Functions

Functions are declared at top-level, following the syntax of C++:

<return type> <name>(<parameters>) { <body> }

For example:

Int foo(Int a) {}

To support threading, Basic Storm also allows you to specify which thread each function shall be executed on (if any), by adding on T (where T is the name of a thread). If a thread is declared, the function will always be executed on the named thread, otherwise it will be executed on the same thread as the caller.

All functions in Basic Storm are lazily compiled. This means that the function bodies will not be compiled until they are actually executed. In the future, there will be ways to compile all code ahead of time, but not yet.

Decorators

Functions can be annotated to provide additional information to Storm. This is done using the following syntax:

<return type> <name>(<parameters>) : <decorators> { <body> }

For example:

Int foo(Int a) : pure {}

Multiple decorators may be applied by providing a comma-separated list. The following decorators are available for non-member functions:

There are other decorators available for member functions. See Types for more information.

For nonmember functions, it is also possible to specify a thread that shall execute the function. If this is done, Storm ensures that the function is always executed by the specified thread. This declaration is a decorator, for example:

Int foo(Int a) : on Compiler {}

Since this is common, this declaration may be present on its own, without a colon. However, this syntax disallows additional decorators.

If all functions in a source file are supposed to be executed by a specified thread, a single top-level declaration can be used instead of adding on T to all functions and classes in the file. This is done by adding:

on T:

to the beginning of the file (after the use statements). This indicates that everything that follows shall be executed on the specified thread unless otherwise specified. This is equivalent to adding on T as a decorator to all functions and types in the file. Multiple such statements may appear in the same file, which behaves in the same way as for visibility.