Documentation

Introduction
- Getting Started
Using Tablescript
Types
- String
- Number
- Boolean
- Array
- Object
- Function
- Table
- Dice Literals
- Undefined
Language
Built-Ins
Tables
- Patterns
Debugging
- Common Problems
API

Language

Everything is an Expression!

Literally. Assignments, loops, even an entire script file. Everything is an expression. Tablescript evaluates each expression in turn. Some constructs (loops, conditionals, functions, tables, etc.) “return” values but really they don’t; they evaluate to values.

This is important to know as a Tablescript developer.

You will find no return statements. Or break or continue inside loops. You might find you have to think about code differently to the way you’d write it in JavaScript or PHP.

For instance, in JavaScript you might write something like this:

while (true) {
  doAThing();
  if (checkCondition()) {
    break;
  }
  doAnotherThing();
  ...
}

In Tablescript, you would write the same thing as:

# This won't actually run without more definitions... running = true; while (running) { doAThing(); if (checkCondition()) { running = false; } else { doAnotherThing(); # ... }; };

Try it!

This might seem overly restrictive, but it really isn’t. It actually encourages you to write more, smaller functions.

# This won't actually run without more definitions... checkOrDo = fn(test, f) if (test) { false; } else { f(); true; }; checkAndDoMore = fn() checkOrDo(checkCondition(), fn() { doAnotherThing(); # ... }); running = true; while (running) { doTheThing(); running = checkAndDoMore(); };

Try it!

Conditionals

Conditionals come in two varieties: if/else expressions, and ternary expressions.

If/Else

if and else work like in other languages, with the exception that the entire expression evaluates to the last value in the selected branch. For example:

x = 5; result = if (x > 2) { 'greater'; } else { 'less than'; };

Try it!

result will be assigned the value ‘greater’ because x is greater than 2 and the first expression (the if clause) is evaluated. If x was 1, the else clause would be evaluated and result would be ‘less than’.

Ternary ( ?: )

Ternary operators work like in other languages. If the test is true, the first clause is evaluated. Otherwise, the second clause is evaluated. For example:

x = 5; result = (x > 2) ? 'greater' : 'less than';

Try it!

In most cases, using a ternary operator will make your code more succinct, but you risk confusing the reader if your tests or clauses are complex. They both accomplish the same thing and can often be swapped for the other with little effort.

x = 5; result = if (x > 2) 'greater' else 'less than';

Try it!