Theories about variables in the AutoHotkey

[ewertoncsmelo]

Please, where can I find information on the following topics:
Data types
What data types does the language support?
What are primitive types and what are composite types?
What are numeric types and how are they different?
Is it possible to define enumerable data types? And subtracks?
How does the language handle Strings?
primitive type? Composite type?
Static size? Dynamic size (limited?)?
Does the language support the following composite types? Like?
Cartesian product
Mappings
disjoint unions
recursive types

Please, you place examples...

Mod edit: Moved to "Ask For Help" from "Forum Issues"

[mikeyww]

https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Variables.htm

[ewertoncsmelo]

I need information about the topics:
I'm not getting

Temporary Variables
Persistent Variables
storable
Composite Variables
Variable update
Full update? Selective update?
matrices
Static? Dynamic? Flexible?
Copy Semantics and Reference Semantics
commands
Jump
Assignment
Simple attribution? Multiple Assignment? Concurrent Assignment?
Procedure call?
Sequential command?
collateral command?
conditional command?
iterative command?
Command Expression (expressions with side effects)?
Command block and Expression block?
abstractions
Function abstraction? Procedure abstraction?
Parameterization of abstractions
Parameter passing by copy? (value, result, value/result?)
Parameter passing by reference?
Program Units
packages?
Types of data summaries?
Objects and Classes?
Generic Units?
sequencers
Unconditional Deviations?
leaks?
Exceptions?

[gregster]

I would recommend to study the AHK v1 docs: https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/AutoHotkey.htm (or the v2 beta docs, if you prefer: https://lexikos.github.io/v2/docs/AutoHotkey.htm) - and ideally forum posts as well, which can be found via our search box or https://www.autohotkey.com/search/.
Then please ask specific questions! One by one.

What are you expecting from requests like this? Nobody will replicate the already available docs or information here for this vast array of topics.
I am not even sure if you already started looking at the docs, or if this is meant as a joke. Many things you have listed can be easily found in the AHK docs, others are quite general concepts, or it's unclear what you are specifically looking for.
What did you find in the AHK docs or on these forums about these topics? Which questions are still open and relevant? Posting code along with specific questions and context is usually preferable to simply asking general questions. Thank you and...
Happy studies!

[Delta Pythagorean]

This is all I know, and all I can decipher from what you've asked.
Go nuts.

Questions

Temporary Variables
AHK's scope of Local variables are the closest to temporary.

Persistent Variables
Static variables are just local variables that stay in between calls of a function/method. Globals stay as long as the script stays open.

storable
I don't know what this means.

Composite Variables
I don't really know what this means. From various sources, Objects (maps, dictionaries, associative array), Arrays (stacks, lists), are the closest that I can think of.

Variable update
What?
x := 5
x := x + 2


Full update? Selective update?
What do you mean? It's a variable, it holds a value, and it updates when you set it to a new value or use ByRef in a function.

matrices
Arrays within arrays.
matrix := [[12, 44], [10, 2], [14, 14]]

Static? Dynamic? Flexible?
Variables have 3 scopes. Global, Static, and Local.
Global is able to be read anywhere so long as the function isn't Forced-Local or Forced-Static.
Static (as mentioned above) is a Local variable that stays in between calls to the function/method.
Local variables are your typical variable that stays inside the block (of the function, not any block) and then is deleted when the function closes.
By default, variables in the AutoExec section are Global, and everything else is Local

Copy Semantics and Reference Semantics
What?

commands
Commands are just functions that are legacy code. AHK_L v2 changes these commands into functions.

Jump
GoTo/GoSub are your best bets for jumping.

Assignment
Variables follow a simple design:

Code: Select all

global AppName := "Example-01.ahk"

loop, 3
{
    my_func()
}

my_func()
{
    static count := 0

    ; Display the counter with a title of a global variable.
    MsgBox, 0, % AppName, % "You've ran this function: " . count++ . " times!"
}

Simple attribution? Multiple Assignment? Concurrent Assignment?
I don't know what this means, but you cannot assign multiple variables using one action like in other languages.
You can however assign multiple variables per line:

Code: Select all

x := 5, y := 12

MsgBox, % Format("x: {1}`ny: {2}`", x, y)

Procedure call?
Sequential command?
collateral command?
What does this mean?

conditional command?
Besides an if statement, I have no idea what this means.

iterative command?
Uh... x += 1 ?

Command Expression (expressions with side effects)?
FileAppend, Hello, my_file.txt
Side effect of a new file being created?
I have no idea what you mean.

Command block and Expression block?
Commands do not have blocks, only control flow statments do.
Expression blocks can be done like so: https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Scripts.htm#continuation

abstractions
Function abstraction? Procedure abstraction?
Parameterization of abstractions
I don't think AHK has abstractions, don't quote me.

Parameter passing by copy? (value, result, value/result?)

Code: Select all

name := "George"
my_func("Hello", name)

my_func(message, name)
{
    MsgBox, % message . " " . name
}

Parameter passing by reference?

Code: Select all

count := 1
MsgBox, % count
my_func(count)
MsgBox, % count

my_func(ByRef count)
{
    count := 10
}

Program Units
Do you mean Unit tests? We don't have a built-in test. But we do have a unit test library here: https://github.com/Uberi/Yunit

packages?
No package manager here. I mean, you can just copy/move the library into the folder you want and include it from there.

Types of data summaries?
If you want? Again, no built-in stuff.

Objects and Classes?

Code: Select all

; Classes do not have to be defined before use, I just prefer it this way.
class User
{
    ; Constructor.
    __new(name, age)
    {
        this.name := name
        this.age := age

        ; Not required, just a habit.
        return this
    }
}

my_user := new User("George", 12)

some_obj := {"name": "George", "age": 12}

simple_obj := Object("name", "George", "age", 12)

Generic Units?
What does this mean?

sequencers
Uh?

Unconditional Deviations?
break ?
continue ?

leaks?
Not possible unless AHK's source code has a problem.

Exceptions?

Code: Select all

throw Exception("Something went wrong")

throw "Something went wrong"

[lmstearn]

As the thread was entitled "Theories about variables in the AutoHotkey", the hope was to discover new, interesting and didactic thoughts on what variable theories abound at present. Like something out of Tractatus perhaps?

The variable is all that is the case.
The variable is the totality of facts, not of things.
The variable is determined by the facts, and by their being all the facts.
For the totality of facts determines what is the case, and also whatever is not the case.
The facts in logical space are the variable.
The variable divides into facts.
Each item can be the case or not the case while everything else remains the same.

Edit:
Program Units: Could also be modules, might be classes or routines usually #included in a project..
Sequential command: Commands issued in sequence as opposed to commands originating from different threads?
Collateral command: Possibly related to this from Wikipedia:

serial-clause using go-on-token (viz. semicolon): begin a; b; c end – units are executed in order.
collateral-clause using and-also-token (viz. ","): begin a, b, c end – order of execution is to be optimised by the compiler.
parallel-clause using and-also-token (viz. ","): par begin a, b, c end – units must be run in parallel threads.

Conditional command: Command issued from within a conditional block?
Iterative command: Command issued from an iterator or loop?

[Delta Pythagorean]

1. Program Units: Could also be modules, might be classes or routines usually #included in a project..
2. Sequential command: Commands issued in sequence as opposed to commands originating from different threads?
3. Collateral command: Possibly related to this from Wikipedia [...]
4. Conditional command: Command issued from within a conditional block?
5. Iterative command: Command issued from an iterator or loop?

1. When a file is included to the script, everything is pulled in as if it was copy-pasted into the file at the location of the #Include directive.
2. Commands are always run in the order they're written?
3. Multiple commands cannot be executed on the same line. There's no expression separator or whatever you'd call it.
4. Do you mean something like an if block?
5. Commands can be executed anywhere so long as it's on its own line.
I don't know what you're thinking of when you see a command, but imagine them as a function that's picky.

[lmstearn]

My theory on variables/commands/functions can be summed up as:

Spoiler

The pickier you get with them, the pickier they will be with you!

[SOTE]

@Delta Pythagorean

Generic Units?

AHK is a weakly typed scripting language, so doesn't need generics, as you would often use in strongly typed languages like C#, Java, Pascal, etc... A way to more easily understand types, is they are a way of defining variables, where their type must be declared before usage. In AHK, you can simply assign a variable to a number, num := 12 and then use. In strongly typed languages, you must first declare the variable and its type, so num : integer.

In the strongly typed languages, if you have a function where its parameters need to accept different types (integers, strings, booleans, etc...), they may use generics. In AHK you would simply do func(param1, param2), where they might do something like func<T>(param1 T, param2 T). The <T> and T are often used with generics and as a placeholder for whatever type, in various programming languages.

Iterative command?

This is usually just referring to things like loops, while-loops, for-loops, etc...

To me, these type of questions give the impression that the OP is not bothering to read the AHK help documentation and/or is new to programming in general, so doesn't know what to make of terms that they may have read elsewhere. If either are true, the best thing to do is still to refer them to the AHK help documentation, and answer specific questions one by one (or at least a few at a time), where they have specific questions about things they don't understand. There are so many questions, that the range of things we are being asked to respond to is very broad. Even after explaining them, a beginner wouldn't usually fully grasp what they are about, until they wrote a few small programs using the various concepts. Add to that, some of these programming concepts don't exist in AHK, and are in strongly typed compiled programming languages.