Statements and expressions¶

Statements and expressions are how we organize our code and express various concepts.

Knowing the difference between statements and expressions will be very important for programming effectively with Imba.

Cheats¶

• One statement per line.
• Multiple statements per line when separated by ;.
• Blocks like if, try, when, until, for are expressions.

Definitions¶

Statements are instructions for the computer to perform some action. Expressions are various representations of values. They can be a single value (e.g., 1) or very complex (if x > 1 then createPrevious else null), but it is always possible to treat them as a single value.

Statements in imba¶

Each line in an Imba program is a statement. A line can sometimes contain multiple statements separated by a semi-colon ;. This is not common, and is generally not recommended.

Each statement comprises of one or more expressions, or statements. When a statement contains statements, we say that it is a compound statement.

For example:

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var x = 1       # `var` statement, `1` is an expression
x + 1           # single expression
extern isNaN    # single statement `extern`, `isNaN` is an expression

Blocks (compound statements)¶

Some statements mark the start of a block. Subsequent lines, until the end of the block are all part of a compound statement.

Blocks start with an opening statement, and then one or more statements that are indented by +1 level. Blocks end when a line is encountered that is indented at the same level as the opening statement.

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def add x, y    # `def` statement marks the start of a block
    x + y       # this single expression statement is part of the block

var n = 1       # this `var` statement is not part of the block

The following statements create blocks:

• def
• var def
• if
• try
• when
• until
• for
• tag
• class

Compound blocks¶

Some blocks may have multiple indented regions which are all part of the same block. In case of the if conditional statement, else continues the block created by the if statement.

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if x > 1        # `if` statement, `x > 1` expression
    x - 1       # single expression
else if x === 1 # `else if` statement, `x === 1` expression
    x           # single expression
else            # `else` statement
    0           # single expression

The following blocks can be compound:

• if - else
• try - catch

Block expressions¶

In many languages, blocks like if do not have a meaning on their own. The entire block, when executed, provides a meaning. In contrast, in Imba, if, while, until, and for blocks have a meaning on their own. They are treated as expressions that can be assigned and passed as arguments. This will be covered in more detail in the section on control structures.

Wrapping expressions in parentheses¶

Expressions can be wrapped in parentheses. This does not change the value of the expression, but it allows us to more clearly specify the order in which we want the expressions to evaluate. This is exactly the same as in maths.

For instance:

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12 - 3 * 4      # 0
(12 - 3) * 4    # 36