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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
<title>CoffeeScript</title>
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<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="documentation/css/docs.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="documentation/css/idle.css" />
</head>
<body>
<div class="container">
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<h1><sub style="font-size: 100px;">&#9749;</sub> CoffeeScript</h1>
<p>
CoffeeScript is a little language that compiles into JavaScript. Think
of it as JavaScript's less ostentatious kid brother &mdash; the same genes,
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roughly the same height, but a different sense of style. Apart from a handful of
bonus goodies, statements in CoffeeScript correspond one-to-one with their
equivalent in JavaScript, it's just another way of saying it.
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</p>
<p>
<b>Disclaimer:</b>
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CoffeeScript is just for fun and seriously alpha. I'm sure that there are still
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plenty of holes in the lexer and leaks in the syntax. <i>There is no guarantee,
explicit or implied, of its suitability for any purpose.</i> That said,
it compiles into clean JavaScript (the good parts) that can use existing
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JavaScript libraries seamlessly, and passes through
<a href="http://www.jslint.com/">JSLint</a> without warnings. The compiled
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output is quite readable &mdash; pretty-printed, with comments
preserved intact.
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</p>
<h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<p>
<a href="#overview">Mini Overview</a><br />
<a href="#installation">Installation and Usage</a><br />
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<a href="#punctuation">Punctuation Primer</a><br />
<a href="#functions">Functions and Invocation</a><br />
<a href="#assignment">Assignment</a><br />
<a href="#objects_and_arrays">Objects and Arrays</a><br />
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<a href="#lexical_scope">Lexical Scoping and Variable Safety</a><br />
<a href="#conditionals">Conditionals, Ternaries, and Conditional Assignment</a><br />
<a href="#expressions">Everything is an Expression</a><br />
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<a href="#aliases">Aliases</a><br />
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<a href="#while">While Loops</a><br />
<a href="#array_comprehensions">Array Comprehensions</a><br />
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<a href="#slice">Slicing Arrays with Ranges</a><br />
<a href="#inheritance">Inheritance, and Calling Super from a Subclass</a><br />
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<a href="#embedded">Embedded JavaScript</a><br />
<a href="#switch">Switch/When/Else</a><br />
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<a href="#try">Try/Catch/Finally</a><br />
<a href="#strings">Multiline Strings</a><br />
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<a href="#resources">Resources</a><br />
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<a href="#contributing">Contributing</a><br />
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<a href="#change_log">Change Log</a><br />
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</p>
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<h2 id="overview">Mini Overview</h2>
<p><i>CoffeeScript on the left, compiled JavaScript output on the right.</i></p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle"># Assignment:
number: <span class="Number">42</span>
opposite_day: <span class="BuiltInConstant">true</span>
# Conditions:
number: <span class="Keyword">-</span><span class="Number">42</span> <span class="Keyword">if</span> opposite_day
# Functions:
square: x <span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Keyword">&gt;</span> x <span class="Keyword">*</span> x
# Arrays:
list: [<span class="Number">1</span>, <span class="Number">2</span>, <span class="Number">3</span>, <span class="Number">4</span>, <span class="Number">5</span>]
# Objects:
math: {
root: <span class="LibraryClassType">Math</span>.sqrt
square: square
cube: x <span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Keyword">&gt;</span> x <span class="Keyword">*</span> square(x)
}
# <span class="LibraryClassType">Array</span> comprehensions:
cubed_list: math.cube(num) <span class="Keyword">for</span> num <span class="Keyword">in</span> list
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> __a, __b, __c, __d, cubed_list, list, math, num, number, opposite_day, square;
<span class="Comment"><span class="Comment">//</span> Assignment:</span>
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number <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Number">42</span>;
opposite_day <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="BuiltInConstant">true</span>;
<span class="Comment"><span class="Comment">//</span> Conditions:</span>
<span class="Keyword">if</span> (opposite_day) {
number <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Keyword">-</span><span class="Number">42</span>;
}
<span class="Comment"><span class="Comment">//</span> Functions:</span>
square <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Storage">function</span> <span class="FunctionName">square</span>(<span class="FunctionArgument">x</span>) {
<span class="Keyword">return</span> x <span class="Keyword">*</span> x;
};
<span class="Comment"><span class="Comment">//</span> Arrays:</span>
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list <span class="Keyword">=</span> [<span class="Number">1</span>, <span class="Number">2</span>, <span class="Number">3</span>, <span class="Number">4</span>, <span class="Number">5</span>];
<span class="Comment"><span class="Comment">//</span> Objects:</span>
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math <span class="Keyword">=</span> {
root: <span class="LibraryClassType">Math</span>.sqrt,
square: square,
cube: <span class="Storage">function</span> <span class="FunctionName">cube</span>(<span class="FunctionArgument">x</span>) {
<span class="Keyword">return</span> x <span class="Keyword">*</span> square(x);
}
};
<span class="Comment"><span class="Comment">//</span> Array comprehensions:</span>
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__a <span class="Keyword">=</span> list;
__d <span class="Keyword">=</span> [];
<span class="Keyword">for</span> (__b<span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Number">0</span>, __c<span class="Keyword">=</span>__a.<span class="LibraryConstant">length</span>; __b<span class="Keyword">&lt;</span>__c; __b<span class="Keyword">++</span>) {
num <span class="Keyword">=</span> __a[__b];
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__d[__b] <span class="Keyword">=</span> math.cube(num);
}
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cubed_list <span class="Keyword">=</span> __d;
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</pre><button onclick='javascript: var __a, __b, __c, __d, cubed_list, list, math, num, number, opposite_day, square;
// Assignment:
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number = 42;
opposite_day = true;
// Conditions:
if (opposite_day) {
number = -42;
}
// Functions:
square = function square(x) {
return x * x;
};
// Arrays:
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list = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
// Objects:
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math = {
root: Math.sqrt,
square: square,
cube: function cube(x) {
return x * square(x);
}
};
// Array comprehensions:
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__a = list;
__d = [];
for (__b=0, __c=__a.length; __b<__c; __b++) {
num = __a[__b];
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__d[__b] = math.cube(num);
}
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cubed_list = __d;
;alert(cubed_list);'>run: cubed_list</button><br class='clear' /></div>
<h2 id="installation">Installation and Usage</h2>
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<p>
The CoffeeScript compiler is written in pure Ruby, and is available
as a Ruby Gem.
</p>
<pre>
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gem install coffee-script</pre>
<p>
Installing the gem provides the <tt>coffee</tt> command, which can
be used to compile CoffeeScript <tt>.coffee</tt> files into JavaScript, as
well as debug them. In conjunction with
<a href="http://narwhaljs.org/">Narwhal</a>, the <tt>coffee</tt>
command also provides direct evaluation and an interactive REPL.
When compiling to JavaScript, <tt>coffee</tt> writes the output
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as <tt>.js</tt> files in the same directory by default, but output
can be customized with the following options:
</p>
<table>
<tr>
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<td width="25%"><code>-i, --interactive</code></td>
<td>
Launch an interactive CoffeeScript session.
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Requires <a href="http://narwhaljs.org/">Narwhal</a>.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>-r, --run</code></td>
<td>
Compile and execute the CoffeeScripts without saving the intermediate
JavaScript. Requires <a href="http://narwhaljs.org/">Narwhal</a>.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>-o, --output [DIR]</code></td>
<td>
Write out all compiled JavaScript files into the specified directory.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>-w, --watch</code></td>
<td>
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Watch the modification times of the coffee-scripts, recompiling as
soon as a change occurs.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>-p, --print</code></td>
<td>
Instead of writing out the JavaScript as a file, print it
directly to <b>stdout</b>.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>-l, --lint</code></td>
<td>
If the <tt>jsl</tt> (JavaScript Lint) command is installed, use it
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to check the compilation of a CoffeeScript file. (Handy in
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conjunction with <tt>--watch</tt>)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>-e, --eval</code></td>
<td>
Compile and print a little snippet of CoffeeScript directly from the
command line (or from <b>stdin</b>). For example:<br /><tt>coffee -e "square: x => x * x."</tt>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>-t, --tokens</code></td>
<td>
Instead of parsing the CoffeeScript, just lex it, and print out the
token stream: <tt>[:IDENTIFIER, "square"], [":", ":"], [:PARAM, "x"]</tt> ...
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>-v, --verbose</code></td>
<td>
As the JavaScript is being generated, print out every step of code
generation, including lexical scope and the node in the
AST.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>-n, --no-wrap</code></td>
<td>
Compile the JavaScript without the top-level function safety wrapper
or var declarations, for situations where you want to add every
variable to global scope.
</td>
</tr>
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<tr>
<td><code>--install-bundle</code></td>
<td>
Install the TextMate bundle for CoffeeScript syntax highlighting.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>
<b>Examples:</b>
</p>
<pre>
coffee path/to/script.coffee
coffee --interactive
coffee --watch --lint experimental.coffee
coffee --print app/scripts/*.coffee > concatenation.js</pre>
<h2>Language Reference</h2>
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<p>
<i>
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This reference is structured so that it can be read from top to bottom,
if you like. Later sections use ideas and syntax previously introduced.
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Familiarity with JavaScript is assumed.
In all of the following examples, the source CoffeeScript is provided on
the left, and the direct compilation into JavaScript is on the right.
</i>
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</p>
<p id="punctuation">
<b class="header">Punctuation Primer</b>
You don't need to use semicolons <tt>;</tt> to terminate expressions, ending
the line will do just as well. All other whitespace is
not significant. Instead of using curly braces <tt>{ }</tt>
to delimit a block of code, use a period <tt>.</tt> to mark the end of a
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block, for
<a href="#functions">functions</a>,
<a href="#conditionals">if-statements</a>,
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<a href="#switch">switch</a>, and <a href="#try">try/catch</a>.
</p>
<p id="functions">
<b class="header">Functions and Invocation</b>
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Functions are defined by a list of parameters, an arrow, and the
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function body. The empty function looks like this: <tt>=>.</tt>
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle">square: x <span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Keyword">&gt;</span> x <span class="Keyword">*</span> x
cube: x <span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Keyword">&gt;</span> square(x) <span class="Keyword">*</span> x
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> cube, square;
square <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Storage">function</span> <span class="FunctionName">square</span>(<span class="FunctionArgument">x</span>) {
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<span class="Keyword">return</span> x <span class="Keyword">*</span> x;
};
cube <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Storage">function</span> <span class="FunctionName">cube</span>(<span class="FunctionArgument">x</span>) {
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<span class="Keyword">return</span> square(x) <span class="Keyword">*</span> x;
};
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</pre><button onclick='javascript: var cube, square;
square = function square(x) {
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return x * x;
};
cube = function cube(x) {
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return square(x) * x;
};
;alert(cube(5));'>run: cube(5)</button><br class='clear' /></div>
<p id="assignment">
<b class="header">Assignment</b>
Use a colon <tt>:</tt> to assign, as in
<a href="http://json.org">JSON</a>. Equal signs are only needed for
mathy things.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle">greeting: <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Hello CoffeeScript<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>
difficulty: <span class="Number">0.5</span>
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> difficulty, greeting;
greeting <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Hello CoffeeScript<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>;
difficulty <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Number">0.5</span>;
</pre><button onclick='javascript: var difficulty, greeting;
greeting = "Hello CoffeeScript";
difficulty = 0.5;
;alert(greeting);'>run: greeting</button><br class='clear' /></div>
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<p>
Declarations of new variables are pushed up to the top of the current scope,
so that assignments may always be used within expressions.
</p>
<p id="objects_and_arrays">
<b class="header">Objects and Arrays</b>
Object and Array literals look very similar to their JavaScript cousins.
When you spread out each assignment on a separate line, the commas are
optional. In this way, assigning object properties looks the same as
assigning local variables.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle">song: [<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>do<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>re<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>mi<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>fa<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>so<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>]
ages: {
max: <span class="Number">10</span>
ida: <span class="Number">9</span>
tim: <span class="Number">11</span>
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}
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> ages, song;
song <span class="Keyword">=</span> [<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>do<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>re<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>mi<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>fa<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>so<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>];
ages <span class="Keyword">=</span> {
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max: <span class="Number">10</span>,
ida: <span class="Number">9</span>,
tim: <span class="Number">11</span>
};
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</pre><button onclick='javascript: var ages, song;
song = ["do", "re", "mi", "fa", "so"];
ages = {
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max: 10,
ida: 9,
tim: 11
};
;alert(song.join(","));'>run: song.join(",")</button><br class='clear' /></div>
<p id="lexical_scope">
<b class="header">Lexical Scoping and Variable Safety</b>
The CoffeeScript compiler takes care to make sure that all of your variables
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are properly declared within lexical scope &mdash; you never need to write
<tt>var</tt> yourself.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle">num: <span class="Number">1</span>
change_numbers: <span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Keyword">&gt;</span>
num: <span class="Number">2</span>
new_num: <span class="Number">3</span>
new_num: change_numbers()
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> change_numbers, new_num, num;
num <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Number">1</span>;
change_numbers <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Storage">function</span> <span class="FunctionName">change_numbers</span>() {
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<span class="Storage">var</span> new_num;
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num <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Number">2</span>;
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<span class="Keyword">return</span> (new_num <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Number">3</span>);
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};
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new_num <span class="Keyword">=</span> change_numbers();
</pre><button onclick='javascript: var change_numbers, new_num, num;
num = 1;
change_numbers = function change_numbers() {
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var new_num;
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num = 2;
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return (new_num = 3);
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};
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new_num = change_numbers();
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;alert(new_num);'>run: new_num</button><br class='clear' /></div>
<p>
Notice how the variables are declared with <tt>var</tt> the first time
they appear. The second reference of <b>num</b>, within the function,
is not redeclared because <b>num</b> is still in scope. As opposed
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to the second occurrence of <b>new_num</b>, in the last line.
</p>
<p>
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Although suppressed within this documentation for clarity, all
CoffeeScript output is wrapped in an anonymous function:
<tt>(function(){ ... })();</tt> This safety wrapper, combined with the
automatic generation of the <tt>var</tt> keyword, make it exceedingly difficult
to pollute the global namespace by accident.
</p>
<p id="conditionals">
<b class="header">Conditionals, Ternaries, and Conditional Assignment</b>
<b>If/else</b> statements can be written without the use of parentheses and
curly brackets. As with functions and other block expressions, conditionals
are closed with periods. No period is necessary when using the single-line
postfix form, with the <tt>if</tt> at the end.
</p>
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<p>
CoffeeScript will compile <b>if</b> statements using the ternary operator
when possible, to make it easier to use the result as an expression.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle">mood: greatly_improved <span class="Keyword">if</span> singing
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<span class="Keyword">if</span> happy and knows_it
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claps_hands()
cha_cha_cha()
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date: <span class="Keyword">if</span> friday then sue <span class="Keyword">else</span> jill
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expensive <span class="Keyword">||</span><span class="Keyword">=</span> do_the_math()
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> date, mood;
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<span class="Keyword">if</span> (singing) {
mood <span class="Keyword">=</span> greatly_improved;
}
<span class="Keyword">if</span> (happy <span class="Keyword">&amp;</span><span class="Keyword">&amp;</span> knows_it) {
claps_hands();
cha_cha_cha();
}
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date <span class="Keyword">=</span> friday ? sue : jill;
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expensive <span class="Keyword">=</span> expensive <span class="Keyword">||</span> do_the_math();
</pre><br class='clear' /></div>
<p>
The conditional assignment operators are available: <tt>||=</tt>,
which only assigns a value to a variable if the variable's current value
is falsy, and <tt>&amp;&amp;=</tt>, which only replaces the value of
truthy variables.
</p>
<p id="expressions">
<b class="header">Everything is an Expression (at least, as much as possible)</b>
You might have noticed how even though we don't add return statements
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to CoffeeScript functions, they nonetheless return their final value.
The CoffeeScript compiler tries to make sure that all statements in the
language can be used as expressions. Watch how the <tt>return</tt> gets
pushed down into each possible branch of execution, in the function
below.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle">grade: student <span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Keyword">&gt;</span>
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<span class="Keyword">if</span> student.excellent_work
<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>A+<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>
<span class="Keyword">else</span> <span class="Keyword">if</span> student.okay_stuff
<span class="Keyword">if</span> student.tried_hard then <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>B<span class="String">&quot;</span></span> <span class="Keyword">else</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>B-<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>
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<span class="Keyword">else</span>
<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>C<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>
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eldest: <span class="Keyword">if</span> <span class="Number">24</span> <span class="Keyword">&gt;</span> <span class="Number">21</span> then <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Liz<span class="String">&quot;</span></span> <span class="Keyword">else</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Ike<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> eldest, grade;
grade <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Storage">function</span> <span class="FunctionName">grade</span>(<span class="FunctionArgument">student</span>) {
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<span class="Keyword">if</span> (student.excellent_work) {
<span class="Keyword">return</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>A+<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>;
} <span class="Keyword">else</span> <span class="Keyword">if</span> (student.okay_stuff) {
<span class="Keyword">return</span> student.tried_hard ? <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>B<span class="String">&quot;</span></span> : <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>B-<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>;
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} <span class="Keyword">else</span> {
<span class="Keyword">return</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>C<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>;
}
};
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eldest <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Number">24</span> <span class="Keyword">&gt;</span> <span class="Number">21</span> ? <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Liz<span class="String">&quot;</span></span> : <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Ike<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>;
</pre><button onclick='javascript: var eldest, grade;
grade = function grade(student) {
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if (student.excellent_work) {
return "A+";
} else if (student.okay_stuff) {
return student.tried_hard ? "B" : "B-";
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} else {
return "C";
}
};
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eldest = 24 > 21 ? "Liz" : "Ike";
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;alert(eldest);'>run: eldest</button><br class='clear' /></div>
<p>
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The same mechanism is used to push down assignment through <b>switch</b>
statements, and <b>if-elses</b> (although the ternary operator is preferred).
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Another part of manipulating assignment statements is
CoffeeScript's declaration of new variables at the top of the
current scope. This allows assignment to be used as a piece of an
expression.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle">six: (one: <span class="Number">1</span>) <span class="Keyword">+</span> (two: <span class="Number">2</span>) <span class="Keyword">+</span> (three: <span class="Number">3</span>)
2009-12-26 07:17:34 +00:00
</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> one, six, three, two;
six <span class="Keyword">=</span> (one <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Number">1</span>) <span class="Keyword">+</span> (two <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Number">2</span>) <span class="Keyword">+</span> (three <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Number">3</span>);
</pre><button onclick='javascript: var one, six, three, two;
six = (one = 1) + (two = 2) + (three = 3);
;alert(six);'>run: six</button><br class='clear' /></div>
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<p id="aliases">
<b class="header">Aliases</b>
Because the <tt>==</tt> operator frequently causes undesirable coercion,
is intransitive, and has a different meaning than in other languages,
CoffeeScript compiles <tt>==</tt> into <tt>===</tt>, and <tt>!=</tt> into
<tt>!==</tt>.
In addition, <tt>is</tt> compiles into <tt>===</tt>,
and <tt>isnt</tt> into <tt>!==</tt>.
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</p>
<p>
You can use <tt>not</tt> as an alias for <tt>!</tt>.
</p>
<p>
For logic, <tt>and</tt> compiles to <tt>&amp;&amp;</tt>, and <tt>or</tt>
into <tt>||</tt>.
</p>
<p>
Instead of a newline or semicolon, <tt>then</tt> can be used to separate
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conditions from expressions, in <b>while</b>,
<b>if</b>/<b>else</b>, and <b>switch</b>/<b>when</b> statements.
</p>
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<p>
As in <a href="http://yaml.org/">YAML</a>, <tt>on</tt> and <tt>yes</tt>
are the same as boolean <tt>true</tt>, while <tt>off</tt> and <tt>no</tt> are boolean <tt>false</tt>.
</p>
<p>
For single-line statements, <tt>unless</tt> can be used as the inverse of <tt>if</tt>.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle">launch() <span class="Keyword">if</span> ignition is on
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volume: <span class="Number">10</span> <span class="Keyword">if</span> band isnt spinal_tap
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let_the_wild_rumpus_begin() unless answer is no
<span class="Keyword">if</span> car.speed <span class="Keyword">&lt;</span> speed_limit then accelerate()
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> volume;
<span class="Keyword">if</span> (ignition <span class="Keyword">===</span> <span class="BuiltInConstant">true</span>) {
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launch();
}
<span class="Keyword">if</span> (band <span class="Keyword">!</span><span class="Keyword">==</span> spinal_tap) {
volume <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Number">10</span>;
}
<span class="Keyword">if</span> (<span class="Keyword">!</span>(answer <span class="Keyword">===</span> <span class="BuiltInConstant">false</span>)) {
let_the_wild_rumpus_begin();
}
car.speed <span class="Keyword">&lt;</span> speed_limit ? accelerate() : <span class="BuiltInConstant">null</span>;
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</pre><br class='clear' /></div>
<p id="while">
<b class="header">While Loops</b>
The only low-level loop that CoffeeScript provides is the while loop.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle"><span class="Keyword">while</span> demand <span class="Keyword">&gt;</span> supply
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sell()
restock()
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<span class="Keyword">while</span> supply <span class="Keyword">&gt;</span> demand then buy()
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Keyword">while</span> (demand <span class="Keyword">&gt;</span> supply) {
sell();
restock();
}
<span class="Keyword">while</span> (supply <span class="Keyword">&gt;</span> demand) {
buy();
}
</pre><br class='clear' /></div>
<p>
Other JavaScript loops, such as <b>for</b> loops and <b>do-while</b> loops
can be mimicked by variations on <b>while</b>, but the hope is that you
won't need to do that with CoffeeScript, either because you're using
<b>each</b> (<b>forEach</b>) style iterators, or...
</p>
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<p id="array_comprehensions">
<b class="header">Array Comprehensions</b>
For your looping needs, CoffeeScript provides array comprehensions
similar to Python's. They replace (and compile into) <b>for</b> loops, with
optional guard clauses and the value of the current array index.
Unlike for loops, array comprehensions are expressions, and can be returned
and assigned. They should be able to handle most places where you otherwise
would use a loop, <b>each</b>/<b>forEach</b>, <b>map</b>, or <b>select</b>/<b>filter</b>.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle"># Eat lunch.
lunch: food.eat() <span class="Keyword">for</span> food <span class="Keyword">in</span> [<span class="String"><span class="String">'</span>toast<span class="String">'</span></span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">'</span>cheese<span class="String">'</span></span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">'</span>wine<span class="String">'</span></span>]
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# Zebra<span class="Keyword">-</span>stripe a table.
highlight(row) <span class="Keyword">for</span> row, i <span class="Keyword">in</span> table when i <span class="Keyword">%</span> <span class="Number">2</span> is <span class="Number">0</span>
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> __a, __b, __c, __d, __e, __f, __g, __h, food, i, lunch, row;
<span class="Comment"><span class="Comment">//</span> Eat lunch.</span>
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__a <span class="Keyword">=</span> [<span class="String"><span class="String">'</span>toast<span class="String">'</span></span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">'</span>cheese<span class="String">'</span></span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">'</span>wine<span class="String">'</span></span>];
__d <span class="Keyword">=</span> [];
<span class="Keyword">for</span> (__b<span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Number">0</span>, __c<span class="Keyword">=</span>__a.<span class="LibraryConstant">length</span>; __b<span class="Keyword">&lt;</span>__c; __b<span class="Keyword">++</span>) {
food <span class="Keyword">=</span> __a[__b];
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__d[__b] <span class="Keyword">=</span> food.eat();
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}
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lunch <span class="Keyword">=</span> __d;
<span class="Comment"><span class="Comment">//</span> Zebra-stripe a table.</span>
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__e <span class="Keyword">=</span> table;
__h <span class="Keyword">=</span> [];
<span class="Keyword">for</span> (__f<span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Number">0</span>, __g<span class="Keyword">=</span>__e.<span class="LibraryConstant">length</span>; __f<span class="Keyword">&lt;</span>__g; __f<span class="Keyword">++</span>) {
row <span class="Keyword">=</span> __e[__f];
i <span class="Keyword">=</span> __f;
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__h[__f] <span class="Keyword">=</span> i <span class="Keyword">%</span> <span class="Number">2</span> <span class="Keyword">===</span> <span class="Number">0</span> ? highlight(row) : <span class="BuiltInConstant">null</span>;
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}
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__h;
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</pre><br class='clear' /></div>
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<p>
If you're not iterating over an actual array, you can use a range to
specify the start and end of an array comprehension:
<tt>coundown(i) for i in [10..1].</tt>
</p>
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<p id="slice">
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<b class="header">Slicing Arrays with Ranges</b>
CoffeeScript borrows Ruby's
<a href="http://ruby-doc.org/core/classes/Range.html">range syntax</a>
for extracting slices of arrays. With two dots (<tt>3..5</tt>), the range
is inclusive: the first argument is the index of the first element in
the slice, and the second is the index of the last one. Three dots signify
a range that excludes the end.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle">numbers: [<span class="Number">0</span>, <span class="Number">1</span>, <span class="Number">2</span>, <span class="Number">3</span>, <span class="Number">4</span>, <span class="Number">5</span>, <span class="Number">6</span>, <span class="Number">7</span>, <span class="Number">8</span>, <span class="Number">9</span>]
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three_to_six: numbers[<span class="Number">3</span>..<span class="Number">6</span>]
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numbers_copy: numbers[<span class="Number">0</span>...numbers.<span class="LibraryConstant">length</span>]
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> numbers, numbers_copy, three_to_six;
numbers <span class="Keyword">=</span> [<span class="Number">0</span>, <span class="Number">1</span>, <span class="Number">2</span>, <span class="Number">3</span>, <span class="Number">4</span>, <span class="Number">5</span>, <span class="Number">6</span>, <span class="Number">7</span>, <span class="Number">8</span>, <span class="Number">9</span>];
three_to_six <span class="Keyword">=</span> numbers.<span class="LibraryFunction">slice</span>(<span class="Number">3</span>, <span class="Number">6</span> <span class="Keyword">+</span> <span class="Number">1</span>);
numbers_copy <span class="Keyword">=</span> numbers.<span class="LibraryFunction">slice</span>(<span class="Number">0</span>, numbers.<span class="LibraryConstant">length</span>);
</pre><button onclick='javascript: var numbers, numbers_copy, three_to_six;
numbers = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9];
three_to_six = numbers.slice(3, 6 + 1);
numbers_copy = numbers.slice(0, numbers.length);
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;alert(numbers_copy);'>run: numbers_copy</button><br class='clear' /></div>
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<p id="inheritance">
<b class="header">Inheritance, and Calling Super from a Subclass</b>
JavaScript's prototypal inheritance has always been a bit of a
brain-bender, with a whole family tree of libraries that provide a cleaner
syntax for classical inheritance on top of JavaScript's prototypes:
<a href="http://code.google.com/p/base2/">Base2</a>,
<a href="http://prototypejs.org/">Prototype.js</a>,
<a href="http://jsclass.jcoglan.com/">JS.Class</a>, etc.
The libraries provide syntactic sugar, but the built-in inheritance would
be completely usable if it weren't for a couple of small exceptions:
it's awkward to call <b>super</b> (the prototype object's
implementation of the current function), and it's awkward to correctly
set the prototype chain. CoffeeScript provides <tt>extends</tt>
to help with prototype setup, and converts
<tt>super()</tt> calls into calls against the immediate ancestor's
method of the same name.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle">Animal: <span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Keyword">&gt;</span>
Animal.<span class="LibraryConstant">prototype</span>.move: meters <span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Keyword">&gt;</span>
<span class="LibraryFunction">alert</span>(<span class="Variable">this</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">name</span> <span class="Keyword">+</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span> moved <span class="String">&quot;</span></span> <span class="Keyword">+</span> meters <span class="Keyword">+</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>m.<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>)
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Snake: name <span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Keyword">&gt;</span> <span class="Variable">this</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">name</span>: name
Snake <span class="Storage">extends</span> Animal
Snake.<span class="LibraryConstant">prototype</span>.move: <span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Keyword">&gt;</span>
<span class="LibraryFunction">alert</span>(<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Slithering...<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>)
<span class="Variable">super</span>(<span class="Number">5</span>)
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Horse: name <span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Keyword">&gt;</span> <span class="Variable">this</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">name</span>: name
Horse <span class="Storage">extends</span> Animal
Horse.<span class="LibraryConstant">prototype</span>.move: <span class="Keyword">=</span><span class="Keyword">&gt;</span>
<span class="LibraryFunction">alert</span>(<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Galloping...<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>)
<span class="Variable">super</span>(<span class="Number">45</span>)
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sam: <span class="Keyword">new</span> <span class="TypeName">Snake</span>(<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Sammy the Python<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>)
tom: <span class="Keyword">new</span> <span class="TypeName">Horse</span>(<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Tommy the Palomino<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>)
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sam.move()
tom.move()
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> Animal, Horse, Snake, sam, tom;
Animal <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Storage">function</span> <span class="FunctionName">Animal</span>() {
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};
<span class="LibraryClassType">Animal</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">prototype</span>.<span class="FunctionName">move</span> = <span class="Storage">function</span> <span class="FunctionName">move</span>(<span class="FunctionArgument">meters</span>) {
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<span class="Keyword">return</span> <span class="LibraryFunction">alert</span>(<span class="Variable">this</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">name</span> <span class="Keyword">+</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span> moved <span class="String">&quot;</span></span> <span class="Keyword">+</span> meters <span class="Keyword">+</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>m.<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>);
};
Snake <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Storage">function</span> <span class="FunctionName">Snake</span>(<span class="FunctionArgument">name</span>) {
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<span class="Keyword">return</span> (<span class="Variable">this</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">name</span> <span class="Keyword">=</span> name);
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};
Snake.__superClass__ <span class="Keyword">=</span> Animal.<span class="LibraryConstant">prototype</span>;
<span class="LibraryClassType">Snake</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">prototype</span> = <span class="Keyword">new</span> <span class="TypeName">Animal</span>();
<span class="LibraryClassType">Snake</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">prototype</span>.<span class="FunctionName">constructor</span> = Snake;
<span class="LibraryClassType">Snake</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">prototype</span>.<span class="FunctionName">move</span> = <span class="Storage">function</span> <span class="FunctionName">move</span>() {
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<span class="LibraryFunction">alert</span>(<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Slithering...<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>);
<span class="Keyword">return</span> Snake.__superClass__.move.<span class="LibraryFunction">call</span>(<span class="Variable">this</span>, <span class="Number">5</span>);
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};
Horse <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Storage">function</span> <span class="FunctionName">Horse</span>(<span class="FunctionArgument">name</span>) {
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<span class="Keyword">return</span> (<span class="Variable">this</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">name</span> <span class="Keyword">=</span> name);
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};
Horse.__superClass__ <span class="Keyword">=</span> Animal.<span class="LibraryConstant">prototype</span>;
<span class="LibraryClassType">Horse</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">prototype</span> = <span class="Keyword">new</span> <span class="TypeName">Animal</span>();
<span class="LibraryClassType">Horse</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">prototype</span>.<span class="FunctionName">constructor</span> = Horse;
<span class="LibraryClassType">Horse</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">prototype</span>.<span class="FunctionName">move</span> = <span class="Storage">function</span> <span class="FunctionName">move</span>() {
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<span class="LibraryFunction">alert</span>(<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Galloping...<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>);
<span class="Keyword">return</span> Horse.__superClass__.move.<span class="LibraryFunction">call</span>(<span class="Variable">this</span>, <span class="Number">45</span>);
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};
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sam <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Keyword">new</span> <span class="TypeName">Snake</span>(<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Sammy the Python<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>);
tom <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="Keyword">new</span> <span class="TypeName">Horse</span>(<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Tommy the Palomino<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>);
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sam.move();
tom.move();
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</pre><button onclick='javascript: var Animal, Horse, Snake, sam, tom;
Animal = function Animal() {
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};
Animal.prototype.move = function move(meters) {
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return alert(this.name + " moved " + meters + "m.");
};
Snake = function Snake(name) {
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return (this.name = name);
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};
Snake.__superClass__ = Animal.prototype;
Snake.prototype = new Animal();
Snake.prototype.constructor = Snake;
Snake.prototype.move = function move() {
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alert("Slithering...");
return Snake.__superClass__.move.call(this, 5);
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};
Horse = function Horse(name) {
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return (this.name = name);
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};
Horse.__superClass__ = Animal.prototype;
Horse.prototype = new Animal();
Horse.prototype.constructor = Horse;
Horse.prototype.move = function move() {
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alert("Galloping...");
return Horse.__superClass__.move.call(this, 45);
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};
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sam = new Snake("Sammy the Python");
tom = new Horse("Tommy the Palomino");
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sam.move();
tom.move();
;'>run</button><br class='clear' /></div>
<p id="embedded">
<b class="header">Embedded JavaScript</b>
If you ever need to interpolate literal JavaScript snippets, you can
use backticks to pass JavaScript straight through.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle">hi: `<span class="Storage">function</span>() {
<span class="Keyword">return</span> [<span class="LibraryClassType">document</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">title</span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Hello JavaScript<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>].<span class="LibraryFunction">join</span>(<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>: <span class="String">&quot;</span></span>);
}`
2009-12-21 16:41:45 +00:00
2009-12-26 07:17:34 +00:00
</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> hi;
<span class="FunctionName">hi</span> = <span class="Storage">function</span>() {
<span class="Keyword">return</span> [<span class="LibraryClassType">document</span>.<span class="LibraryConstant">title</span>, <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Hello JavaScript<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>].<span class="LibraryFunction">join</span>(<span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>: <span class="String">&quot;</span></span>);
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};
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</pre><button onclick='javascript: var hi;
hi = function() {
return [document.title, "Hello JavaScript"].join(": ");
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};
;alert(hi());'>run: hi()</button><br class='clear' /></div>
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<p id="switch">
<b class="header">Switch/When/Else</b>
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<b>Switch</b> statements in JavaScript are rather broken. You can only
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do comparisons based on string equality, and need to remember to <b>break</b> at the end of
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every <b>case</b> statement to avoid accidentally falling through to
the default case. CoffeeScript compiles <b>switch</b> statements into JavaScript if-else chains, allowing you to
compare any object (via <b>===</b>), preventing fall-through, and resulting
in a returnable, assignable expression. The format is: <tt>switch</tt> condition,
<tt>when</tt> clauses, <tt>else</tt> the default case.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle"><span class="Keyword">switch</span> day
when <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Tuesday<span class="String">&quot;</span></span> then eat_breakfast()
when <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Wednesday<span class="String">&quot;</span></span> then go_to_the_park()
when <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Saturday<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>
<span class="Keyword">if</span> day is bingo_day
go_to_bingo()
go_dancing()
when <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Sunday<span class="String">&quot;</span></span> then go_to_church()
<span class="Keyword">else</span> go_to_work()
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Keyword">if</span> (day <span class="Keyword">===</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Tuesday<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>) {
eat_breakfast();
} <span class="Keyword">else</span> <span class="Keyword">if</span> (day <span class="Keyword">===</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Wednesday<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>) {
go_to_the_park();
} <span class="Keyword">else</span> <span class="Keyword">if</span> (day <span class="Keyword">===</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Saturday<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>) {
<span class="Keyword">if</span> (day <span class="Keyword">===</span> bingo_day) {
go_to_bingo();
go_dancing();
}
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} <span class="Keyword">else</span> <span class="Keyword">if</span> (day <span class="Keyword">===</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Sunday<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>) {
go_to_church();
} <span class="Keyword">else</span> {
go_to_work();
}
</pre><br class='clear' /></div>
<p id="try">
<b class="header">Try/Catch/Finally</b>
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Try/catch statements are just about the same as JavaScript (although
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they work as expressions).
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle"><span class="Keyword">try</span>
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all_hell_breaks_loose()
cats_and_dogs_living_together()
<span class="Keyword">catch</span> error
<span class="LibraryFunction">print</span>(error)
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<span class="Keyword">finally</span>
clean_up()
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Keyword">try</span> {
all_hell_breaks_loose();
cats_and_dogs_living_together();
} <span class="Keyword">catch</span> (error) {
<span class="LibraryFunction">print</span>(error);
} <span class="Keyword">finally</span> {
clean_up();
}
</pre><br class='clear' /></div>
<p id="try">
<b class="header">Multiline Strings</b>
Multiline strings are allowed in CoffeeScript.
</p>
<div class='code'><pre class="idle">moby_dick: <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Call me Ishmael. Some years ago --</span>
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<span class="String">never mind how long precisely -- having little</span>
<span class="String">or no money in my purse, and nothing particular</span>
<span class="String">to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail</span>
<span class="String">about a little and see the watery part of the</span>
<span class="String">world...<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>
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</pre><pre class="idle"><span class="Storage">var</span> moby_dick;
moby_dick <span class="Keyword">=</span> <span class="String"><span class="String">&quot;</span>Call me Ishmael. Some years ago -- \</span>
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<span class="String">never mind how long precisely -- having little \</span>
<span class="String">or no money in my purse, and nothing particular \</span>
<span class="String">to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail \</span>
<span class="String">about a little and see the watery part of the \</span>
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<span class="String">world...<span class="String">&quot;</span></span>;
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</pre><button onclick='javascript: var moby_dick;
moby_dick = "Call me Ishmael. Some years ago -- \
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never mind how long precisely -- having little \
or no money in my purse, and nothing particular \
to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail \
about a little and see the watery part of the \
world...";
;alert(moby_dick);'>run: moby_dick</button><br class='clear' /></div>
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<h2 id="resources">Resources</h2>
<p>
<a href="http://github.com/jashkenas/coffee-script/">Source Code</a><br />
<a href="http://github.com/jashkenas/coffee-script/issues">Bugs and Feature Requests</a><br />
</p>
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<h2 id="contributing">Contributing</h2>
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<p>
Here's a wish list of things that would be wonderful to have in
CoffeeScript:
</p>
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<ul>
<li>
A JavaScript version of the compiler, perhaps using Alessandro Warth's
<a href="http://tinlizzie.org/ometa/">OMeta</a>.
</li>
<li>
Ideas for alternate syntax to end blocks of expressions &mdash; the periods
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can look a little weird with deeply nested structure. (There's now a
'whitespace' branch &mdash; help add significant whitespace over there.)
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</li>
<li>
Test cases for any syntax errors you encounter that you think CoffeeScript
should be able to compile properly.
</li>
<li>
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A tutorial that introduces CoffeeScript from the ground up for folks
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without knowledge of JavaScript.
</li>
<li>
Integration with Processing.js's JavaScript API (this would depend on
having a JavaScript version of the compiler).
</li>
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<li>
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A lot of the code generation in <tt>nodes.rb</tt> gets into messy
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string manipulation. Techniques for cleaning this up across the board
would be appreciated.
</li>
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</ul>
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<h2 id="change_log">Change Log</h2>
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<p>
<b class="header" style="margin-top: 20px;">0.1.6</b>
Bugfix for running <tt>coffee --interactive</tt> and <tt>--run</tt>
from outside of the CoffeeScript directory. Bugfix for nested
function/if-statements.
</p>
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<p>
<b class="header" style="margin-top: 20px;">0.1.5</b>
Array slice literals and array comprehensions can now both take Ruby-style
ranges to specify the start and end. JavaScript variable declaration is
now pushed up to the top of the scope, making all assignment statements into
expressions. You can use <tt>\</tt> to escape newlines.
The <tt>coffee-script</tt> command is now called <tt>coffee</tt>.
</p>
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<p>
<b class="header" style="margin-top: 20px;">0.1.4</b>
The official CoffeeScript extension is now <tt>.coffee</tt> instead of
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<tt>.cs</tt>, which properly belongs to
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_Sharp_(programming_language)">C#</a>.
Due to popular demand, you can now also use <tt>=</tt> to assign. Unlike
JavaScript, <tt>=</tt> can also be used within object literals, interchangeably
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with <tt>:</tt>. Made a grammatical fix for chained function calls
like <tt>func(1)(2)(3)(4)</tt>. Inheritance and super no longer use
<tt>__proto__</tt>, so they should be IE-compatible now.
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</p>
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<p>
<b class="header" style="margin-top: 20px;">0.1.3</b>
The <tt>coffee</tt> command now includes <tt>--interactive</tt>,
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which launches an interactive CoffeeScript session, and <tt>--run</tt>,
which directly compiles and executes a script. Both options depend on a
working installation of Narwhal.
The <tt>aint</tt> keyword has been replaced by <tt>isnt</tt>, which goes
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together a little smoother with <tt>is</tt>.
Quoted strings are now allowed as identifiers within object literals: eg.
<tt>{"5+5": 10}</tt>.
All assignment operators now use a colon: <tt>+:</tt>, <tt>-:</tt>,
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<tt>*:</tt>, etc.
</p>
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<p>
<b class="header" style="margin-top: 20px;">0.1.2</b>
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Fixed a bug with calling <tt>super()</tt> through more than one level of
inheritance, with the re-addition of the <tt>extends</tt> keyword.
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Added experimental <a href="http://narwhaljs.org/">Narwhal</a>
support (as a Tusk package), contributed by
<a href="http://tlrobinson.net/">Tom Robinson</a>, including
<b>bin/cs</b> as a CoffeeScript REPL and interpreter.
New <tt>--no-wrap</tt> option to suppress the safety function
wrapper.
</p>
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<p>
<b class="header" style="margin-top: 20px;">0.1.1</b>
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Added <tt>instanceof</tt> and <tt>typeof</tt> as operators.
</p>
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<p>
<b class="header" style="margin-top: 20px;">0.1.0</b>
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Initial CoffeeScript release.
</p>
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</div>
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