Pseudocode to C++ transcompiler

Transcompiles a dynamically-typed "pseudocode" language, Ptitsa, to C++

Ptitsa specification

Interesting features a glance:

Automatic iterating variable in loops:

names = ["Nick", "Alan", "Tom"]
go over names:
  show name 
  { variable `name` is auto-generated }

English-reading boolean expressions:

if x is 12 or 20

Basic syntax

New lines separate statements Comments are written in curly braces, e.g. { comment is here }

Functions

Functions do not need brackets, e.g. show "hi!", length [1, 2, 5] Functions surrounded in other code will need surrounding brackets, e.g. if (sum a, b) is 12

Data

There are three primitive data types: strings, numbers and booleans.

String literals

String literals are enclosed in double-quotes, e.g. "hi there!"

Numeric literals

Numeric literals are written as standard, e.g. 12, -3.1

Boolean literals

true and false are the two boolean literals

Boolean expressions

is is used for comparison, e.g. x is 12 isnt is used for negated comparison, e.g. x isnt 13 and, or and not are the core logical operators. They allow for shorter statements: e.g. x is 12 or 13 is the same as x is 12 or x is 13. A consequence of this is that, if and or or are used, boolean variables must be followed by is true, E.g. x is 12 or b is true is written istead of x is true or b for boolean b.

Lists

Lists can contain any of the three primitive data types. Lists are written in comma-separated square brackets, e.g. [a, b, c]. If a and b are numbers, the syntax a to b generates a list of numbers ranging from a to b inclusive.

Variables

Variables are dynamically typed Variable declaration or assignment uses =, e.g. x = 12.

if statements

The head of an if statement is prefaced by if The body of if statements are indented and are written on a new line, e.g.

if x is 12
    { do line 1 }
    { do line 2 }
{if statement has ended here}

for each loops

for each loops iterate over each element in a list. The values in a list are iterated by reference, e.g.

	show el
	el = "Bob"

has el iterating over each element in list. For each el, el is first shown to the command line, then list is updated with el being set to "Bob".

Coupled with the a to b syntax,

for each x in a to b
	{ do line 1 }

constructs a for each loop with x ranging from the number a to the number b (inclusive).

go over is a special kind of for loop. It automatically makes element variable if list name ends in 's', e.g.

go over names:
	show name
	name = "Bob" { shows each name, then changes name to be "Bob". }