Language

This chapter defines the m programming language. m is a procedural language supporting code reuse through a simple concept of modules.

The following sections introduce the building blocks of m. After each section, the m syntax is summarized by a formal definition in EBNF (Extended Backus Naur Form):

Text in single quotes '' corresponds to the actual text (terminal symbols).
Text in bold face denotes keywords (reserved words).
The vertical bar | separates alternatives.
Text in brackets [] is optional.
Text in curly braces {} can be repeated (zero times, once or many times).
Text in parentheses () is grouped together.

m scripts are read as a series of tokens which are separated by "separator" characters (all characters which are not letters, digits or an underscore). White space (blank and new line) always separates two characters. The amount of white space used does not affect the meaning of a script, but white space should be added sensibly to make a script more readable by indenting lines to reflect the structure of the code.

Next: Data Types