83 lines
3.2 KiB
Zig
83 lines
3.2 KiB
Zig
//
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// "Compile time" is a program's environment while it is being
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// compiled. In contrast, "run time" is the environment while the
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// compiled program is executing (traditionally as machine code
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// on a hardware CPU).
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//
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// Errors make an easy example:
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//
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// 1. Compile-time error: caught by the compiler, usually
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// resulting in a message to the programmer.
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//
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// 2. Runtime error: either caught by the running program itself
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// or by the host hardware or operating system. Could be
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// gracefully caught and handled or could cause the computer
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// to crash (or halt and catch fire)!
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//
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// All compiled languages must perform a certain amount of logic
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// at compile time in order to analyze the code, maintain a table
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// of symbols (such as variable and function names), etc.
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//
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// Optimizing compilers can also figure out how much of a program
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// can be pre-computed or "inlined" at compile time to make the
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// resulting program more efficient. Smart compilers can even
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// "unroll" loops, turning their logic into a fast linear
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// sequence of statements (at the usually very slight expense of
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// the increased size of the repeated code).
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//
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// Zig takes these concepts further by making these optimizations
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// an integral part of the language itself!
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//
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const print = @import("std").debug.print;
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pub fn main() void {
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// ALL numeric literals in Zig are of type comptime_int or
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// comptime_float. They are of arbitrary size (as big or
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// little as you need).
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//
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// Notice how we don't have to specify a size like "u8",
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// "i32", or "f64" when we assign identifiers immutably with
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// "const".
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//
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// When we use these identifiers in our program, the VALUES
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// are inserted at compile time into the executable code. The
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// IDENTIFIERS "const_int" and "const_float" don't exist in
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// our compiled application!
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const const_int = 12345;
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const const_float = 987.654;
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print("Immutable: {}, {d:.3}; ", .{const_int, const_float});
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// But something changes when we assign the exact same values
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// to identifiers mutably with "var".
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//
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// The literals are STILL comptime_int and comptime_float,
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// but we wish to assign them to identifiers which are
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// mutable at runtime.
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//
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// To be mutable at runtime, these identifiers must refer to
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// areas of memory. In order to refer to areas of memory, Zig
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// must know exactly how much memory to reserve for these
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// values. Therefore, it follows that we just specify numeric
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// types with specific sizes. The comptime numbers will be
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// coerced (if they'll fit!) into your chosen runtime types.
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var var_int = 12345;
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var var_float = 987.654;
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// We can change what is stored at the areas set aside for
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// "var_int" and "var_float" in the running compiled program.
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var_int = 54321;
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var_float = 456.789;
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print("Mutable: {}, {d:.3}; ", .{var_int, var_float});
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// Bonus: Now that we're familiar with Zig's builtins, we can
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// also inspect the types to see what they are, no guessing
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// needed!
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print("Types: {}, {}, {}, {}\n", .{
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@TypeOf(const_int),
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@TypeOf(const_float),
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@TypeOf(var_int),
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@TypeOf(var_float),
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});
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}
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