5.3. Strings
A string is a sequence of byte data representing characters of a certain format.
There are two different types of strings, ones which allow special characters
and string interpolation and ones which have no special formatting. These are
called format and wysiwyg strings respectively. All strings are of the builtin
type String.
5.3.1. Syntax
String ::= (") StringCharacters* (")
StringCharacters ::= (.) | (\") | "\\" | "\0" | "\a" | "\b" | "\f" | "\n" | "\r" | "\t" | "\v"
Format strings start and end with double quotes (") and may contain any of
the following escape sequences:
| Sequence | Meaning |
|---|---|
\" |
Literal double quote (") |
\\ |
Literal backslash (\) |
\0 |
Binary zero |
\a |
BEL character |
\b |
Backspace |
\f |
Formfeed |
\n |
Newlines |
\r |
Carriage return |
\t |
Horizontal Tab |
\v |
Vertical Tab |
Format strings also support string interpolation. String interpolation starts
with a hashtag and open curlybrace (#{), followed by any value and ends with
a closing curlybrace (}).
Wysiwyg strings start and end with backticks (`) and have no special
formatting.
5.3.1.1. Examples
# String assigned to a Variable
# Double quotes are convention for String assignments
name = "Harold"
# This will print "My name is Harrold" to the console with a newline
puts("My name is #{name}\n")