Ring/Lessons/Control Structures

Control Structures

In this chapter we are going to learn about the control structures provided by the Ring programming language.

Branching

• If Statement

Syntax:

	if Expression
		Block of statements
	but Expression
		Block of statements
	else
		Block of statements
	ok

Example:

	see " 
		Main Menu
		---------
		(1) Say Hello
		(2) About
		(3) Exit

	    " give nOption

	if nOption = 1	see "Enter your name : " give name see "Hello " + name + nl
	but nOption = 2 see "Sample : using if statement" + nl
	but nOption = 3 bye
	else see "bad option..." + nl
	ok

• Switch Statement

Syntax:

	switch Expression
	on Expression
		Block of statements
	other
		Block of statements
	off

Example:

	See " 
		Main Menu
		---------
		(1) Say Hello
		(2) About
		(3) Exit

	    " Give nOption

	Switch nOption
	On 1 See "Enter your name : " Give name See "Hello " + name + nl
	On 2 See "Sample : using switch statement" + nl
	On 3 Bye
	Other See "bad option..." + nl
	Off

Looping

• While Loop

Syntax:

	while Expression
		Block of statements
	end

Example:

	While True

		See " 
			Main Menu
			---------
			(1) Say Hello
			(2) About
			(3) Exit

		    " Give nOption

		Switch nOption
		On 1 
			See "Enter your name : " 
			Give name 
			See "Hello " + name + nl
		On 2 
			See "Sample : using while loop" + nl
		On 3 
			Bye
		Other 
			See "bad option..." + nl
		Off
	End

• For Loop

Syntax:

	for identifier=expression to expression [step expression]
		Block of statements
	next

Example:

	# print numbers from 1 to 10
	for x = 1 to 10	 see x + nl  next

Example:

	# Dynamic loop
	See "Start : " give nStart       
	See "End   : " give nEnd
	See "Step  : " give nStep
	For x = nStart to nEnd Step nStep
		see x + nl
	Next

Example:

	# print even numbers from 0 to 10
	for x = 0 to 10 step 2
		see x + nl
	next

Example:

	# print even numbers from 10 to 0
	for x = 10 to 0 step -2
		see x + nl
	next

• For in Loop

Syntax:

	for identifier in List/String  [step expression]
		Block of statements
	next

Example:

	aList = 1:10	# create list contains numbers from 1 to 10
	for x in aList  see x + nl  next  # print numbers from 1 to 10

Using The Step option with For in

We can use the Step option with For in to skip number of items in each iteration

Example:

	aList = 1:10	# create list contains numbers from 1 to 10
	# print odd items inside the list
	for x in aList step 2
		see x + nl  
	next

Using For in to modify lists

When we use (For in) we get items by reference.

This means that we can read/edit items inside the loop.

Example:

	aList = 1:5	# create list contains numbers from 1 to 5
	# replace list numbers with strings
	for x in aList  
		switch x
		on 1  x = "one"
		on 2  x = "two"
		on 3  x = "three"
		on 4  x = "four"
		on 5  x = "five"
		off
	next
	see aList	# print the list items

Do Again Loop

Syntax:

	
	do
		Block of statements
	again expression

Example:

	x = 1 
	do 
		see x + nl 
		x++ 
	again x <= 10

Exit Command

Used to go outside one or more of loops.

Syntax:

	exit [expression]	# inside loop

Example:

	for x = 1 to 10
		see x + nl
		if x = 5 exit ok
	next

Exit from two loops

The next example presents how to use the exit command to exit from two loops in one jump.

Example:

	for x = 1 to 10
		for y = 1 to 10
			see "x=" + x + " y=" + y + nl
			if x = 3 and y = 5
				exit 2	   # exit from 2 loops 
			ok
		next
	next

• Loop Command

Used to jump to the next iteration in the loop.

Syntax:

	loop [expression]	# inside loop

Example:

	for x = 1 to 10
		if x = 3
			see "Number Three" + nl
			loop
		ok
		see x + nl
	next

Exit/Loop inside sub functions

While we are inside a loop, we can call a function then use the exit and/or loop command inside that function and the command will work on the outer loop.

Example:

	# print numbers from 1 to 10 except number 5.

	for x = 1 to 10
		ignore(x,5)
		see x + nl
	next

	func ignore x,y
		if x = y
			loop
		ok

Short-circuit evaluation

The logical operators and/or follow the `short-circuit evaluation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-circuit_evaluation>`_.

If the first argument of the AND operator is zero, then there is no need to evaluate the second argument and the result will be zero.

If the first argument of the OR operator is one, then there is no need to evaluate the second argument and the result will be one.

Example:

	/* output
	** nice 
	** nice 
	** great	
	*/

	x = 0 y = 10

	if (x = 0 and nice()) and (y = 10 and nice())
		see "great" + nl
	ok

	func nice  see "nice" + nl   return 1

Example:

	# No output

	x = 0 y = 10

	if (x = 1 and nice()) and (y = 10 and nice())
		see "great" + nl
	ok

	func nice  see "nice" + nl   return 1

Example:

	/* output 
	** nice
	** great
	*/
 
	x = 0 y = 10

	if (x = 0 and nice()) or (y = 10 and nice())
		see "great" + nl
	ok

	func nice  see "nice" + nl  return 1

Comments about evaluation

• True, False, nl & NULL are variables defined by the language

• True = 1

• False = 0

• nl = new line

• NULL = empty string = ""

• Everything evaluates to true except 0 (False).

Example:

	# output = message from the if statement

	if 5 	# 5 evaluates to true because it's not zero (0).
		see "message from the if statement" + nl
	ok