Quick Development Language v0.9

Please Note: I've quit work on the language as described here. Most languages have a fixed syntax, by which I mean no new constructs can be added to the language. I've decided I want to design a language where syntax extentions are easy and commonplace, and integrate so perfectly you'd think they were part of the original language. I also want to design an editor for this language that supports graphical elements (essentially, visual comments with features like graphics, tables, and diagrams, and maybe even functioning code that can be represented visually as well as textually), semantic as well as syntax highlighting, and heavy automatic crossreferencing between parts of the code.

Unfortunately, my vision is so broad I don't know where to begin. I need a new strategy for designing this language, because right now my brain tends to get lost in the complexity of the task. There are so many concerns to worry about when designing the Ultimate Language, I should probably look for a way not to design the ultimate language, and instead try for a reletively conventional language with a small number of very useful features found in no other popular language.

Reference Manual

• Introduction
  • Conventions
  • Basics
  • Language Comparisons
• Language Quick Summary
  • Common Statements
• Language Reference
  • Basic elements
    • Comments
    • Blocks
    • Statements
    • Labels
  • Built-in Data Types
    • The var-Statement
    • Integer types, Floating-point types, Booleans, Strings
    • Integer constants, Character literals and literal-chars, String Literals
    • Conversions between strings and other types
  • Functions
    • Variable lists and type specs
    • How to call functions
    • Default arguments/return value
    • Delimiters
      • Ambiguity between delimiters and other identifiers
    • Overloading/signatures
      • Function protocol
    • Variable-size argument lists
    • Overloaded function scoring
    • Declarations and definitions
    • Nested Functions
    • Enumerations as function arguments
  • Arrays and References (i.e. pointers)
    • Arrays
    • Arrays and function calls
    • Basics of References
    • The Null Keyword
    • QDL references versus C pointers
    • QDL Arrays versus Pointers
    • Pointer Arithmetic
    • Array Initialization
  • Type-Names, Enums, Typedefs, Const
    • Type-Names
    • Function signature in place of a type name; function references
    • Enums
    • Const
  • Executable Statements Vol. 1: Non-loops, labels
    • Function calls
    • Expression-statements
    • Return
    • With
    • If and Unless
    • Switch
  • Executable Statements Vol. 2: Loops and exceptions
    • Do-While and Do-Until
    • While and Until
    • For
    • Break, Continue and Redo
    • Try and Catch
    • Throw
  • Operators Overview
    • Types
    • Precedence and Associativity
    • Overloading
      • The dot operator
      • The change address operator
      • New and Delete
    • Promotion
    • Ambiguity
  • Operator Descriptions

    Parenthesis	.	.*	::	array []
    Function call	@, *	Pre ++, --	Post ++, --	Type-cast
    Unary -, +	~, !	*, /, %	+, -	&, |, ^
    &&, ||	? :	=	Compound =	Comma

  • Compile, Uses, and Namespace
    • Conditional Compilation Directives
    • Macros
      • Pre-defined macros
    • User-defined compilation messages
    • Compile Option
    • Include directives: Compile and Uses
    • Namespaces
  • Pseudo-functions
    • SizeOf
    • Defined and DefinedString
    • New and Delete
    • Class
    • Function
  • Class Basics
    • Class Scopes
    • Syntax
    • Access Modes (public, private, protected)
    • Derivation (inheritance) and overriding
    • Virtual functions
    • Constructors
    • Destructors
  • Class clauses
    • Inherits
    • Renames
    • Tags
    • Uses
    • Template and Reference
      • C++ vs QDL parameterized types
  • Class modifiers
    • Final
    • Stripped
    • Exported
    • Abstract
    • Published
  • Attributes
  • RTTI System
  • Built-in Classes
  • Advanced Class Topics
  • Notes
    • Run-time error checking
    • Optimizer
    • Undefined Behavior
• Appendices
  • Keywords summary
  • Statements summary
  • Operators summary
• Standard Library
  • Foundation classes
    • Block memory management
    • Error handling
      • The Exception Class
  • File management (files, serialization, console I/O)
    • Abstract Stream
    • Stream Classes
      • File Stream
      • Memory Stream
      • Config Stream
      • Standard In
      • Standard Out
    • Class File System
    • Class Path String
    • Exceptions and error codes
  • Data management
    • Block memory management
    • New and Delete
    • Auto-destructing objects
    • Collections
      • Dynamic Arrays
      • Linear
      • Linked lists
    • Grids
  • System Functions
  • Math Functions
    • Date class
  • Multithreading
    • Starting and stopping threads
    • Access control objects
  • Graphics (two-dimensional)
    • Overview
  • Sound
    • Overview
  • Windowing (GUIs)
    • Overview
    • Help system
• Implementation Notes
  • Multiple inheritance and polymorphism
  • Recommended naming conventions
  •  

Copyright 2000 by David Piepgrass
Unauthorized reproduction welcomed