docs: Add two faq entries about the type system

This commit is contained in:
James Shubin
2018-02-22 16:44:13 -05:00
parent 05c60d9a59
commit 5597183391

View File

@@ -429,6 +429,46 @@ if $b {
}
```
### What is the difference `types.Value.Str()` and `types.Value.String()`?
In the `lang/types` library, there is a `types.Value` interface. Every value in
our type system must implement this interface. One of the methods in this
interface is the `String() string` method. This lets you print a representation
of the value. You will probably never need to use this method.
In addition, the `types.Value` interface implements a number of helper functions
which return the value as an equivalent golang type. If you know that the value
is a `bool`, you can call `x.Bool()` on it. If it's a `string` you can call
`x.Str()`. Make sure not to call one of those type methods unless you know the
value is of that type, or you will trigger a panic!
### I created a `&ListValue{}` but it's not working!
If you create a base type like `bool`, `str`, `int`, or `float`, all you need to
do is build the `&BoolValue` and set the `V` field. Eg:
```golang
someBool := &types.BoolValue{V: true}
```
If you are building a container type like `list`, `map`, `struct`, or `func`,
then you *also* need to specify the type of the contained values. This is
because a list has a type of `[]str`, or `[]int`, or even `[][]foo`. Eg:
```golang
someListOfStrings := &types.ListValue{
T: types.NewType("[]str"), # must match the contents!
V: []types.Value{
&types.StrValue{V: "a"},
&types.StrValue{V: "bb"},
&types.StrValue{V: "ccc"},
},
}
```
If you don't build these properly, then you will cause a panic! Even empty lists
have a type.
### I don't like the mgmt language, is there an alternative?
Yes, the language is just one of the available "frontends" that passes a stream