values are a function of their arguments only, and their evaluation has no side effects (besides I/O).
This is achieved by a lack of global variables and all function arguments being immutable by default, even when references are passed.
V is not a purely functional language however.
There is a compiler flag to enable global variables (-enable-globals
), but this is
intended for low-level applications like kernels and drivers.
Mutable arguments
It is possible to modify function arguments by using the keyword mut
:
struct User {
name string
mut:
is_registered bool
}
fn (mut u User) register() {
u.is_registered = true
}
mut user := User{}
println(user.is_registered) // "false"
user.register()
println(user.is_registered) // "true"
In this example, the receiver (which is simply the first argument) is marked as mutable,
so register()
can change the user object. The same works with non-receiver arguments:
fn multiply_by_2(mut arr []int) {
for i in 0 .. arr.len {
arr[i] *= 2
}
}
mut nums := [1, 2, 3]
multiply_by_2(mut nums)
println(nums)
// "[2, 4, 6]"
Note, that you have to add mut
before nums
when calling this function. This makes
it clear that the function being called will modify the value.
It is preferable to return values instead of modifying arguments,
e.g. user = register(user)
(or user.register()
) instead of register(mut user)
.
Modifying arguments should only be done in performance-critical parts of your application
to reduce allocations and copying.
For this reason V doesn't allow the modification of arguments with primitive types (e.g. integers). Only more complex types such as arrays and maps may be modified.
Struct update syntax
V makes it easy to return a modified version of an object:
struct User {
name string
age int
is_registered bool
}
fn register(u User) User {
return User{
...u
is_registered: true
}
}
mut user := User{
name: 'abc'
age: 23
}
user = register(user)
println(user)
Variable number of arguments
fn sum(a ...int) int {
mut total := 0
for x in a {
total += x
}
return total
}
println(sum()) // 0
println(sum(1)) // 1
println(sum(2, 3)) // 5
// using array decomposition
a := [2, 3, 4]
println(sum(...a)) // <-- using prefix ... here. output: 9
b := [5, 6, 7]
println(sum(...b)) // output: 18
Anonymous & higher order functions
fn sqr(n int) int {
return n * n
}
fn cube(n int) int {
return n * n * n
}
fn run(value int, op fn (int) int) int {
return op(value)
}
fn main() {
// Functions can be passed to other functions
println(run(5, sqr)) // "25"
// Anonymous functions can be declared inside other functions:
double_fn := fn (n int) int {
return n + n
}
println(run(5, double_fn)) // "10"
// Functions can be passed around without assigning them to variables:
res := run(5, fn (n int) int {
return n + n
})
println(res) // "10"
// You can even have an array/map of functions:
fns := [sqr, cube]
println(fns[0](10)) // "100"
fns_map := {
'sqr': sqr
'cube': cube
}
println(fns_map['cube'](2)) // "8"
}
Closures
V supports closures too. This means that anonymous functions can inherit variables from the scope they were created in. They must do so explicitly by listing all variables that are inherited.
Warning: currently works on Unix-based, x64 architectures only. Some work is in progress to make closures work on Windows, then other architectures.
my_int := 1
my_closure := fn [my_int] () {
println(my_int)
}
my_closure() // prints 1
Inherited variables are copied when the anonymous function is created. This means that if the original variable is modified after the creation of the function, the modification won't be reflected in the function.
mut i := 1
func := fn [i] () int {
return i
}
println(func() == 1) // true
i = 123
println(func() == 1) // still true
However, the variable can be modified inside the anonymous function. The change won't be reflected outside, but will be in the later function calls.
fn new_counter() fn () int {
mut i := 0
return fn [mut i] () int {
i++
return i
}
}
c := new_counter()
println(c()) // 1
println(c()) // 2
println(c()) // 3
If you need the value to be modified outside the function, use a reference. Warning: you need to make sure the reference is always valid, otherwise this can result in undefined behavior.
mut i := 0
mut ref := &i
print_counter := fn [ref] () {
println(*ref)
}
print_counter() // 0
i = 10
print_counter() // 10
References
struct Foo {}
fn (foo Foo) bar_method() {
// ...
}
fn bar_function(foo Foo) {
// ...
}
If a function argument is immutable (like foo
in the examples above)
V can pass it either by value or by reference. The compiler will decide,
and the developer doesn't need to think about it.
You no longer need to remember whether you should pass the struct by value or by reference.
You can ensure that the struct is always passed by reference by
adding &
:
struct Foo {
abc int
}
fn (foo &Foo) bar() {
println(foo.abc)
}
foo
is still immutable and can't be changed. For that,
(mut foo Foo)
must be used.
In general, V's references are similar to Go pointers and C++ references. For example, a generic tree structure definition would look like this:
struct Node<T> {
val T
left &Node<T>
right &Node<T>
}
To dereference a reference, use the *
operator, just like in C.
Constants
const (
pi = 3.14
world = '世界'
)
println(pi)
println(world)
Constants are declared with const
. They can only be defined
at the module level (outside of functions).
Constant values can never be changed. You can also declare a single
constant separately:
const e = 2.71828
V constants are more flexible than in most languages. You can assign more complex values:
struct Color {
r int
g int
b int
}
fn rgb(r int, g int, b int) Color {
return Color{
r: r
g: g
b: b
}
}
const (
numbers = [1, 2, 3]
red = Color{
r: 255
g: 0
b: 0
}
// evaluate function call at compile-time*
blue = rgb(0, 0, 255)
)
println(numbers)
println(red)
println(blue)
* WIP - for now function calls are evaluated at program start-up
Global variables are not normally allowed, so this can be really useful.
Modules
Constants can be made public with pub const
:
module mymodule
pub const golden_ratio = 1.61803
fn calc() {
println(mymodule.golden_ratio)
}
The pub
keyword is only allowed before the const
keyword and cannot be used inside
a const ( )
block.
Outside from module main all constants need to be prefixed with the module name.
Required module prefix
When naming constants, snake_case
must be used. In order to distinguish consts
from local variables, the full path to consts must be specified. For example,
to access the PI const, full math.pi
name must be used both outside the math
module, and inside it. That restriction is relaxed only for the main
module
(the one containing your fn main()
), where you can use the unqualified name of
constants defined there, i.e. numbers
, rather than main.numbers
.
vfmt takes care of this rule, so you can type println(pi)
inside the math
module,
and vfmt will automatically update it to println(math.pi)
.
Builtin functions
Some functions are builtin like println
. Here is the complete list:
fn print(s string) // prints anything on stdout
fn println(s string) // prints anything and a newline on stdout
fn eprint(s string) // same as print(), but uses stderr
fn eprintln(s string) // same as println(), but uses stderr
fn exit(code int) // terminates the program with a custom error code
fn panic(s string) // prints a message and backtraces on stderr, and terminates the program with error code 1
fn print_backtrace() // prints backtraces on stderr
Note: Although the print
functions take a string, V accepts other printable types too.
See below for details.
There is also a special built-in function called dump
.
println
println
is a simple yet powerful builtin function, that can print anything:
strings, numbers, arrays, maps, structs.
struct User {
name string
age int
}
println(1) // "1"
println('hi') // "hi"
println([1, 2, 3]) // "[1, 2, 3]"
println(User{ name: 'Bob', age: 20 }) // "User{name:'Bob', age:20}"
See also Array methods.
Printing custom types
If you want to define a custom print value for your type, simply define a
str() string
method:
struct Color {
r int
g int
b int
}
pub fn (c Color) str() string {
return '{$c.r, $c.g, $c.b}'
}
red := Color{
r: 255
g: 0
b: 0
}
println(red)
Dumping expressions at runtime
You can dump/trace the value of any V expression using dump(expr)
.
For example, save this code sample as factorial.v
, then run it with
v run factorial.v
:
fn factorial(n u32) u32 {
if dump(n <= 1) {
return dump(1)
}
return dump(n * factorial(n - 1))
}
fn main() {
println(factorial(5))
}
You will get:
[factorial.v:2] n <= 1: false
[factorial.v:2] n <= 1: false
[factorial.v:2] n <= 1: false
[factorial.v:2] n <= 1: false
[factorial.v:2] n <= 1: true
[factorial.v:3] 1: 1
[factorial.v:5] n * factorial(n - 1): 2
[factorial.v:5] n * factorial(n - 1): 6
[factorial.v:5] n * factorial(n - 1): 24
[factorial.v:5] n * factorial(n - 1): 120
120
Note that dump(expr)
will trace both the source location,
the expression itself, and the expression value.
Modules
Every file in the root of a folder is part of the same module. Simple programs don't need to specify module name, in which case it defaults to 'main'.
V is a very modular language. Creating reusable modules is encouraged and is quite easy to do. To create a new module, create a directory with your module's name containing .v files with code:
cd ~/code/modules
mkdir mymodule
vim mymodule/myfile.v
// myfile.v
module mymodule
// To export a function we have to use `pub`
pub fn say_hi() {
println('hello from mymodule!')
}
You can now use mymodule
in your code:
import mymodule
fn main() {
mymodule.say_hi()
}
- Module names should be short, under 10 characters.
- Module names must use
snake_case
. - Circular imports are not allowed.
- You can have as many .v files in a module as you want.
- You can create modules anywhere.
- All modules are compiled statically into a single executable.
init
functions
If you want a module to automatically call some setup/initialization code when it is imported,
you can use a module init
function:
fn init() {
// your setup code here ...
}
The init
function cannot be public - it will be called automatically. This feature is
particularly useful for initializing a C library.
Type Declarations
Interfaces
// interface-example.1
struct Dog {
breed string
}
fn (d Dog) speak() string {
return 'woof'
}
struct Cat {
breed string
}
fn (c Cat) speak() string {
return 'meow'
}
// unlike Go and like TypeScript, V's interfaces can define fields, not just methods.
interface Speaker {
breed string
speak() string
}
fn main() {
dog := Dog{'Leonberger'}
cat := Cat{'Siamese'}
mut arr := []Speaker{}
arr << dog
arr << cat
for item in arr {
println('a $item.breed says: $item.speak()')
}
}
Implement an interface
A type implements an interface by implementing its methods and fields. There is no explicit declaration of intent, no "implements" keyword.
An interface can have a mut:
section. Implementing types will need
to have a mut
receiver, for methods declared in the mut:
section
of an interface.
// interface-example.2
module main
pub interface Foo {
write(string) string
}
// => the method signature of a type, implementing interface Foo should be:
// `pub fn (s Type) write(a string) string`
pub interface Bar {
mut:
write(string) string
}
// => the method signature of a type, implementing interface Bar should be:
// `pub fn (mut s Type) write(a string) string`
struct MyStruct {}
// MyStruct implements the interface Foo, but *not* interface Bar
pub fn (s MyStruct) write(a string) string {
return a
}
fn main() {
s1 := MyStruct{}
fn1(s1)
// fn2(s1) -> compile error, since MyStruct does not implement Bar
}
fn fn1(s Foo) {
println(s.write('Foo'))
}
// fn fn2(s Bar) { // does not match
// println(s.write('Foo'))
// }
Casting an interface
We can test the underlying type of an interface using dynamic cast operators:
// interface-exmaple.3 (continued from interface-exampe.1)
interface Something {}
fn announce(s Something) {
if s is Dog {
println('a $s.breed dog') // `s` is automatically cast to `Dog` (smart cast)
} else if s is Cat {
println('a cat speaks $s.speak()')
} else {
println('something else')
}
}
fn main() {
dog := Dog{'Leonberger'}
cat := Cat{'Siamese'}
announce(dog)
announce(cat)
}
// interface-example.4
interface IFoo {
foo()
}
interface IBar {
bar()
}
// implements only IFoo
struct SFoo {}
fn (sf SFoo) foo() {}
// implements both IFoo and IBar
struct SFooBar {}
fn (sfb SFooBar) foo() {}
fn (sfb SFooBar) bar() {
dump('This implements IBar')
}
fn main() {
mut arr := []IFoo{}
arr << SFoo{}
arr << SFooBar{}
for a in arr {
dump(a)
// In order to execute instances that implements IBar.
if a is IBar {
// a.bar() // Error.
b := a as IBar
dump(b)
b.bar()
}
}
}
For more information, see Dynamic casts.
Interface method definitions
Also unlike Go, an interface can have it's own methods, similar to how
structs can have their methods. These 'interface methods' do not have
to be implemented, by structs which implement that interface.
They are just a convenient way to write i.some_function()
instead of
some_function(i)
, similar to how struct methods can be looked at, as
a convenience for writing s.xyz()
instead of xyz(s)
.
N.B. This feature is NOT a "default implementation" like in C#.
For example, if a struct cat
is wrapped in an interface a
, that has
implemented a method with the same name speak
, as a method implemented by
the struct, and you do a.speak()
, only the interface method is called:
interface Adoptable {}
fn (a Adoptable) speak() string {
return 'adopt me!'
}
struct Cat {}
fn (c Cat) speak() string {
return 'meow!'
}
struct Dog {}
fn main() {
cat := Cat{}
assert dump(cat.speak()) == 'meow!'
//
a := Adoptable(cat)
assert dump(a.speak()) == 'adopt me!' // call Adoptable's `speak`
if a is Cat {
// Inside this `if` however, V knows that `a` is not just any
// kind of Adoptable, but actually a Cat, so it will use the
// Cat `speak`, NOT the Adoptable `speak`:
dump(a.speak()) // meow!
}
//
b := Adoptable(Dog{})
assert dump(b.speak()) == 'adopt me!' // call Adoptable's `speak`
// if b is Dog {
// dump(b.speak()) // error: unknown method or field: Dog.speak
// }
}
Embedded interface
Interfaces support embedding, just like structs:
pub interface Reader {
mut:
read(mut buf []byte) ?int
}
pub interface Writer {
mut:
write(buf []byte) ?int
}
// ReaderWriter embeds both Reader and Writer.
// The effect is the same as copy/pasting all of the
// Reader and all of the Writer methods/fields into
// ReaderWriter.
pub interface ReaderWriter {
Reader
Writer
}
Function Types
You can use type aliases for naming specific function signatures - for example:
type Filter = fn (string) string
This works like any other type - for example, a function can accept an argument of a function type:
type Filter = fn (string) string
fn filter(s string, f Filter) string {
return f(s)
}
V has duck-typing, so functions don't need to declare compatibility with a function type - they just have to be compatible:
fn uppercase(s string) string {
return s.to_upper()
}
// now `uppercase` can be used everywhere where Filter is expected
Compatible functions can also be explicitly cast to a function type:
my_filter := Filter(uppercase)
The cast here is purely informational - again, duck-typing means that the resulting type is the same without an explicit cast:
my_filter := uppercase
You can pass the assigned function as an argument:
println(filter('Hello world', my_filter)) // prints `HELLO WORLD`
And you could of course have passed it directly as well, without using a local variable:
println(filter('Hello world', uppercase))
And this works with anonymous functions as well:
println(filter('Hello world', fn (s string) string {
return s.to_upper()
}))
You can see the complete example here.
Enums
enum Color {
red
green
blue
}
mut color := Color.red
// V knows that `color` is a `Color`. No need to use `color = Color.green` here.
color = .green
println(color) // "green"
match color {
.red { println('the color was red') }
.green { println('the color was green') }
.blue { println('the color was blue') }
}
Enum match must be exhaustive or have an else
branch.
This ensures that if a new enum field is added, it's handled everywhere in the code.
Enum fields cannot re-use reserved keywords. However, reserved keywords may be escaped with an @.
enum Color {
@none
red
green
blue
}
color := Color.@none
println(color)
Integers may be assigned to enum fields.
enum Grocery {
apple
orange = 5
pear
}
g1 := int(Grocery.apple)
g2 := int(Grocery.orange)
g3 := int(Grocery.pear)
println('Grocery IDs: $g1, $g2, $g3')
Output: Grocery IDs: 0, 5, 6
.
Operations are not allowed on enum variables; they must be explicitly cast to int
.
Enums can have methods, just like structs.
enum Cycle {
one
two
three
}
fn (c Cycle) next() Cycle {
match c {
.one {
return .two
}
.two {
return .three
}
.three {
return .one
}
}
}
mut c := Cycle.one
for _ in 0 .. 10 {
println(c)
c = c.next()
}
Output:
one
two
three
one
two
three
one
two
three
one
Sum types
A sum type instance can hold a value of several different types. Use the type
keyword to declare a sum type:
struct Moon {}
struct Mars {}
struct Venus {}
type World = Mars | Moon | Venus
sum := World(Moon{})
assert sum.type_name() == 'Moon'
println(sum)
The built-in method type_name
returns the name of the currently held
type.
With sum types you could build recursive structures and write concise but powerful code on them.
// V's binary tree
struct Empty {}
struct Node {
value f64
left Tree
right Tree
}
type Tree = Empty | Node
// sum up all node values
fn sum(tree Tree) f64 {
return match tree {
Empty { 0 }
Node { tree.value + sum(tree.left) + sum(tree.right) }
}
}
fn main() {
left := Node{0.2, Empty{}, Empty{}}
right := Node{0.3, Empty{}, Node{0.4, Empty{}, Empty{}}}
tree := Node{0.5, left, right}
println(sum(tree)) // 0.2 + 0.3 + 0.4 + 0.5 = 1.4
}
Dynamic casts
To check whether a sum type instance holds a certain type, use sum is Type
.
To cast a sum type to one of its variants you can use sum as Type
:
struct Moon {}
struct Mars {}
struct Venus {}
type World = Mars | Moon | Venus
fn (m Mars) dust_storm() bool {
return true
}
fn main() {
mut w := World(Moon{})
assert w is Moon
w = Mars{}
// use `as` to access the Mars instance
mars := w as Mars
if mars.dust_storm() {
println('bad weather!')
}
}
as
will panic if w
doesn't hold a Mars
instance.
A safer way is to use a smart cast.
Smart casting
if w is Mars {
assert typeof(w).name == 'Mars'
if w.dust_storm() {
println('bad weather!')
}
}
w
has type Mars
inside the body of the if
statement. This is
known as flow-sensitive typing.
If w
is a mutable identifier, it would be unsafe if the compiler smart casts it without a warning.
That's why you have to declare a mut
before the is
expression:
if mut w is Mars {
assert typeof(w).name == 'Mars'
if w.dust_storm() {
println('bad weather!')
}
}
Otherwise w
would keep its original type.
This works for both, simple variables and complex expressions like
user.name
Matching sum types
You can also use match
to determine the variant:
struct Moon {}
struct Mars {}
struct Venus {}
type World = Mars | Moon | Venus
fn open_parachutes(n int) {
println(n)
}
fn land(w World) {
match w {
Moon {} // no atmosphere
Mars {
// light atmosphere
open_parachutes(3)
}
Venus {
// heavy atmosphere
open_parachutes(1)
}
}
}
match
must have a pattern for each variant or have an else
branch.
struct Moon {}
struct Mars {}
struct Venus {}
type World = Moon | Mars | Venus
fn (m Moon) moon_walk() {}
fn (m Mars) shiver() {}
fn (v Venus) sweat() {}
fn pass_time(w World) {
match w {
// using the shadowed match variable, in this case `w` (smart cast)
Moon { w.moon_walk() }
Mars { w.shiver() }
else {}
}
}
Type aliases
To define a new type NewType
as an alias for ExistingType
,
do type NewType = ExistingType
.
This is a special case of a sum type declaration.
Option/Result types and error handling
Option types are declared with ?Type
:
struct User {
id int
name string
}
struct Repo {
users []User
}
fn (r Repo) find_user_by_id(id int) ?User {
for user in r.users {
if user.id == id {
// V automatically wraps this into an option type
return user
}
}
return error('User $id not found')
}
fn main() {
repo := Repo{
users: [User{1, 'Andrew'}, User{2, 'Bob'}, User{10, 'Charles'}]
}
user := repo.find_user_by_id(10) or { // Option types must be handled by `or` blocks
return
}
println(user.id) // "10"
println(user.name) // "Charles"
}
V combines Option
and Result
into one type, so you don't need to decide which one to use.
The amount of work required to "upgrade" a function to an optional function is minimal;
you have to add a ?
to the return type and return an error when something goes wrong.
If you don't need to return an error message, you can simply return none
(this is a more efficient equivalent of return error("")
).
This is the primary mechanism for error handling in V. They are still values, like in Go,
but the advantage is that errors can't be unhandled, and handling them is a lot less verbose.
Unlike other languages, V does not handle exceptions with throw/try/catch
blocks.
err
is defined inside an or
block and is set to the string message passed
to the error()
function. err
is empty if none
was returned.
user := repo.find_user_by_id(7) or {
println(err) // "User 7 not found"
return
}
Handling optionals
There are four ways of handling an optional. The first method is to propagate the error:
import net.http
fn f(url string) ?string {
resp := http.get(url) ?
return resp.text
}
http.get
returns ?http.Response
. Because ?
follows the call, the
error will be propagated to the caller of f
. When using ?
after a
function call producing an optional, the enclosing function must return
an optional as well. If error propagation is used in the main()
function it will panic
instead, since the error cannot be propagated
any further.
The body of f
is essentially a condensed version of:
resp := http.get(url) or { return err }
return resp.text
The second method is to break from execution early:
user := repo.find_user_by_id(7) or { return }
Here, you can either call panic()
or exit()
, which will stop the execution of the
entire program, or use a control flow statement (return
, break
, continue
, etc)
to break from the current block.
Note that break
and continue
can only be used inside a for
loop.
V does not have a way to forcibly "unwrap" an optional (as other languages do,
for instance Rust's unwrap()
or Swift's !
). To do this, use or { panic(err) }
instead.
The third method is to provide a default value at the end of the or
block.
In case of an error, that value would be assigned instead,
so it must have the same type as the content of the Option
being handled.
fn do_something(s string) ?string {
if s == 'foo' {
return 'foo'
}
return error('invalid string') // Could be `return none` as well
}
a := do_something('foo') or { 'default' } // a will be 'foo'
b := do_something('bar') or { 'default' } // b will be 'default'
println(a)
println(b)
The fourth method is to use if
unwrapping:
import net.http
if resp := http.get('https://google.com') {
println(resp.text) // resp is a http.Response, not an optional
} else {
println(err)
}
Above, http.get
returns a ?http.Response
. resp
is only in scope for the first
if
branch. err
is only in scope for the else
branch.
Custom error types
V gives you the ability to define custom error types through the IError
interface.
The interface requires two methods: msg() string
and code() int
. Every type that
implements these methods can be used as an error.
When defining a custom error type it is recommended to embed the builtin Error
default
implementation. This provides an empty default implementation for both required methods,
so you only have to implement what you really need, and may provide additional utility
functions in the future.
struct PathError {
Error
path string
}
fn (err PathError) msg() string {
return 'Failed to open path: $err.path'
}
fn try_open(path string) ? {
return IError(PathError{
path: path
})
}
fn main() {
try_open('/tmp') or { panic(err) }
}
Generics
struct Repo<T> {
db DB
}
struct User {
id int
name string
}
struct Post {
id int
user_id int
title string
body string
}
fn new_repo<T>(db DB) Repo<T> {
return Repo<T>{db: db}
}
// This is a generic function. V will generate it for every type it's used with.
fn (r Repo<T>) find_by_id(id int) ?T {
table_name := T.name // in this example getting the name of the type gives us the table name
return r.db.query_one<T>('select * from $table_name where id = ?', id)
}
db := new_db()
users_repo := new_repo<User>(db) // returns Repo<User>
posts_repo := new_repo<Post>(db) // returns Repo<Post>
user := users_repo.find_by_id(1)? // find_by_id<User>
post := posts_repo.find_by_id(1)? // find_by_id<Post>
Currently generic function definitions must declare their type parameters, but in
future V will infer generic type parameters from single-letter type names in
runtime parameter types. This is why find_by_id
can omit <T>
, because the
receiver argument r
uses a generic type T
.
Another example:
fn compare<T>(a T, b T) int {
if a < b {
return -1
}
if a > b {
return 1
}
return 0
}
// compare<int>
println(compare(1, 0)) // Outputs: 1
println(compare(1, 1)) // 0
println(compare(1, 2)) // -1
// compare<string>
println(compare('1', '0')) // Outputs: 1
println(compare('1', '1')) // 0
println(compare('1', '2')) // -1
// compare<f64>
println(compare(1.1, 1.0)) // Outputs: 1
println(compare(1.1, 1.1)) // 0
println(compare(1.1, 1.2)) // -1
Concurrency
Spawning Concurrent Tasks
V's model of concurrency is very similar to Go's. To run foo()
concurrently in
a different thread, just call it with go foo()
:
import math
fn p(a f64, b f64) { // ordinary function without return value
c := math.sqrt(a * a + b * b)
println(c)
}
fn main() {
go p(3, 4)
// p will be run in parallel thread
}
Sometimes it is necessary to wait until a parallel thread has finished. This can
be done by assigning a handle to the started thread and calling the wait()
method
to this handle later:
import math
fn p(a f64, b f64) { // ordinary function without return value
c := math.sqrt(a * a + b * b)
println(c) // prints `5`
}
fn main() {
h := go p(3, 4)
// p() runs in parallel thread
h.wait()
// p() has definitely finished
}
This approach can also be used to get a return value from a function that is run in a parallel thread. There is no need to modify the function itself to be able to call it concurrently.
import math { sqrt }
fn get_hypot(a f64, b f64) f64 { // ordinary function returning a value
c := sqrt(a * a + b * b)
return c
}
fn main() {
g := go get_hypot(54.06, 2.08) // spawn thread and get handle to it
h1 := get_hypot(2.32, 16.74) // do some other calculation here
h2 := g.wait() // get result from spawned thread
println('Results: $h1, $h2') // prints `Results: 16.9, 54.1`
}
If there is a large number of tasks, it might be easier to manage them using an array of threads.
import time
fn task(id int, duration int) {
println('task $id begin')
time.sleep(duration * time.millisecond)
println('task $id end')
}
fn main() {
mut threads := []thread{}
threads << go task(1, 500)
threads << go task(2, 900)
threads << go task(3, 100)
threads.wait()
println('done')
}
// Output:
// task 1 begin
// task 2 begin
// task 3 begin
// task 3 end
// task 1 end
// task 2 end
// done
Additionally for threads that return the same type, calling wait()
on the thread array will return all computed values.
fn expensive_computing(i int) int {
return i * i
}
fn main() {
mut threads := []thread int{}
for i in 1 .. 10 {
threads << go expensive_computing(i)
}
// Join all tasks
r := threads.wait()
println('All jobs finished: $r')
}
// Output: All jobs finished: [1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81]
Channels
Channels are the preferred way to communicate between threads. V's channels work basically like
those in Go. You can push objects into a channel on one end and pop objects from the other end.
Channels can be buffered or unbuffered and it is possible to select
from multiple channels.
Syntax and Usage
Channels have the type chan objtype
. An optional buffer length can specified as the cap
field
in the declaration:
ch := chan int{} // unbuffered - "synchronous"
ch2 := chan f64{cap: 100} // buffer length 100
Channels do not have to be declared as mut
. The buffer length is not part of the type but
a field of the individual channel object. Channels can be passed to threads like normal
variables:
fn f(ch chan int) {
// ...
}
fn main() {
ch := chan int{}
go f(ch)
// ...
}
Objects can be pushed to channels using the arrow operator. The same operator can be used to pop objects from the other end:
// make buffered channels so pushing does not block (if there is room in the buffer)
ch := chan int{cap: 1}
ch2 := chan f64{cap: 1}
n := 5
// push
ch <- n
ch2 <- 7.3
mut y := f64(0.0)
m := <-ch // pop creating new variable
y = <-ch2 // pop into existing variable
A channel can be closed to indicate that no further objects can be pushed. Any attempt
to do so will then result in a runtime panic (with the exception of select
and
try_push()
- see below). Attempts to pop will return immediately if the
associated channel has been closed and the buffer is empty. This situation can be
handled using an or branch (see Handling Optionals).
ch := chan int{}
ch2 := chan f64{}
// ...
ch.close()
// ...
m := <-ch or {
println('channel has been closed')
}
// propagate error
y := <-ch2 ?
Channel Select
The select
command allows monitoring several channels at the same time
without noticeable CPU load. It consists of a list of possible transfers and associated branches
of statements - similar to the match command:
import time
fn main() {
ch := chan f64{}
ch2 := chan f64{}
ch3 := chan f64{}
mut b := 0.0
c := 1.0
// ... setup go threads that will send on ch/ch2
go fn (the_channel chan f64) {
time.sleep(5 * time.millisecond)
the_channel <- 1.0
}(ch)
go fn (the_channel chan f64) {
time.sleep(1 * time.millisecond)
the_channel <- 1.0
}(ch2)
go fn (the_channel chan f64) {
_ := <-the_channel
}(ch3)
select {
a := <-ch {
// do something with `a`
eprintln('> a: $a')
}
b = <-ch2 {
// do something with predeclared variable `b`
eprintln('> b: $b')
}
ch3 <- c {
// do something if `c` was sent
time.sleep(5 * time.millisecond)
eprintln('> c: $c was send on channel ch3')
}
500 * time.millisecond {
// do something if no channel has become ready within 0.5s
eprintln('> more than 0.5s passed without a channel being ready')
}
}
eprintln('> done')
}
The timeout branch is optional. If it is absent select
waits for an unlimited amount of time.
It is also possible to proceed immediately if no channel is ready in the moment select
is called
by adding an else { ... }
branch. else
and <timeout>
are mutually exclusive.
The select
command can be used as an expression of type bool
that becomes false
if all channels are closed:
if select {
ch <- a {
// ...
}
} {
// channel was open
} else {
// channel is closed
}
Special Channel Features
For special purposes there are some builtin fields and methods:
struct Abc {
x int
}
a := 2.13
ch := chan f64{}
res := ch.try_push(a) // try to perform `ch <- a`
println(res)
l := ch.len // number of elements in queue
c := ch.cap // maximum queue length
is_closed := ch.closed // bool flag - has `ch` been closed
println(l)
println(c)
mut b := Abc{}
ch2 := chan Abc{}
res2 := ch2.try_pop(mut b) // try to perform `b = <-ch2`
The try_push/pop()
methods will return immediately with one of the results
.success
, .not_ready
or .closed
- dependent on whether the object has been transferred or
the reason why not.
Usage of these methods and fields in production is not recommended -
algorithms based on them are often subject to race conditions. Especially .len
and
.closed
should not be used to make decisions.
Use or
branches, error propagation or select
instead (see Syntax and Usage
and Channel Select above).
Shared Objects
Data can be exchanged between a thread and the calling thread via a shared variable.
Such variables should be created as shared
and passed to the thread as such, too.
The underlying struct
contains a hidden mutex that allows locking concurrent access
using rlock
for read-only and lock
for read/write access.
struct St {
mut:
x int // data to be shared
}
fn (shared b St) g() {
lock b {
// read/modify/write b.x
}
}
fn main() {
shared a := St{
x: 10
}
go a.g()
// ...
rlock a {
// read a.x
}
}
Shared variables must be structs, arrays or maps.
JSON
Because of the ubiquitous nature of JSON, support for it is built directly into V.
V generates code for JSON encoding and decoding. No runtime reflection is used. This results in much better performance.
Decoding JSON
import json
struct Foo {
x int
}
struct User {
// Adding a [required] attribute will make decoding fail, if that
// field is not present in the input.
// If a field is not [required], but is missing, it will be assumed
// to have its default value, like 0 for numbers, or '' for strings,
// and decoding will not fail.
name string [required]
age int
// Use the `skip` attribute to skip certain fields
foo Foo [skip]
// If the field name is different in JSON, it can be specified
last_name string [json: lastName]
}
data := '{ "name": "Frodo", "lastName": "Baggins", "age": 25 }'
user := json.decode(User, data) or {
eprintln('Failed to decode json, error: $err')
return
}
println(user.name)
println(user.last_name)
println(user.age)
// You can also decode JSON arrays:
sfoos := '[{"x":123},{"x":456}]'
foos := json.decode([]Foo, sfoos) ?
println(foos[0].x)
println(foos[1].x)
The json.decode
function takes two arguments:
the first is the type into which the JSON value should be decoded and
the second is a string containing the JSON data.
Encoding JSON
import json
struct User {
name string
score i64
}
mut data := map[string]int{}
user := &User{
name: 'Pierre'
score: 1024
}
data['x'] = 42
data['y'] = 360
println(json.encode(data)) // {"x":42,"y":360}
println(json.encode(user)) // {"name":"Pierre","score":1024}
Testing
Asserts
fn foo(mut v []int) {
v[0] = 1
}
mut v := [20]
foo(mut v)
assert v[0] < 4
An assert
statement checks that its expression evaluates to true
. If an assert fails,
the program will abort. Asserts should only be used to detect programming errors. When an
assert fails it is reported to stderr, and the values on each side of a comparison operator
(such as <
, ==
) will be printed when possible. This is useful to easily find an
unexpected value. Assert statements can be used in any function.
Test files
// hello.v
module main
fn hello() string {
return 'Hello world'
}
fn main() {
println(hello())
}
// hello_test.v
module main
fn test_hello() {
assert hello() == 'Hello world'
}
To run the test above, use v hello_test.v
. This will check that the function hello
is
producing the correct output. V executes all test functions in the file.
- All test functions have to be inside a test file whose name ends in
_test.v
. - Test function names must begin with
test_
to mark them for execution. - Normal functions can also be defined in test files, and should be called manually. Other symbols can also be defined in test files e.g. types.
- There are two kinds of tests: external and internal.
- Internal tests must declare their module, just like all other .v files from the same module. Internal tests can even call private functions in the same module.
- External tests must import the modules which they test. They do not have access to the private functions/types of the modules. They can test only the external/public API that a module provides.
In the example above, test_hello
is an internal test, that can call
the private function hello()
because hello_test.v
has module main
,
just like hello.v
, i.e. both are part of the same module. Note also that
since module main
is a regular module like the others, internal tests can
be used to test private functions in your main program .v files too.
You can also define these special test functions in a test file:
testsuite_begin
which will be run before all other test functions.testsuite_end
which will be run after all other test functions.
If a test function has an error return type, any propagated errors will fail the test:
import strconv
fn test_atoi() ? {
assert strconv.atoi('1') ? == 1
assert strconv.atoi('one') ? == 1 // test will fail
}
Running tests
To run test functions in an individual test file, use v foo_test.v
.
To test an entire module, use v test mymodule
. You can also use v test .
to test
everything inside your current folder (and subfolders). You can pass the -stats
option to see more details about the individual tests run.
You can put additional test data, including .v source files in a folder, named
testdata
, right next to your _test.v files. V's test framework will ignore
such folders, while scanning for tests to run. This is useful, if you want to
put .v files with invalid V source code, or other tests, including known
failing ones, that should be run in a specific way/options by a parent _test.v
file.
NB: the path to the V compiler, is available through @VEXE, so a _test.v file, can easily run other test files like this:
import os
fn test_subtest() {
res := os.execute('${os.quoted_path(@VEXE)} other_test.v')
assert res.exit_code == 1
assert res.output.contains('other_test.v does not exist')
}
Memory management
V avoids doing unnecessary allocations in the first place by using value types, string buffers, promoting a simple abstraction-free code style.
Most objects (~90-100%) are freed by V's autofree engine: the compiler inserts necessary free calls automatically during compilation. Remaining small percentage of objects is freed via reference counting.
The developer doesn't need to change anything in their code. "It just works", like in Python, Go, or Java, except there's no heavy GC tracing everything or expensive RC for each object.
Control
You can take advantage of V's autofree engine and define a free()
method on custom
data types:
struct MyType {}
[unsafe]
fn (data &MyType) free() {
// ...
}
Just as the compiler frees C data types with C's free()
, it will statically insert
free()
calls for your data type at the end of each variable's lifetime.
For developers willing to have more low level control, autofree can be disabled with
-manualfree
, or by adding a [manualfree]
on each function that wants manage its
memory manually. (See attributes).
Note: right now autofree is hidden behind the -autofree flag. It will be enabled by default in V 0.3. If autofree is not used, V programs will leak memory.
Note 2: Autofree is still WIP. Until it stabilises and becomes the default, please
compile your long running processes with -gc boehm
, which will use the
Boehm-Demers-Weiser conservative garbage collector, to free the memory, that your
programs leak, at runtime.
Examples
import strings
fn draw_text(s string, x int, y int) {
// ...
}
fn draw_scene() {
// ...
name1 := 'abc'
name2 := 'def ghi'
draw_text('hello $name1', 10, 10)
draw_text('hello $name2', 100, 10)
draw_text(strings.repeat(`X`, 10000), 10, 50)
// ...
}
The strings don't escape draw_text
, so they are cleaned up when
the function exits.
In fact, with the -prealloc
flag, the first two calls won't result in any allocations at all.
These two strings are small, so V will use a preallocated buffer for them.
struct User {
name string
}
fn test() []int {
number := 7 // stack variable
user := User{} // struct allocated on stack
numbers := [1, 2, 3] // array allocated on heap, will be freed as the function exits
println(number)
println(user)
println(numbers)
numbers2 := [4, 5, 6] // array that's being returned, won't be freed here
return numbers2
}
Stack and Heap
Stack and Heap Basics
Like with most other programming languages there are two locations where data can be stored:
- The stack allows fast allocations with almost zero administrative overhead. The stack grows and shrinks with the function call depth – so every called function has its stack segment that remains valid until the function returns. No freeing is necessary, however, this also means that a reference to a stack object becomes invalid on function return. Furthermore stack space is limited (typically to a few Megabytes per thread).
- The heap is a large memory area (typically some Gigabytes) that is administrated by the operating system. Heap objects are allocated and freed by special function calls that delegate the administrative tasks to the OS. This means that they can remain valid across several function calls, however, the administration is expensive.
V's default approach
Due to performance considerations V tries to put objects on the stack if possible but allocates them on the heap when obviously necessary. Example:
struct MyStruct {
n int
}
struct RefStruct {
r &MyStruct
}
fn main() {
q, w := f()
println('q: $q.r.n, w: $w.n')
}
fn f() (RefStruct, &MyStruct) {
a := MyStruct{
n: 1
}
b := MyStruct{
n: 2
}
c := MyStruct{
n: 3
}
e := RefStruct{
r: &b
}
x := a.n + c.n
println('x: $x')
return e, &c
}
Here a
is stored on the stack since it's address never leaves the function f()
.
However a reference to b
is part of e
which is returned. Also a reference to
c
is returned. For this reason b
and c
will be heap allocated.
Things become less obvious when a reference to an object is passed as function argument:
struct MyStruct {
mut:
n int
}
fn main() {
mut q := MyStruct{
n: 7
}
w := MyStruct{
n: 13
}
x := q.f(&w) // references of `q` and `w` are passed
println('q: $q\nx: $x')
}
fn (mut a MyStruct) f(b &MyStruct) int {
a.n += b.n
x := a.n * b.n
return x
}
Here the call q.f(&w)
passes references to q
and w
because a
is
mut
and b
is of type &MyStruct
in f()
's declaration, so technically
these references are leaving main()
. However the lifetime of these
references lies inside the scope of main()
so q
and w
are allocated
on the stack.
Manual Control for Stack and Heap
In the last example the V compiler could put q
and w
on the stack
because it assumed that in the call q.f(&w)
these references were only
used for reading and modifying the referred values – and not to pass the
references themselves somewhere else. This can be seen in a way that the
references to q
and w
are only borrowed to f()
.
Things become different if f()
is doing something with a reference itself:
struct RefStruct {
mut:
r &MyStruct
}
// see discussion below
[heap]
struct MyStruct {
n int
}
fn main() {
m := MyStruct{}
mut r := RefStruct{
r: &m
}
r.g()
println('r: $r')
}
fn (mut r RefStruct) g() {
s := MyStruct{
n: 7
}
r.f(&s) // reference to `s` inside `r` is passed back to `main() `
}
fn (mut r RefStruct) f(s &MyStruct) {
r.r = s // would trigger error without `[heap]`
}
Here f()
looks quite innocent but is doing nasty things – it inserts a
reference to s
into r
. The problem with this is that s
lives only as long
as g()
is running but r
is used in main()
after that. For this reason
the compiler would complain about the assignment in f()
because s
"might
refer to an object stored on stack". The assumption made in g()
that the call
r.f(&s)
would only borrow the reference to s
is wrong.
A solution to this dilemma is the [heap]
attribute at the declaration of
struct MyStruct
. It instructs the compiler to always allocate MyStruct
-objects
on the heap. This way the reference to s
remains valid even after g()
returns.
The compiler takes into consideration that MyStruct
objects are always heap
allocated when checking f()
and allows assigning the reference to s
to the
r.r
field.
There is a pattern often seen in other programming languages:
fn (mut a MyStruct) f() &MyStruct {
// do something with a
return &a // would return address of borrowed object
}
Here f()
is passed a reference a
as receiver that is passed back to the caller and returned
as result at the same time. The intention behind such a declaration is method chaining like
y = x.f().g()
. However, the problem with this approach is that a second reference
to a
is created – so it is not only borrowed and MyStruct
has to be
declared as [heap]
.
In V the better approach is:
struct MyStruct {
mut:
n int
}
fn (mut a MyStruct) f() {
// do something with `a`
}
fn (mut a MyStruct) g() {
// do something else with `a`
}
fn main() {
x := MyStruct{} // stack allocated
mut y := x
y.f()
y.g()
// instead of `mut y := x.f().g()
}
This way the [heap]
attribute can be avoided – resulting in better performance.
However, stack space is very limited as mentioned above. For this reason the [heap]
attribute might be suitable for very large structures even if not required by use cases
like those mentioned above.
There is an alternative way to manually control allocation on a case to case basis. This approach is not recommended but shown here for the sake of completeness:
struct MyStruct {
n int
}
struct RefStruct {
mut:
r &MyStruct
}
// simple function - just to overwrite stack segment previously used by `g()`
fn use_stack() {
x := 7.5
y := 3.25
z := x + y
println('$x $y $z')
}
fn main() {
m := MyStruct{}
mut r := RefStruct{
r: &m
}
r.g()
use_stack() // to erase invalid stack contents
println('r: $r')
}
fn (mut r RefStruct) g() {
s := &MyStruct{ // `s` explicitly refers to a heap object
n: 7
}
// change `&MyStruct` -> `MyStruct` above and `r.f(s)` -> `r.f(&s)` below
// to see data in stack segment being overwritten
r.f(s)
}
fn (mut r RefStruct) f(s &MyStruct) {
r.r = unsafe { s } // override compiler check
}
Here the compiler check is suppressed by the unsafe
block. To make s
be heap
allocated even without [heap]
attribute the struct
literal is prefixed with
an ampersand: &MyStruct{...}
.
This last step would not be required by the compiler but without it the reference
inside r
becomes invalid (the memory area pointed to will be overwritten by
use_stack()
) and the program might crash (or at least produce an unpredictable
final output). That's why this approach is unsafe and should be avoided!
ORM
(This is still in an alpha state)
V has a built-in ORM (object-relational mapping) which supports SQLite, MySQL and Postgres, but soon it will support MS SQL and Oracle.
V's ORM provides a number of benefits:
- One syntax for all SQL dialects. (Migrating between databases becomes much easier.)
- Queries are constructed using V's syntax. (There's no need to learn another syntax.)
- Safety. (All queries are automatically sanitised to prevent SQL injection.)
- Compile time checks. (This prevents typos which can only be caught during runtime.)
- Readability and simplicity. (You don't need to manually parse the results of a query and then manually construct objects from the parsed results.)
import sqlite
// sets a custom table name. Default is struct name (case-sensitive)
[table: 'customers']
struct Customer {
id int [primary; sql: serial] // a field named `id` of integer type must be the first field
name string [nonull]
nr_orders int
country string [nonull]
}
db := sqlite.connect('customers.db') ?
// you can create tables:
// CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `Customer` (
// `id` INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
// `name` TEXT NOT NULL,
// `nr_orders` INTEGER,
// `country` TEXT NOT NULL
// )
sql db {
create table Customer
}
// select count(*) from customers
nr_customers := sql db {
select count from Customer
}
println('number of all customers: $nr_customers')
// V syntax can be used to build queries
uk_customers := sql db {
select from Customer where country == 'uk' && nr_orders > 0
}
println(uk_customers.len)
for customer in uk_customers {
println('$customer.id - $customer.name')
}
// by adding `limit 1` we tell V that there will be only one object
customer := sql db {
select from Customer where id == 1 limit 1
}
println('$customer.id - $customer.name')
// insert a new customer
new_customer := Customer{
name: 'Bob'
nr_orders: 10
}
sql db {
insert new_customer into Customer
}
For more examples and the docs, see vlib/orm.
Writing Documentation
The way it works is very similar to Go. It's very simple: there's no need to write documentation separately for your code, vdoc will generate it from docstrings in the source code.
Documentation for each function/type/const must be placed right before the declaration:
// clearall clears all bits in the array
fn clearall() {
}
The comment must start with the name of the definition.
Sometimes one line isn't enough to explain what a function does, in that case comments should span to the documented function using single line comments:
// copy_all recursively copies all elements of the array by their value,
// if `dupes` is false all duplicate values are eliminated in the process.
fn copy_all(dupes bool) {
// ...
}
By convention it is preferred that comments are written in present tense.
An overview of the module must be placed in the first comment right after the module's name.
To generate documentation use vdoc, for example v doc net.http
.
Newlines in Documentation Comments
Comments spanning multiple lines are merged together using spaces, unless
- the line is empty
- the line ends with a
.
(end of sentence) - the line is purely of at least 3 of
-
,=
,_
,*
,~
(horizontal rule) - the line starts with at least one
#
followed by a space (header) - the line starts and ends with a
|
(table) - the line starts with
-
(list)
Tools
v fmt
You don't need to worry about formatting your code or setting style guidelines.
v fmt
takes care of that:
v fmt file.v
It's recommended to set up your editor, so that v fmt -w
runs on every save.
A vfmt run is usually pretty cheap (takes <30ms).
Always run v fmt -w file.v
before pushing your code.
v shader
You can use GPU shaders with V graphical apps. You write your shaders in an
annotated GLSL dialect
and use v shader
to compile them for all supported target platforms.
v shader /path/to/project/dir/or/file.v
Currently you need to include a header and declare a glue function before using the shader in your code.
Profiling
V has good support for profiling your programs: v -profile profile.txt run file.v
That will produce a profile.txt file, which you can then analyze.
The generated profile.txt file will have lines with 4 columns: a) how many times a function was called b) how much time in total a function took (in ms) c) how much time on average, a call to a function took (in ns) d) the name of the v function
You can sort on column 3 (average time per function) using:
sort -n -k3 profile.txt|tail
You can also use stopwatches to measure just portions of your code explicitly:
import time
fn main() {
sw := time.new_stopwatch()
println('Hello world')
println('Greeting the world took: ${sw.elapsed().nanoseconds()}ns')
}
Package management
v [module option] [param]
module options:
install Install a module from VPM.
remove Remove a module that was installed from VPM.
search Search for a module from VPM.
update Update an installed module from VPM.
upgrade Upgrade all the outdated modules.
list List all installed modules.
outdated Show installed modules that need updates.
You can install modules already created by someone else with VPM:
v install [module]
Example:
v install ui
Modules can be installed directly from git or mercurial repositories.
v install [--once] [--git|--hg] [url]
Example:
v install --git https://github.com/vlang/markdown
Sometimes you may want to install the dependencies ONLY if those are not installed:
v install --once [module]
Removing a module with v:
v remove [module]
Example:
v remove ui
Updating an installed module from VPM:
v update [module]
Example:
v update ui
Or you can update all your modules:
v update
To see all the modules you have installed, you can use:
v list
Example:
> v list
Installed modules:
markdown
ui
To see all the modules that need updates:
v outdated
Example:
> v outdated
Modules are up to date.
Publish package
-
Put a
v.mod
file inside the toplevel folder of your module (if you created your module with the commandv new mymodule
orv init
you already have a v.mod file).v new mymodule Input your project description: My nice module. Input your project version: (0.0.0) 0.0.1 Input your project license: (MIT) Initialising ... Complete!
Example
v.mod
:Module { name: 'mymodule' description: 'My nice module.' version: '0.0.1' license: 'MIT' dependencies: [] }
Minimal file structure:
v.mod mymodule.v
The name of your module should be used with the
module
directive at the top of all files in your module. Formymodule.v
:module mymodule pub fn hello_world() { println('Hello World!') }
-
Create a git repository in the folder with the
v.mod
file (this is not required if you usedv new
orv init
):git init git add . git commit -m "INIT"
-
Create a public repository on github.com.
-
Connect your local repository to the remote repository and push the changes.
-
Add your module to the public V module registry VPM: https://vpm.vlang.io/new
You will have to login with your Github account to register the module. Warning: Currently it is not possible to edit your entry after submitting. Check your module name and github url twice as this cannot be changed by you later.
-
The final module name is a combination of your github account and the module name you provided e.g.
mygithubname.mymodule
.
Optional: tag your V module with vlang
and vlang-module
on github.com
to allow for a better search experience.
Advanced Topics
Memory-unsafe code
Sometimes for efficiency you may want to write low-level code that can potentially corrupt memory or be vulnerable to security exploits. V supports writing such code, but not by default.
V requires that any potentially memory-unsafe operations are marked intentionally. Marking them also indicates to anyone reading the code that there could be memory-safety violations if there was a mistake.
Examples of potentially memory-unsafe operations are:
- Pointer arithmetic
- Pointer indexing
- Conversion to pointer from an incompatible type
- Calling certain C functions, e.g.
free
,strlen
andstrncmp
.
To mark potentially memory-unsafe operations, enclose them in an unsafe
block:
// allocate 2 uninitialized bytes & return a reference to them
mut p := unsafe { malloc(2) }
p[0] = `h` // Error: pointer indexing is only allowed in `unsafe` blocks
unsafe {
p[0] = `h` // OK
p[1] = `i`
}
p++ // Error: pointer arithmetic is only allowed in `unsafe` blocks
unsafe {
p++ // OK
}
assert *p == `i`
Best practice is to avoid putting memory-safe expressions inside an unsafe
block,
so that the reason for using unsafe
is as clear as possible. Generally any code
you think is memory-safe should not be inside an unsafe
block, so the compiler
can verify it.
If you suspect your program does violate memory-safety, you have a head start on
finding the cause: look at the unsafe
blocks (and how they interact with
surrounding code).
- Note: This is work in progress.
Structs with reference fields
Structs with references require explicitly setting the initial value to a reference value unless the struct already defines its own initial value.
Zero-value references, or nil pointers, will NOT be supported in the future,
for now data structures such as Linked Lists or Binary Trees that rely on reference
fields that can use the value 0
, understanding that it is unsafe, and that it can
cause a panic.
struct Node {
a &Node
b &Node = 0 // Auto-initialized to nil, use with caution!
}
// Reference fields must be initialized unless an initial value is declared.
// Zero (0) is OK but use with caution, it's a nil pointer.
foo := Node{
a: 0
}
bar := Node{
a: &foo
}
baz := Node{
a: 0
b: 0
}
qux := Node{
a: &foo
b: &bar
}
println(baz)
println(qux)
sizeof and __offsetof
sizeof(Type)
gives the size of a type in bytes.__offsetof(Struct, field_name)
gives the offset in bytes of a struct field.
struct Foo {
a int
b int
}
assert sizeof(Foo) == 8
assert __offsetof(Foo, a) == 0
assert __offsetof(Foo, b) == 4
Calling C from V
Example
#flag -lsqlite3
#include "sqlite3.h"
// See also the example from https://www.sqlite.org/quickstart.html
struct C.sqlite3 {
}
struct C.sqlite3_stmt {
}
type FnSqlite3Callback = fn (voidptr, int, &&char, &&char) int
fn C.sqlite3_open(&char, &&C.sqlite3) int
fn C.sqlite3_close(&C.sqlite3) int
fn C.sqlite3_column_int(stmt &C.sqlite3_stmt, n int) int
// ... you can also just define the type of parameter and leave out the C. prefix
fn C.sqlite3_prepare_v2(&C.sqlite3, &char, int, &&C.sqlite3_stmt, &&char) int
fn C.sqlite3_step(&C.sqlite3_stmt)
fn C.sqlite3_finalize(&C.sqlite3_stmt)
fn C.sqlite3_exec(db &C.sqlite3, sql &char, cb FnSqlite3Callback, cb_arg voidptr, emsg &&char) int
fn C.sqlite3_free(voidptr)
fn my_callback(arg voidptr, howmany int, cvalues &&char, cnames &&char) int {
unsafe {
for i in 0 .. howmany {
print('| ${cstring_to_vstring(cnames[i])}: ${cstring_to_vstring(cvalues[i]):20} ')
}
}
println('|')
return 0
}
fn main() {
db := &C.sqlite3(0) // this means `sqlite3* db = 0`
// passing a string literal to a C function call results in a C string, not a V string
C.sqlite3_open(c'users.db', &db)
// C.sqlite3_open(db_path.str, &db)
query := 'select count(*) from users'
stmt := &C.sqlite3_stmt(0)
// NB: you can also use the `.str` field of a V string,
// to get its C style zero terminated representation
C.sqlite3_prepare_v2(db, &char(query.str), -1, &stmt, 0)
C.sqlite3_step(stmt)
nr_users := C.sqlite3_column_int(stmt, 0)
C.sqlite3_finalize(stmt)
println('There are $nr_users users in the database.')
//
error_msg := &char(0)
query_all_users := 'select * from users'
rc := C.sqlite3_exec(db, &char(query_all_users.str), my_callback, voidptr(7), &error_msg)
if rc != C.SQLITE_OK {
eprintln(unsafe { cstring_to_vstring(error_msg) })
C.sqlite3_free(error_msg)
}
C.sqlite3_close(db)
}
Calling V from C
Since V can compile to C, calling V code from C is very easy.
By default all V functions have the following naming scheme in C: [module name]__[fn_name]
.
For example, fn foo() {}
in module bar
will result in bar__foo()
.
To use a custom export name, use the [export]
attribute:
[export: 'my_custom_c_name']
fn foo() {
}
Atomics
V has no special support for atomics, yet, nevertheless it's possible to treat variables as atomics
by calling C functions from V. The standard C11 atomic functions like atomic_store()
are usually
defined with the help of macros and C compiler magic to provide a kind of overloaded C functions.
Since V does not support overloading functions by intention there are wrapper functions defined in
C headers named atomic.h
that are part of the V compiler infrastructure.
There are dedicated wrappers for all unsigned integer types and for pointers.
(byte
is not fully supported on Windows) – the function names include the type name
as suffix. e.g. C.atomic_load_ptr()
or C.atomic_fetch_add_u64()
.
To use these functions the C header for the used OS has to be included and the functions that are intended to be used have to be declared. Example:
$if windows {
#include "@VEXEROOT/thirdparty/stdatomic/win/atomic.h"
} $else {
#include "@VEXEROOT/thirdparty/stdatomic/nix/atomic.h"
}
// declare functions we want to use - V does not parse the C header
fn C.atomic_store_u32(&u32, u32)
fn C.atomic_load_u32(&u32) u32
fn C.atomic_compare_exchange_weak_u32(&u32, &u32, u32) bool
fn C.atomic_compare_exchange_strong_u32(&u32, &u32, u32) bool
const num_iterations = 10000000
// see section "Global Variables" below
__global (
atom u32 // ordinary variable but used as atomic
)
fn change() int {
mut races_won_by_change := 0
for {
mut cmp := u32(17) // addressable value to compare with and to store the found value
// atomic version of `if atom == 17 { atom = 23 races_won_by_change++ } else { cmp = atom }`
if C.atomic_compare_exchange_strong_u32(&atom, &cmp, 23) {
races_won_by_change++
} else {
if cmp == 31 {
break
}
cmp = 17 // re-assign because overwritten with value of atom
}
}
return races_won_by_change
}
fn main() {
C.atomic_store_u32(&atom, 17)
t := go change()
mut races_won_by_main := 0
mut cmp17 := u32(17)
mut cmp23 := u32(23)
for i in 0 .. num_iterations {
// atomic version of `if atom == 17 { atom = 23 races_won_by_main++ }`
if C.atomic_compare_exchange_strong_u32(&atom, &cmp17, 23) {
races_won_by_main++
} else {
cmp17 = 17
}
desir := if i == num_iterations - 1 { u32(31) } else { u32(17) }
// atomic version of `for atom != 23 {} atom = desir`
for !C.atomic_compare_exchange_weak_u32(&atom, &cmp23, desir) {
cmp23 = 23
}
}
races_won_by_change := t.wait()
atom_new := C.atomic_load_u32(&atom)
println('atom: $atom_new, #exchanges: ${races_won_by_main + races_won_by_change}')
// prints `atom: 31, #exchanges: 10000000`)
println('races won by\n- `main()`: $races_won_by_main\n- `change()`: $races_won_by_change')
}
In this example both main()
and the spawned thread change()
try to replace a value of 17
in the global atom
with a value of 23
. The replacement in the opposite direction is
done exactly 10000000 times. The last replacement will be with 31
which makes the spawned
thread finish.
It is not predictable how many replacements occur in which thread, but the sum will always be 10000000. (With the non-atomic commands from the comments the value will be higher or the program will hang – dependent on the compiler optimization used.)
Global Variables
By default V does not allow global variables. However, in low level applications they have their
place so their usage can be enabled with the compiler flag -enable-globals
.
Declarations of global variables must be surrounded with a __global ( ... )
specification – as in the example above.
An initializer for global variables must be explicitly converted to the
desired target type. If no initializer is given a default initialization is done.
Some objects like semaphores and mutexes require an explicit initialization in place, i.e.
not with a value returned from a function call but with a method call by reference.
A separate init()
function can be used for this purpose – it will be called before main()
:
import sync
__global (
sem sync.Semaphore // needs initialization in `init()`
mtx sync.RwMutex // needs initialization in `init()`
f1 = f64(34.0625) // explicily initialized
shmap shared map[string]f64 // initialized as empty `shared` map
f2 f64 // initialized to `0.0`
)
fn init() {
sem.init(0)
mtx.init()
}
Be aware that in multi threaded applications the access to global variables is subject to race conditions. There are several approaches to deal with these:
- use
shared
types for the variable declarations and uselock
blocks for access. This is most appropriate for larger objects like structs, arrays or maps. - handle primitive data types as "atomics" using special C-functions (see above).
- use explicit synchronization primitives like mutexes to control access. The compiler cannot really help in this case, so you have to know what you are doing.
- don't care – this approach is possible but makes only sense if the exact values
of global variables do not really matter. An example can be found in the
rand
module where global variables are used to generate (non cryptographic) pseudo random numbers. In this case data races lead to random numbers in different threads becoming somewhat correlated, which is acceptable considering the performance penalty that using synchonization primitives would represent.
Passing C compilation flags
Add #flag
directives to the top of your V files to provide C compilation flags like:
-I
for adding C include files search paths-l
for adding C library names that you want to get linked-L
for adding C library files search paths-D
for setting compile time variables
You can (optionally) use different flags for different targets.
Currently the linux
, darwin
, freebsd
, and windows
flags are supported.
NB: Each flag must go on its own line (for now)
#flag linux -lsdl2
#flag linux -Ivig
#flag linux -DCIMGUI_DEFINE_ENUMS_AND_STRUCTS=1
#flag linux -DIMGUI_DISABLE_OBSOLETE_FUNCTIONS=1
#flag linux -DIMGUI_IMPL_API=
In the console build command, you can use:
-cflags
to pass custom flags to the backend C compiler.-cc
to change the default C backend compiler.- For example:
-cc gcc-9 -cflags -fsanitize=thread
.
You can define a VFLAGS
environment variable in your terminal to store your -cc
and -cflags
settings, rather than including them in the build command each time.
#pkgconfig
Add #pkgconfig
directive is used to tell the compiler which modules should be used for compiling
and linking using the pkg-config files provided by the respective dependencies.
As long as backticks can't be used in #flag
and spawning processes is not desirable for security
and portability reasons, V uses its own pkgconfig library that is compatible with the standard
freedesktop one.
If no flags are passed it will add --cflags
and --libs
, both lines below do the same:
#pkgconfig r_core
#pkgconfig --cflags --libs r_core
The .pc
files are looked up into a hardcoded list of default pkg-config paths, the user can add
extra paths by using the PKG_CONFIG_PATH
environment variable. Multiple modules can be passed.
To check the existence of a pkg-config use $pkgconfig('pkg')
as a compile time "if" condition to
check if a pkg-config exists. If it exists the branch will be created. Use $else
or $else $if
to handle other cases.
$if $pkgconfig('mysqlclient') {
#pkgconfig mysqlclient
} $else $if $pkgconfig('mariadb') {
#pkgconfig mariadb
}
Including C code
You can also include C code directly in your V module. For example, let's say that your C code is located in a folder named 'c' inside your module folder. Then:
- Put a v.mod file inside the toplevel folder of your module (if you
created your module with
v new
you already have v.mod file). For example:
Module {
name: 'mymodule',
description: 'My nice module wraps a simple C library.',
version: '0.0.1'
dependencies: []
}
- Add these lines to the top of your module:
#flag -I @VMODROOT/c
#flag @VMODROOT/c/implementation.o
#include "header.h"
NB: @VMODROOT will be replaced by V with the nearest parent folder, where there is a v.mod file.
Any .v file beside or below the folder where the v.mod file is,
can use #flag @VMODROOT/abc
to refer to this folder.
The @VMODROOT folder is also prepended to the module lookup path,
so you can import other modules under your @VMODROOT, by just naming them.
The instructions above will make V look for an compiled .o file in
your module folder/c/implementation.o
.
If V finds it, the .o file will get linked to the main executable, that used the module.
If it does not find it, V assumes that there is a @VMODROOT/c/implementation.c
file,
and tries to compile it to a .o file, then will use that.
This allows you to have C code, that is contained in a V module, so that its distribution is easier. You can see a complete minimal example for using C code in a V wrapper module here: project_with_c_code. Another example, demonstrating passing structs from C to V and back again: interoperate between C to V to C.
C types
Ordinary zero terminated C strings can be converted to V strings with
unsafe { &char(cstring).vstring() }
or if you know their length already with
unsafe { &char(cstring).vstring_with_len(len) }
.
NB: The .vstring() and .vstring_with_len() methods do NOT create a copy of the cstring
,
so you should NOT free it after calling the method .vstring()
.
If you need to make a copy of the C string (some libc APIs like getenv
pretty much require that,
since they return pointers to internal libc memory), you can use cstring_to_vstring(cstring)
.
On Windows, C APIs often return so called wide
strings (utf16 encoding).
These can be converted to V strings with string_from_wide(&u16(cwidestring))
.
V has these types for easier interoperability with C:
voidptr
for C'svoid*
,&byte
for C'sbyte*
and&char
for C'schar*
.&&char
for C'schar**
To cast a voidptr
to a V reference, use user := &User(user_void_ptr)
.
voidptr
can also be dereferenced into a V struct through casting: user := User(user_void_ptr)
.
an example of a module that calls C code from V
C Declarations
C identifiers are accessed with the C
prefix similarly to how module-specific
identifiers are accessed. Functions must be redeclared in V before they can be used.
Any C types may be used behind the C
prefix, but types must be redeclared in V in
order to access type members.
To redeclare complex types, such as in the following C code:
struct SomeCStruct {
uint8_t implTraits;
uint16_t memPoolData;
union {
struct {
void* data;
size_t size;
};
DataView view;
};
};
members of sub-data-structures may be directly declared in the containing struct as below:
struct C.SomeCStruct {
implTraits byte
memPoolData u16
// These members are part of sub data structures that can't currently be represented in V.
// Declaring them directly like this is sufficient for access.
// union {
// struct {
data voidptr
size usize
// }
view C.DataView
// }
}
The existence of the data members is made known to V, and they may be used without re-creating the original structure exactly.
Alternatively, you may embed the sub-data-structures to maintain a parallel code structure.
Debugging
C Backend binaries (Default)
To debug issues in the generated binary (flag: -b c
), you can pass these flags:
-g
- produces a less optimized executable with more debug information in it. V will enforce line numbers from the .v files in the stacktraces, that the executable will produce on panic. It is usually better to pass -g, unless you are writing low level code, in which case use the next option-cg
.-cg
- produces a less optimized executable with more debug information in it. The executable will use C source line numbers in this case. It is frequently used in combination with-keepc
, so that you can inspect the generated C program in case of panic, or so that your debugger (gdb
,lldb
etc.) can show you the generated C source code.-showcc
- prints the C command that is used to build the program.-show-c-output
- prints the output, that your C compiler produced while compiling your program.-keepc
- do not delete the generated C source code file after a successful compilation. Also keep using the same file path, so it is more stable, and easier to keep opened in an editor/IDE.
For best debugging experience if you are writing a low level wrapper for an existing
C library, you can pass several of these flags at the same time:
v -keepc -cg -showcc yourprogram.v
, then just run your debugger (gdb/lldb) or IDE
on the produced executable yourprogram
.
If you just want to inspect the generated C code,
without further compilation, you can also use the -o
flag (e.g. -o file.c
).
This will make V produce the file.c
then stop.
If you want to see the generated C source code for just a single C function,
for example main
, you can use: -printfn main -o file.c
.
To debug the V executable itself you need to compile from src with ./v -g -o v cmd/v
.
You can debug tests with for example v -g -keepc prog_test.v
. The -keepc
flag is needed,
so that the executable is not deleted, after it was created and ran.
To see a detailed list of all flags that V supports,
use v help
, v help build
and v help build-c
.
Commandline Debugging
Troubleshooting (debugging) executables created with V in GDB
Visual debugging Setup:
Native Backend binaries
Currently there is no debugging support for binaries, created by the
native backend (flag: -b native
).
Javascript Backend
To debug the generated Javascript output you can activate source maps:
v -b js -sourcemap hello.v -o hello.js
For all supported options check the latest help:
v help build-js
Conditional compilation
Compile time code
$
is used as a prefix for compile-time operations.
$if
condition
fn main() {
// Support for multiple conditions in one branch
$if ios || android {
println('Running on a mobile device!')
}
$if linux && x64 {
println('64-bit Linux.')
}
// Usage as expression
os := $if windows { 'Windows' } $else { 'UNIX' }
println('Using $os')
// $else-$if branches
$if tinyc {
println('tinyc')
} $else $if clang {
println('clang')
} $else $if gcc {
println('gcc')
} $else {
println('different compiler')
}
$if test {
println('testing')
}
// v -cg ...
$if debug {
println('debugging')
}
// v -prod ...
$if prod {
println('production build')
}
// v -d option ...
$if option ? {
println('custom option')
}
}
If you want an if
to be evaluated at compile time it must be prefixed with a $
sign.
Right now it can be used to detect an OS, compiler, platform or compilation options.
$if debug
is a special option like $if windows
or $if x32
.
If you're using a custom ifdef, then you do need $if option ? {}
and compile withv -d option
.
Full list of builtin options:
OS | Compilers | Platforms | Other |
---|---|---|---|
windows , linux , macos |
gcc , tinyc |
amd64 , arm64 |
debug , prod , test |
mac , darwin , ios , |
clang , mingw |
x64 , x32 |
js , glibc , prealloc |
android ,mach , dragonfly |
msvc |
little_endian |
no_bounds_checking , freestanding |
gnu , hpux , haiku , qnx |
cplusplus |
big_endian |
no_segfault_handler , no_backtrace , no_main |
solaris |
$embed_file
import os
fn main() {
embedded_file := $embed_file('v.png')
os.write_file('exported.png', embedded_file.to_string()) ?
}
V can embed arbitrary files into the executable with the $embed_file(<path>)
compile time call. Paths can be absolute or relative to the source file.
When you do not use -prod
, the file will not be embedded. Instead, it will
be loaded the first time your program calls embedded_file.data()
at runtime, making
it easier to change in external editor programs, without needing to recompile
your executable.
When you compile with -prod
, the file will be embedded inside your
executable, increasing your binary size, but making it more self contained
and thus easier to distribute. In this case, embedded_file.data()
will cause no IO,
and it will always return the same data.
$embed_file
supports compression of the embedded file when compiling with -prod
.
Currently only one compression type is supported: zlib
import os
fn main() {
embedded_file := $embed_file('v.png', .zlib) // compressed using zlib
os.write_file('exported.png', embedded_file.to_string()) ?
}
$tmpl
for embedding and parsing V template files
V has a simple template language for text and html templates, and they can easily
be embedded via $tmpl('path/to/template.txt')
:
fn build() string {
name := 'Peter'
age := 25
numbers := [1, 2, 3]
return $tmpl('1.txt')
}
fn main() {
println(build())
}
1.txt:
name: @name
age: @age
numbers: @numbers
@for number in numbers
@number
@end
output:
name: Peter
age: 25
numbers: [1, 2, 3]
1
2
3
$env
module main
fn main() {
compile_time_env := $env('ENV_VAR')
println(compile_time_env)
}
V can bring in values at compile time from environment variables.
$env('ENV_VAR')
can also be used in top-level #flag
and #include
statements:
#flag linux -I $env('JAVA_HOME')/include
.
Environment specific files
If a file has an environment-specific suffix, it will only be compiled for that environment.
.js.v
=> will be used only by the JS backend. These files can contain JS. code..c.v
=> will be used only by the C backend. These files can contain C. code..native.v
=> will be used only by V's native backend._nix.c.v
=> will be used only on Unix systems (non Windows)._${os}.c.v
=> will be used only on the specificos
system. For example,_windows.c.v
will be used only when compiling on Windows, or with-os windows
._default.c.v
=> will be used only if there is NOT a more specific platform file. For example, if you have bothfile_linux.c.v
andfile_default.c.v
, and you are compiling for linux, then onlyfile_linux.c.v
will be used, andfile_default.c.v
will be ignored.
Here is a more complete example: main.v:
module main
fn main() { println(message) }
main_default.c.v:
module main
const ( message = 'Hello world' )
main_linux.c.v:
module main
const ( message = 'Hello linux' )
main_windows.c.v:
module main
const ( message = 'Hello windows' )
With the example above:
-
when you compile for windows, you will get 'Hello windows'
-
when you compile for linux, you will get 'Hello linux'
-
when you compile for any other platform, you will get the non specific 'Hello world' message.
-
_d_customflag.v
=> will be used only if you pass-d customflag
to V. That corresponds to$if customflag ? {}
, but for a whole file, not just a single block.customflag
should be a snake_case identifier, it can not contain arbitrary characters (only lower case latin letters + numbers +_
). NB: a combinatorial_d_customflag_linux.c.v
postfix will not work. If you do need a custom flag file, that has platform dependent code, use the postfix_d_customflag.v
, and then use plaftorm dependent compile time conditional blocks inside it, i.e.$if linux {}
etc. -
_notd_customflag.v
=> similar to _d_customflag.v, but will be used only if you do NOT pass-d customflag
to V.
Compile time pseudo variables
V also gives your code access to a set of pseudo string variables, that are substituted at compile time:
@FN
=> replaced with the name of the current V function@METHOD
=> replaced with ReceiverType.MethodName@MOD
=> replaced with the name of the current V module@STRUCT
=> replaced with the name of the current V struct@FILE
=> replaced with the path of the V source file@LINE
=> replaced with the V line number where it appears (as a string).@COLUMN
=> replaced with the column where it appears (as a string).@VEXE
=> replaced with the path to the V compiler@VEXEROOT
=> will be substituted with the folder, where the V executable is (as a string).@VHASH
=> replaced with the shortened commit hash of the V compiler (as a string).@VMOD_FILE
=> replaced with the contents of the nearest v.mod file (as a string).@VMODROOT
=> will be substituted with the folder, where the nearest v.mod file is (as a string).
That allows you to do the following example, useful while debugging/logging/tracing your code:
eprintln('file: ' + @FILE + ' | line: ' + @LINE + ' | fn: ' + @MOD + '.' + @FN)
Another example, is if you want to embed the version/name from v.mod inside your executable:
import v.vmod
vm := vmod.decode( @VMOD_FILE ) or { panic(err) }
eprintln('$vm.name $vm.version\n $vm.description')
Performance tuning
The generated C code is usually fast enough, when you compile your code
with -prod
. There are some situations though, where you may want to give
additional hints to the compiler, so that it can further optimize some
blocks of code.
NB: These are rarely needed, and should not be used, unless you profile your code, and then see that there are significant benefits for them. To cite gcc's documentation: "programmers are notoriously bad at predicting how their programs actually perform".
[inline]
- you can tag functions with [inline]
, so the C compiler will
try to inline them, which in some cases, may be beneficial for performance,
but may impact the size of your executable.
[direct_array_access]
- in functions tagged with [direct_array_access]
the compiler will translate array operations directly into C array operations -
omitting bounds checking. This may save a lot of time in a function that iterates
over an array but at the cost of making the function unsafe - unless
the boundaries will be checked by the user.
if _likely_(bool expression) {
this hints the C compiler, that the passed
boolean expression is very likely to be true, so it can generate assembly
code, with less chance of branch misprediction. In the JS backend,
that does nothing.
if _unlikely_(bool expression) {
similar to _likely_(x)
, but it hints that
the boolean expression is highly improbable. In the JS backend, that does nothing.
Compile-time reflection
Having built-in JSON support is nice, but V also allows you to create efficient
serializers for any data format. V has compile-time if
and for
constructs:
struct User {
name string
age int
}
fn main() {
$for field in User.fields {
$if field.typ is string {
println('$field.name is of type string')
}
}
}
// Output:
// name is of type string
See examples/compiletime/reflection.v
for a more complete example.
Limited operator overloading
struct Vec {
x int
y int
}
fn (a Vec) str() string {
return '{$a.x, $a.y}'
}
fn (a Vec) + (b Vec) Vec {
return Vec{a.x + b.x, a.y + b.y}
}
fn (a Vec) - (b Vec) Vec {
return Vec{a.x - b.x, a.y - b.y}
}
fn main() {
a := Vec{2, 3}
b := Vec{4, 5}
mut c := Vec{1, 2}
println(a + b) // "{6, 8}"
println(a - b) // "{-2, -2}"
c += a
println(c) // "{3, 5}"
}
Operator overloading goes against V's philosophy of simplicity and predictability. But since scientific and graphical applications are among V's domains, operator overloading is an important feature to have in order to improve readability:
a.add(b).add(c.mul(d))
is a lot less readable than a + b + c * d
.
To improve safety and maintainability, operator overloading is limited:
- It's only possible to overload
+, -, *, /, %, <, >, ==, !=, <=, >=
operators. ==
and!=
are self generated by the compiler but can be overridden.- Calling other functions inside operator functions is not allowed.
- Operator functions can't modify their arguments.
- When using
<
and==
operators, the return type must bebool
. !=
,>
,<=
and>=
are auto generated when==
and<
are defined.- Both arguments must have the same type (just like with all operators in V).
- Assignment operators (
*=
,+=
,/=
, etc) are auto generated when the corresponding operators are defined and operands are of the same type.
Inline assembly
a := 100
b := 20
mut c := 0
asm amd64 {
mov eax, a
add eax, b
mov c, eax
; =r (c) as c // output
; r (a) as a // input
r (b) as b
}
println('a: $a') // 100
println('b: $b') // 20
println('c: $c') // 120
For more examples, see github.com/vlang/v/tree/master/vlib/v/tests/assembly/asm_test.amd64.v
Translating C to V
TODO: translating C to V will be available in V 0.3.
V can translate your C code to human readable V code and generate V wrappers on top of C libraries.
Let's create a simple program test.c
first:
#include "stdio.h"
int main() {
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
printf("hello world\n");
}
return 0;
}
Run v translate test.c
, and V will generate test.v
:
fn main() {
for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
println('hello world')
}
}
To generate a wrapper on top of a C library use this command:
v wrapper c_code/libsodium/src/libsodium
This will generate a directory libsodium
with a V module.
Example of a C2V generated libsodium wrapper:
https://github.com/vlang/libsodium
When should you translate C code and when should you simply call C code from V?
If you have well-written, well-tested C code, then of course you can always simply call this C code from V.
Translating it to V gives you several advantages:
- If you plan to develop that code base, you now have everything in one language, which is much safer and easier to develop in than C.
- Cross-compilation becomes a lot easier. You don't have to worry about it at all.
- No more build flags and include files either.
Hot code reloading
module main
import time
[live]
fn print_message() {
println('Hello! Modify this message while the program is running.')
}
fn main() {
for {
print_message()
time.sleep(500 * time.millisecond)
}
}
Build this example with v -live message.v
.
You can also run this example with v -live run message.v
.
Make sure that in command you use a path to a V's file,
not a path to a folder (like v -live run .
) -
in that case you need to modify content of a folder (add new file, for example),
because changes in message.v will have no effect.
Functions that you want to be reloaded must have [live]
attribute
before their definition.
Right now it's not possible to modify types while the program is running.
More examples, including a graphical application: github.com/vlang/v/tree/master/examples/hot_reload.
Cross compilation
To cross compile your project simply run
v -os windows .
or
v -os linux .
(Cross compiling for macOS is temporarily not possible.)
If you don't have any C dependencies, that's all you need to do. This works even
when compiling GUI apps using the ui
module or graphical apps using gg
.
You will need to install Clang, LLD linker, and download a zip file with libraries and include files for Windows and Linux. V will provide you with a link.
Cross-platform shell scripts in V
V can be used as an alternative to Bash to write deployment scripts, build scripts, etc.
The advantage of using V for this is the simplicity and predictability of the language, and cross-platform support. "V scripts" run on Unix-like systems as well as on Windows.
Use the .vsh
file extension. It will make all functions in the os
module global (so that you can use mkdir()
instead of os.mkdir()
, for example).
An example deploy.vsh
:
#!/usr/bin/env -S v run
// The shebang above associates the file to V on Unix-like systems,
// so it can be run just by specifying the path to the file
// once it's made executable using `chmod +x`.
// print command then execute it
fn sh(cmd string){
println("❯ $cmd")
print(execute_or_exit(cmd).output)
}
// Remove if build/ exits, ignore any errors if it doesn't
rmdir_all('build') or { }
// Create build/, never fails as build/ does not exist
mkdir('build') ?
// Move *.v files to build/
result := execute('mv *.v build/')
if result.exit_code != 0 {
println(result.output)
}
sh('ls')
// Similar to:
// files := ls('.') ?
// mut count := 0
// if files.len > 0 {
// for file in files {
// if file.ends_with('.v') {
// mv(file, 'build/') or {
// println('err: $err')
// return
// }
// }
// count++
// }
// }
// if count == 0 {
// println('No files')
// }
Now you can either compile this like a normal V program and get an executable you can deploy and run
anywhere:
v deploy.vsh && ./deploy
Or just run it more like a traditional Bash script:
v run deploy.vsh
On Unix-like platforms, the file can be run directly after making it executable using chmod +x
:
./deploy.vsh
Attributes
V has several attributes that modify the behavior of functions and structs.
An attribute is a compiler instruction specified inside []
right before a
function/struct/enum declaration and applies only to the following declaration.
// [flag] enables Enum types to be used as bitfields
[flag]
enum BitField {
read
write
other
}
fn main() {
assert 1 == int(BitField.read)
assert 2 == int(BitField.write)
mut bf := BitField.read
assert bf.has(.read | .other) // test if *at least one* of the flags is set
assert !bf.all(.read | .other) // test if *all* of the flags is set
bf.set(.write | .other)
assert bf.has(.read | .write | .other)
assert bf.all(.read | .write | .other)
bf.toggle(.other)
assert bf == BitField.read | .write
assert bf.all(.read | .write)
assert !bf.has(.other)
}
// Calling this function will result in a deprecation warning
[deprecated]
fn old_function() {
}
// It can also display a custom deprecation message
[deprecated: 'use new_function() instead']
fn legacy_function() {}
// You can also specify a date, after which the function will be
// considered deprecated. Before that date, calls to the function
// will be compiler notices - you will see them, but the compilation
// is not affected. After that date, calls will become warnings,
// so ordinary compiling will still work, but compiling with -prod
// will not (all warnings are treated like errors with -prod).
// 6 months after the deprecation date, calls will be hard
// compiler errors.
[deprecated: 'use new_function2() instead']
[deprecated_after: '2021-05-27']
fn legacy_function2() {}
// This function's calls will be inlined.
[inline]
fn inlined_function() {
}
// This function's calls will NOT be inlined.
[noinline]
fn function() {
}
// This function will NOT return to its callers.
// Such functions can be used at the end of or blocks,
// just like exit/1 or panic/1. Such functions can not
// have return types, and should end either in for{}, or
// by calling other `[noreturn]` functions.
[noreturn]
fn forever() {
for {}
}
// The following struct must be allocated on the heap. Therefore, it can only be used as a
// reference (`&Window`) or inside another reference (`&OuterStruct{ Window{...} }`).
// See section "Stack and Heap"
[heap]
struct Window {
}
// V will not generate this function and all its calls if the provided flag is false.
// To use a flag, use `v -d flag`
[if debug]
fn foo() {
}
fn bar() {
foo() // will not be called if `-d debug` is not passed
}
// The memory pointed to by the pointer arguments of this function will not be
// freed by the garbage collector (if in use) before the function returns
[keep_args_alive]
fn C.my_external_function(voidptr, int, voidptr) int
// Calls to following function must be in unsafe{} blocks.
// Note that the code in the body of `risky_business()` will still be
// checked, unless you also wrap it in `unsafe {}` blocks.
// This is useful, when you want to have an `[unsafe]` function that
// has checks before/after a certain unsafe operation, that will still
// benefit from V's safety features.
[unsafe]
fn risky_business() {
// code that will be checked, perhaps checking pre conditions
unsafe {
// code that *will not be* checked, like pointer arithmetic,
// accessing union fields, calling other `[unsafe]` fns, etc...
// Usually, it is a good idea to try minimizing code wrapped
// in unsafe{} as much as possible.
// See also [Memory-unsafe code](#memory-unsafe-code)
}
// code that will be checked, perhaps checking post conditions and/or
// keeping invariants
}
// V's autofree engine will not take care of memory management in this function.
// You will have the responsibility to free memory manually yourself in it.
[manualfree]
fn custom_allocations() {
}
// For C interop only, tells V that the following struct is defined with `typedef struct` in C
[typedef]
struct C.Foo {
}
// Used in Win32 API code when you need to pass callback function
[windows_stdcall]
fn C.DefWindowProc(hwnd int, msg int, lparam int, wparam int)
// Windows only:
// If a default graphics library is imported (ex. gg, ui), then the graphical window takes
// priority and no console window is created, effectively disabling println() statements.
// Use to explicitly create console window. Valid before main() only.
[console]
fn main() {
}
Goto
V allows unconditionally jumping to a label with goto
. The label name must be contained
within the same function as the goto
statement. A program may goto
a label outside
or deeper than the current scope. goto
allows jumping past variable initialization or
jumping back to code that accesses memory that has already been freed, so it requires
unsafe
.
if x {
// ...
if y {
unsafe {
goto my_label
}
}
// ...
}
my_label:
goto
should be avoided, particularly when for
can be used instead.
Labelled break/continue can be used to break out of
a nested loop, and those do not risk violating memory-safety.
Appendices
Appendix I: Keywords
V has 41 reserved keywords (3 are literals):
as
asm
assert
atomic
break
const
continue
defer
else
embed
enum
false
fn
for
go
goto
if
import
in
interface
is
lock
match
module
mut
none
or
pub
return
rlock
select
shared
sizeof
static
struct
true
type
typeof
union
unsafe
volatile
__offsetof
See also V Types.
Appendix II: Operators
This lists operators for primitive types only.
+ sum integers, floats, strings
- difference integers, floats
* product integers, floats
/ quotient integers, floats
% remainder integers
~ bitwise NOT integers
& bitwise AND integers
| bitwise OR integers
^ bitwise XOR integers
! logical NOT bools
&& logical AND bools
|| logical OR bools
!= logical XOR bools
<< left shift integer << unsigned integer
>> right shift integer >> unsigned integer
>>> unsigned right shift integer >> unsigned integer
Precedence Operator
5 * / % << >> >>> &
4 + - | ^
3 == != < <= > >=
2 &&
1 ||
Assignment Operators
+= -= *= /= %=
&= |= ^=
>>= <<= >>>=