Skip to main content

Functions

to declare a function use fun

declare them and call them like this

fun hi() {
    putln("hi")
}

hi()

output: hi

parameter types​

ayla requires static typing so you need to specify parameter types

fun hi(name string) {
    putln("hi " + name)
}

hi("Ziad")

output:

hi Ziad

return​

return has been renamed to back

fun add(x int, y int) (int) {
    back x + y
}

put(add(5, 7))

output:

12

multiple return values​

ayla also supports multiple return values

fun operation(x int, y int) (int, int) {
    back x + y, x - y
}

putln(operation(4, 5))

output:

9 -1

variadic parameters​

Ayla supports variadic parameters, which allow a function to accept a variable number of arguments

Variadic parameters use ... before the type

fun sum(nums ...int) (int) {
    total := 0
    four _, n := range nums {
        total = total + n
    } 
    back total
}

putln(sum(1, 2, 3, 4))

output:

10

how it works​

  • nums ...int means: "zero or more int values"
  • Inside the function, nums behaves like an slice
  • You can iterate over it like a normal slice

You can also call it with no args:

putln(sum())

output:

0

mixing normal and variadic parameters​

A variadic parameter must be the last parameter in the function.

fun greet(prefix string, names ...string) {
    four _, name := range names {
        putln(prefix + " " + name)
    }
}

greet("hi", "Ziad", "Ayla", "Elen")

output:

hi Ziad
hi Ayla
hi Elen

flattening (spreading arguments)​

Sometimes you already have an array or a slice and want to pass its values into a variadic function.

For this, Ayla supports flattening using ... when calling

egg numbers = []int{1, 2, 3, 4}

putln(sum(numbers...))

output:

10

what flattening does​

  • numbers... expands the array
  • Each element becomes a separate argument

Without flattening:

sum(numbers)   // type error

output:

Because:

  • sum expects ...int
  • numbers is a slice, not individual ints

important rules​

  • A function can have only one variadic parameter
  • The variadic parameter must be last
  • Inside the function, it behaves like an slice
  • Flattening (...) is only valid when calling variadic functions

example combining everything​

fun printAll(values ...string) {
    four _, v := range values {
        putln(v)
    }
}

egg words = []string{"Ayla", "is", "cool"}

printAll("Hello")
printAll(words...)

output:

Hello
Ayla
is
Cool