types

早期freebsd实现

Builtin types

	The calculator has the following built-in types.

	null value
		This is the undefined value type.  The function 'null'
		returns this value.  Functions which do not explicitly
		return a value return this type.  If a function is called
		with fewer parameters than it is defined for, then the
		missing parameters have the null type.  The null value is
		false if used in an IF test.

	rational numbers
		This is the basic data type of the calculator.
		These are fractions whose numerators and denominators
		can be arbitrarily large.  The fractions are always
		in lowest terms.  Integers have a denominator of 1.
		The numerator of the number contains the sign, so that
		the denominator is always positive.  When a number is
		entered in floating point or exponential notation, it is
		immediately converted to the appropriate fractional value.
		Printing a value as a floating point or exponential value
		involves a conversion from the fractional representation.

		Numbers are stored in binary format, so that in general,
		bit tests and shifts are quicker than multiplies and divides.
		Similarly, entering or displaying of numbers in binary,
		octal, or hex formats is quicker than in decimal.  The
		sign of a number does not affect the bit representation
		of a number.

	complex numbers
		Complex numbers are composed of real and imaginary parts,
		which are both fractions as defined above.  An integer which
		is followed by an 'i' character is a pure imaginary number.
		Complex numbers such as "2+3i" when typed in, are processed
		as the sum of a real and pure imaginary number, resulting
		in the desired complex number.  Therefore, parenthesis are
		sometimes necessary to avoid confusion, as in the two values:

			1+2i ^2		(which is -3)
			(1+2i) ^2	(which is -3+4i)

		Similar care is required when entering fractional complex
		numbers.  Note the differences below:

			3/4i		(which is -(3/4)i)
			3i/4		(which is (3/4)i)

		The imaginary unit itself is input using "1i".

	strings
		Strings are a sequence of zero or more characters.
		They are input using either of the single or double
		quote characters.  The quote mark which starts the
		string also ends it.  Various special characters can
		also be inserted using back-slash.  Example strings:

			"hello\n"
			"that's all"
			'lots of """"'
			'a'
			""

		There is no distinction between single character and
		multi-character strings.  The 'str' and 'ord' functions
		will convert between a single character string and its
		numeric value.  The 'str' and 'eval' functions will
		convert between longer strings and the corresponding
		numeric value (if legal).  The 'strcat', 'strlen', and
		'substr' functions are also useful.

	matrices
		These are one to four dimensional matrices, whose minimum
		and maximum bounds can be specified at runtime.  Unlike C,
		the minimum bounds of a matrix do not have to start at 0.
		The elements of a matrix can be of any type.  There are
		several built-in functions for matrices.  Matrices are
		created using the 'mat' statement.

	associations
		These are one to four dimensional matrices which can be
		indexed by arbitrary values, instead of just integers.
		These are also known as associative arrays.  The elements of
		an association can be of any type.  Very few operations are
		permitted on an association except for indexing.  Associations
		are created using the 'assoc' function.

	lists
		These are a sequence of values, which are linked together
		so that elements can be easily be inserted or removed
		anywhere in the list.  The values can be of any type.
		Lists are created using the 'list' function.

	files
		These are text files opened using stdio.  Files may be opened
		for sequential reading, writing, or appending.  Opening a
		file using the 'fopen' function returns a value which can
		then be used to perform I/O to that file.  File values can
		be copied by normal assignments between variables, or by
		using the result of the 'files' function.  Such copies are
		indistinguishable from each other.