# Syntax reference Here we document the syntax constructs in Elixir. We explore the base language constructs as well as the "syntax sugar" provided by Elixir and the underlying construct they desugar to. ## The Elixir AST Elixir syntax was designed to have a straightforward conversion to an abstract syntax tree (AST). Elixir's AST is a regular Elixir data structure composed of the following elements: * atoms - such as `:foo` * integers - such as `42` * floats - such as `13.1` * strings - such as `"hello"` * lists - such as `[1, 2, 3]` * tuples with two elements - such as `{"hello", :world}` * tuples with three elements, representing calls or variables, as explained next The building block of Elixir's AST is a call, such as: ```elixir sum(arg1, arg2, arg3) ``` which is represented as a tuple with three elements: ```elixir {:sum, meta, args} ``` the first element is an atom (or another tuple), the second element is a list of two-item tuples with metadata (such as line numbers) and the third is a list of arguments. We can retrieve the AST for any Elixir expression by calling `quote`: ```elixir quote do sum() end #=> {:sum, [], []} ``` Variables are also represented using a tuple with three elements and a combination of lists and atoms, for example: ```elixir quote do sum end #=> {:sum, [], Elixir} ``` You can see that variables are also represented with a tuple, except the third element is an atom expressing the variable context. Over the next section, we will explore many of Elixir syntax constructs alongside their AST representation. ### Numbers Integers (`1234`) and floats (`123.4`) in Elixir are represented as a sequence of digits that may be separated by underscore for readability purposes, such as `1_000_000`. Integers never contain a dot (`.`) in their representation. Floats contain a dot and at least one other digit after the dot. Floats also support the scientific format, such as `123.4e10` or `123.4E10`. Numbers are always represented as themselves in the AST: ```elixir quote do 1 end #=> 1 ``` ### Atoms Atoms in Elixir start with a colon (`:`) which must be followed by any ASCII letter and an optional sequence of ASCII letters, numbers or underscores. Valid examples are `:foo`, `:FOO` and `:foo_42`. Atoms may also have a single `@` on them, such as: `:foo@bar42`. If the colon is followed by a double- or single-quote, the atom can be made of any latin character up to OTP 19 or of any unicode character from OTP 20 onwards, such as `:"++olá++"`. Atoms are always represented as themselves in the AST: ```elixir quote do :foo end #=> :foo ``` ### Strings Strings in Elixir are written between double-quotes, such as `"foo"`. Any double-quote inside the string must be escaped with `\`. Strings support Unicode characters and are stored in UTF-8 encoding. Strings are always represented as themselves in the AST. ### Charlists Charlists in Elixir are written in single-quotes, such as `'foo'`. Any single-quote inside the string must be escaped with `\`. Charlists are a list of integers, each integer representing a Unicode character. Charlists are always represented as themselves in the AST. ### Variables Variables must start with lowercase ASCII character which may be followed by any ASCII letter, number or underscore. Variables may end in `?` or `!`. [Elixir's naming conventions](naming-conventions.html) proposes variables to be in `snake_case` format. Variables are represented by three-element tuples: ```elixir quote do sum end #=> {:sum, [], Elixir} ``` ### Non-qualified calls Non-qualified calls, such as `add(1, 2)`, must start with lowercase characters which may be followed by any ASCII letter, number or underscore. Calls may end in `?` or `!`. [Elixir's naming conventions](naming-conventions.html) proposes function names to be in `snake_case` format. Non-qualified calls are represented by three-element tuples: ```elixir quote do sum(1, 2, 3) end #=> {:sum, [], [1, 2, 3]} ``` ### Operators Operators are treated as non-qualified calls: ```elixir quote do 1 + 2 end #=> {:+, [], [1, 2]} ``` Notice that `.` is also an operator. Remote calls use the dot in the AST with two arguments, where the second argument is always an atom: ```elixir quote do foo.bar(1, 2, 3) end #=> {{:., [], [{:foo, [], Elixir}, :bar]}, [], [1, 2, 3]} ``` Calling anonymous functions uses the dot in the AST with a single argument, mirroring the fact the function name is "missing" from right side of the dot: ```elixir quote do foo.(1, 2, 3) end #=> {{:., [], [{:foo, [], Elixir}]}, [], [1, 2, 3]} ``` Many other Elixir constructs, such as `=`, `when`, `&` and `@` are simply treated as operators. See [the Operators page](operators.html) for a full reference. ### Aliases Aliases are constructs that expand to atoms at compile-time. The alias `String` expands to the atom `:"Elixir.String"`. Aliases must start with an uppercase character which may be followed by any ASCII letter, number, or underscore. [Elixir's naming conventions](naming-conventions.html) propose aliases to be in `CamelCase` format. Aliases are represented by an `__aliases__` call with each segment separated by dot as an argument: ```elixir quote do Foo.Bar.Baz end #=> {:__aliases__, [], [:Foo, :Bar, :Baz]} quote do __MODULE__.Bar.Baz end #=> {:__aliases__, [], [{:__MODULE__, [], Elixir}, :Bar, :Baz]} ``` All arguments, except the first, will be atoms. ### Qualified calls (remote calls) Qualified calls, such as `Math.add(1, 2)`, must start with lowercase characters which may be followed by any ASCII letter, number or underscore. Calls may end in `?` or `!`. [Elixir's naming conventions](naming-conventions.html) propose function names to be in `snake_case` format. For qualified calls, Elixir also allows the function name to be written between double- or single-quotes, allowing calls such as `Math."++add++"(1, 2)`. Operators can be used as qualified calls without a need for quote, such as `Kernel.+(1, 2)`. Qualified calls are represented as a tuple with three elements in the AST where the first element is the a tuple reprsenting the dot: ```elixir quote do :foo.bar(1, 2) end #=> {{:., [], [:foo, :bar]}, [], [1, 2]} ``` ### Data structures Data structures such as lists, tuples, and binaries are marked respectively by the delimiters `[...]`, `{...}`, and `<<...>>`. Each element is separated by comma. A trailing comma is also allowed, such as in `[1, 2, 3,]`. Maps use the `%{...}` notation and each key-value is given by pairs marked with `=>`, such as `%{"hello" => 1, 2 => "world"}`. Both maps and keyword lists support a notation for when the keys are atoms. Keywords are written using the same rules as atoms, except the colon character `:` is moved to the end, such as `%{hello: "world"}` and `[foo: :bar]`. This notation is a syntax sugar that emits the same AST representation. It will be explained in later sections. Lists are represented as themselves in the AST: ```elixir quote do [1, 2, 3] end #=> [1, 2, 3] ``` Tuples have their own representation, except for two-element tuples, which are represented as themselves: ```elixir quote do {1, 2} end #=> {1, 2} quote do {1, 2, 3} end #=> {:{}, [], [1, 2, 3]} ``` Binaries have a representation similar to tuples, except they are tagged with `:<<>>` instead of `:{}`: ```elixir quote do <<1, 2, 3>> end #=> {:<<>>, [], [1, 2, 3]} ``` The same applies to maps except pairs are treated as a list of tuples with two elements: ```elixir quote do %{1 => 2, 3 => 4} end #=> {:%{}, [], [{1, 2}, {3, 4}]} ``` ### Blocks Blocks are multiple Elixir expressions separated by newlines. They are expanded to a `__block__` call with each line as a separate argument: ```elixir quote do 1 2 3 end #=> {:__block__, [], [1, 2, 3]} ``` Expressions in Elixir are separated by newlines or semi-colons: ```elixir quote do 1; 2; 3; end #=> {:__block__, [], [1, 2, 3]} ``` ### Left to right arrow The left to right arrow (`->`) is used to establish a relationship between left and right. The left side may have zero, one or more arguments, the right side is an expression. The `->` is always between one of the following terminators: `do`/`end`, `fn`/`end` or `(`/`)`. It is seen on `case` and `cond` constructs between `do`/`end`: ```elixir quote do case 1 do 2 -> 3 4 -> 5 end end #=> {:case, [], [1, [do: [{:->, [], [[2], 3]}, {:->, [], [[4], 5]}]]]} quote do cond do true -> false end end #=> {:cond, [], [[do: [{:->, [], [[true], false]}]]]} ``` Seen in typespecs between `(`/`)`: ```elixir quote do (1, 2 -> 3 4, 5 -> 6) end #=> [{:->, [], [[1, 2], 3]}, {:->, [], [[4, 5], 6]}] ``` It is also used between `fn/end` for building anonymous functions: ```elixir quote do fn 1, 2 -> 3 4, 5 -> 6 end end #=> {:fn, [], [{:->, [], [[1, 2], 3]}, {:->, [], [[4, 5], 6]}]} ``` ## Syntactic sugar All of the constructs above are part of Elixir's syntax and have their own representation as part of the Elixir AST. This section will discuss the remaining constructs that "desugar" to one of the constructs explored above. In other words, the constructs below can be represented in more than one way in your Elixir code and retain AST equivalence. ### `true`, `false`, and `nil` `true`, `false`, and `nil` are reserved words that are represented by the atoms `:true`, `:false` and `:nil` respectively. ### Integers in other bases and Unicode codepoints Elixir allows integers to contain `_` to separate digits and provides conveniences to represent integers in other bases: ```elixir 1_000_000 #=> 1000000 0xABCD #=> 43981 (Hexadecimal base) 0o01234567 #=> 342391 (Octal base) 0b10101010 #=> 170 (Binary base) ?é #=> 233 (Unicode codepoint) ``` Those constructs exist only at the syntax level. All of the representations above are represented as integers in the AST. ### Optional parentheses Elixir provides optional parentheses for non-qualified and qualified calls. ```elixir quote do sum 1, 2, 3 end #=> {:sum, [], [1, 2, 3]} ``` The above is treated the same as `sum(1, 2, 3)` by the parser. The same applies to qualified calls such as `Foo.bar(1, 2, 3)`, which is the same as `Foo.bar 1, 2, 3`. However, keep in mind parentheses are not optional for local calls with no arguments, such as `sum()`. Removing the parentheses for `sum` causes it to be represented as the variable `sum`, changing its semantics. ### Access The access syntax in Elixir, such as `foo[:bar]`, is treated as a shortcut to the remote call `Access.get(foo, :bar)`: ```elixir quote do foo[:bar] end #=> {{:., [], [Access, :get]}, [], [{:foo, [], Elixir}, :bar]} ``` ### Sigils Sigils start with `~` and are followed by a letter and one of the following pairs: * `(` and `)` * `{` and `}` * `[` and `]` * `<` and `>` * `"` and `"` * `'` and `'` * `|` and `|` * `/` and `/` After closing the pair, zero or more ASCII letters can be given as a modifier. Sigils are expressed as calls prefixed with `sigil_` where the first argument is the sigil contents as a string and the second argument is a list of integers as modifiers: ```elixir quote do ~r/foo/ end #=> {:sigil_r, [], [{:<<>>, [], ["foo"]}, []]} quote do ~m/foo/abc end #=> {:sigil_m, [], [{:<<>>, [], ["foo"]}, 'abc']} ``` If the sigil letter is in uppercase, no interpolation is allowed in the sigil, otherwise its contents may be dynamic. Compare the quotes below for more information: ```elixir quote do ~r/f#{"o"}o/ end quote do ~R/f#{"o"}o/ end ``` ### Keywords Keywords in Elixir are a list of tuples of two elements where the first element is an atom. Using the base constructs, they would be represented as: ```elixir [{:foo, 1}, {:bar, 2}] ``` However Elixir introduces a syntax sugar where the keywords above may be written as follows: ```elixir [foo: 1, bar: 2] ``` Atoms with foreign characters in their name, such as whitespace, must be wrapped in quotes. This rule applies to keywords as well: ```elixir [{:"foo bar", 1}, {:"bar baz", 2}] == ["foo bar": 1, "bar baz": 2] ``` Remember that, because lists and two-element tuples are quoted literals, by definition keywords are also literals (in fact, the only reason tuples with two elements are quoted literals is to support keywords as literals). ### Keywords as last arguments Elixir also supports a syntax where if the last argument of a call is a keyword then the square brackets can be skipped. This means that the following: ```elixir if(condition, do: this, else: that) ``` is the same as ```elixir if(condition, [do: this, else: that]) ``` which in turn is the same as ```elixir if(condition, [{:do, this}, {:else, that}]) ``` ### `do`/`end` blocks The last syntax convenience are `do`/`end` blocks. `do`/`end` blocks are equivalent to keywords where the block contents are wrapped in parentheses. For example: ```elixir if true do this else that end ``` is the same as: ```elixir if(true, do: (this), else: (that)) ``` which we have explored in the previous section. Parentheses are important to support multiple expressions. This: ```elixir if true do this that end ``` is the same as: ```elixir if(true, do: ( this that )) ``` Inside `do`/`end` blocks you may introduce other keywords, such as `else` used in the `if` above. The supported keywords between `do`/`end` are static and are: * `after` * `catch` * `else` * `rescue` You can see them being used in constructs such as `receive`, `try`, and others. ## Conclusion This document provides a quick reference to Elixir syntax, exploring the simplicity behind its AST and documenting the base constructs with their AST equivalents. We have also discussed a handful of syntax conveniences provided by Elixir. Those conveniences are what allow us to write ```elixir defmodule Math do def add(a, b) do a + b end end ``` instead of ```elixir defmodule(Math, [ {:do, def(add(a, b), [{:do, a + b}])} ]) ``` The mapping between code and data (the underlying AST) is what allows Elixir to implement `defmodule`, `def`, `if`, and friends in Elixir itself. Making the constructs available for building the language also accessible to developers who want to extend the language to new domains.