Getting Started

To get started with yorlang, download and install the node runtime here

Then install the yorlang package with the following command:

Terminal

npm install -g yorlang

HELLO WORLD

Create a yl file e.g test.yl and write your first yorlang statement

yorlang

sọpé "báwo ni ayé";

Run yorl test.yl in your cli

OUTPUT

bawo ni aye


You can also download the vs code extension here

For more command line usage, run yorl --help

You can watch the intoductory video to yorlang here


Variable Declaration

Variables can be declared in yorlang using

Yorlang: jẹ́kí

Variables in yorlang must be initialized at the point of declaration. The keyword (jẹ́kí) must be used when initializing and re-assigning a variable. Strings in yorlang must be enclosed with double quotes. Yorlang variables can hold many data types such as strings, integers, arrays and booleans

Note:
Use the # symbol for single line comments. There's no multiline comments like /** */

A semi colon must be used at the end of every statement in yorlang

Yorlang is not accent mark sensitive but it is case sensitive.

Only english/yoruba alphabet can be used for variable names.

Boolean values are - true: òótọ́   false: irọ́

Operators in Yorlang include;
plus: "+" , minus: "-", multiply: "*", divide: "/" , Remainder: "%", Less_than: " < ", greater_than: ">", greater_than_or_equal: ">=", less_than_or_equal: "<=", not_equal: "!=", equal: "==", assign: "=", not_operator: "!", or: "||", and: "&&"

yorlang

jẹ́kí oruko = "damilola";

jẹ́kí odun = 5 ;

sọpé oruko + " " + "is" + " " + odun + " " + "years old" ;

OUTPUT

damilola is 5 years old


Re-assign variable example:

yorlang

jẹ́kí orúkọ = "dammy";

jẹ́kí orúkọ = "tunde" ;

sọpé "oruko mi ni" + " " + orúkọ ;

OUTPUT

oruko mi ni tunde


Conditionals

Conditionals such as if, else, else if and switch statements can also be used in yorlang

if: ṣé     else: tàbí     else if: tàbí ṣé

There's support for nested conditionals and loops.

yorlang

jẹ́kí ago = 15;

ṣé ( ago < 12 )  {
    jẹ́kí ìkíni = "e kaaro" ;

} tàbí ṣé ( ago > 12 && ago < 17 )  {
    jẹ́kí ìkíni = "e kaasan" ;

} tàbí {
    jẹ́kí ìkíni = "e kaale" ;
}

sọpé ìkíni + " " + "aye" ;

OUTPUT

e kaasan aye


The Switch Condition:

The switch expression is evaluated once.

The value of the expression is compared with the values of each case.

If there is a match, the associated block of code is executed and then it escapes the switch block without the need for a break (kúrò) statement.

The use of the break statement(kúrò) in yorlang yí(switch) condition results in an error.

The default(padàsí) block runs when there's no matched case.

Switch: yí
Case: irú
Default: padàsí

yorlang

jẹ́kí age = (2 * 5) + 8 ;

yí ( age )  {
    irú 12 :
        sọpé "omode ni e" ;
    irú 18 :
        sọpé "ọ̀dọ́ ni e" ;
    irú 22 :
        sọpé "agbalagba ni e" ;
    padàsí:
        sọpé "arugbo ni e ooooo" ;
}

OUTPUT

ọ̀dọ́ ni e


Loops

Loops such as for and while are also supported in Yorlang

For: fún   while: nígbàtí   break: kúrò

Note:
increments such as i++ in yorlang is invalid instead use jẹ́kí i = i + 1
decrements such as i-- in yorlang is invalid instead use jẹ́kí i = i - 1

yorlang

fún ( jẹ́kí i = 0 ; i < 5 ; jẹ́kí i = i + 1 )   {

    ṣé ( i == 3 )  {
        kúrò;
    }

    sọpé "iwọ ni" + " " + i ;

}

OUTPUT

iwọ ni 0

iwọ ni 1

iwọ ni 2


The While( nígbàtí) Loop:

The while ( nígbàtí) loop is executed as long as the condition in parentheses is true

yorlang

jẹ́kí onka = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ];

jẹ́kí i = 0;

nígbàtí ( onka [ i ] < 3) {

    sọpé "o kere si aarun";

    jẹ́kí i = i + 1;
}

OUTPUT

o kere si aarun

o kere si aarun


Functions

Function: iṣẹ́   return: padà

yorlang

iṣẹ́ isiro ( a, b)   {

    padà a * b ;

}

jẹ́kí X = isiro( 5, 6);

sọpé X ;

OUTPUT

30


Variable Scope

The scope of a variable is the context within which it is defined. All inner functions(iṣẹ́) have access to variables in their outer functions(iṣẹ́). However, outer functions(iṣẹ́) do not have access to the variables in their inner functions(iṣẹ́). This scope spans imported(gbewọlé) files as well. For example:

yorlang

jẹ́kí a = 3;
gbewọlé "sample.yl";

Here the a variable will be available within the imported sample.yl script. An inner function can only read the value of the outer variable but it can’t change it. An attempt to change it will simply create a local variable within the inner function. For example:

yorlang

jẹ́kí a = 3;

iṣẹ́ àpẹrẹ ()   {
    jẹ́kí a = a + 1;

    sọpé a;
}

àpẹrẹ();

sọpé a;

OUTPUT

4

3


To mutate the value of outer variables within an inner function, you must declare those variables with wòkè. The script below will output 4. By declaring counter and i with wòkè within the function incrementCounter, all references to the variables will refer to the outer version. There is no limit to the number of global variables that can be manipulated by a function.

yorlang

iṣẹ́ getCounter ()   {

    jẹ́kí counter = 3;

    jẹ́kí i = 1;

    iṣẹ́ incrementCounter ()   {

      wòkè `counter, i`;

      jẹ́kí counter = counter + i;

   }

  incrementCounter();

  padà counter ;

}

sọpé getCounter();

OUTPUT

4


Arrays

One-dimensional array example

yorlang

jẹ́kí àwọnMọ́tọ̀ = ["G-Wagon", "S-class" ];

sọpé àwọnMọ́tọ̀ [0];

OUTPUT

G-Wagon

Multi-dimensional arrays are also supported in Yorlang

yorlang

jẹ́kí àwọnMọ́tọ̀ = [ ["corolla", "camry"], ["G-Wagon", "S-class" ], ["Elantra", "sonata"] ];

sọpé àwọnMọ́tọ̀ [1][1];

OUTPUT

S-class

Add elements to the last position of an array by making the index empty

yorlang

jẹ́kí àwọnMọ́tọ̀ = [ ["corolla", "camry"], "benz" ];

jẹ́kí àwọnMọ́tọ̀[0][] = "S-class";

jẹ́kí àwọnMọ́tọ̀[] = "G-Wagon";

sọpé àwọnMọ́tọ̀ [0][2];

sọpé àwọnMọ́tọ̀ [2];

OUTPUT

S-class

G-Wagon


Import (gbewọlé)

The import (gbewọlé) keyword is used to include the content of a yorlang file into another yorlang file.

This keyword is followed by a string which contains the path to the yorlang file to be imported. The file paths should be provided as a suffix to the project's absolute path

For example, suppose you have a project folder app with two sub folders : deploy & test . In the deploy folder is a file called deploy.yl and in the test folder is a file called test.yl . To import the test.yl file into the deploy.yl file, do the following.

yorlang

gbewọlé "/test/test.yl";


Helper Functions

Here are some helper functions in Yorlang and their descriptions

ka :
This is used for counting the length of an array. Hence, it takes an array as its parameter.
e.g. ka([26,78,75]) returns 3 as the length of the array.

síLẹ́tàŃlá :
This is used for converting strings to uppercase. síLẹ́tàŃlá takes a string as its parameter.
For example, síLẹ́tàŃlá("KaYode"); returns "KAYODE"

síLẹ́tàKékeré :
This is used for converting strings to lowercase. síLẹ́tàkékeré takes a string as its parameter.
For example, síLẹ́tàKékeré("KaYode"); returns "kayode"

tèSíbí :
This is used for reading user inputs. tèsíbí takes a string as its parameter.
For example, tèSíbí("What is your name?"); returns user input

aago :
It is used for getting the current date. For example, aago(); returns an array of the current date in the following order [ year, month, day, hours, minutes, seconds, milliseconds ]

fiRọ́pọ̀ :
It is used for replacing a substring with a new string. For example, fiRọ́pọ̀("Yoruba da pupo", "pupo", "gidigan"); returns "Yoruba da gidigan"

waNínú :
It is used for checking if a string contains a substring. For example, aago("Yoruba da pupo", "pupo"); returns boolean - ooto

yipo :
It is used for generating random numbers between an interval. For example, yipo(1, 5); returns a number between 1 and 5, yipo(5); returns a number between 0 and 5, yipo(); returns a number between 0 and 1