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Expressions

Expressions are the pieces of code that produce values. They are used in assignments, conditions, function arguments, and return statements.

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Supported Expression Forms

  • Number literals
  • String literals
  • Boolean literals
  • Identifiers
  • New expressions
  • System function references
  • Parenthesized expressions
  • Invocation
  • Member access
  • Index access
  • Unary operators
  • Binary operators

Primary Expressions

  • 123
  • "hello"
  • True
  • name
  • New Player
  • Graphics
  • (x + 1)

Calls, Members, and Indexes

<expression>([<arg>[, <arg>...]]) <expression>.<identifier> <expression>\<identifier> <expression>[<indexExpr>[, <indexExpr>...]]
  • Foo()
  • DoSomething(1, 2)
  • Graphics(800, 600)
  • foo.bar
  • foo\bar
  • arr[0]
  • matrix[i, j]

Postfix operations can be chained, such as foo.bar[1].baz(2). Both . and \ are recognized for member access. . is the preferred modern style.

If you are learning arrays for the first time, read Arrays for a step-by-step explanation of declarations, indexes, and common mistakes.

New Expressions

New <TypeName> allocates a new object for a user-defined Type.

Type Player
    Field Name As String
    Field Score As Integer
End Type

Dim currentPlayer As Player
currentPlayer = New Player

Unary Operators

  • +
  • -
  • Not
  • +1
  • -value
  • Not False

Binary Operators

  • Logical: Or, And
  • Comparison: =, <>, <, <=, >, >=
  • Arithmetic: +, -, *, /, Mod, ^

Comparisons for Beginners

A comparison checks whether one value matches or relates to another value. The result of a comparison is always True or False.

  • = means equal to
  • <> means not equal to
  • < means less than
  • <= means less than or equal to
  • > means greater than
  • >= means greater than or equal to

You can compare variables to variables, variables to constants, or more complex expressions.

score = 10
health <= 0
playerX > enemyX
lives <> maxLives
(coins + bonus) > targetScore

Logical Conditions for Beginners

Use logical operators when a condition depends on more than one test.

  • And means both sides must be True
  • Or means either side can be True
  • Not flips True to False and False to True
score >= 100 And lives > 0
health <= 0 Or timeLeft = 0
Not finished
(x > 0 And y > 0) Or debugMode

When a condition starts to look complicated, add parentheses to make the grouping clear.

Operator Precedence

From lowest to highest:

  • 1. Or
  • 2. And
  • 3. =, <>, <, <=, >, >=
  • 4. +, -
  • 5. *, /, Mod
  • 6. ^
  • 7. Unary +, unary -, Not

Parentheses let you force a different order when needed.

  • (X + (7 * DoSomething() / MyVar))