Types

The built-in types and type forms you use to describe values in Chic.

Built-in types

Chic is statically typed. Write a type after :, or use := to let the compiler infer it from the initializer.

Type	Meaning
`i8`, `i16`, `i32`, `i64`	Signed integers, with 8, 16, 32, or 64 bits.
`u8`, `u16`, `u32`, `u64`	Unsigned integers of the same widths.
`byte`	An unsigned 8-bit type, like `u8`.
`f32`, `float`	32-bit floating-point numbers.
`f64`, `double`	64-bit floating-point numbers.
`bool`	A boolean value: `true` or `false`.
`char`	An 8-bit character value.
`rune`	A 32-bit Unicode code point; string iteration yields runes.
`string`	A native UTF-8 pointer-and-length value.
`cstring`	An alias for `^char`, used with C strings.
`void`	No return value; also used in untyped pointers such as `^void`.
`TypeInfo`, `any`, `SourceLocation`	Compiler-provided structures for type metadata, type-erased values, and source locations.

Type names such as i32 and string are built-in identifiers. The Keywords page lists reserved words separately.

Declaring values

count : i32 = 42       // explicit type
name := "Chic"         // inferred string
var index := 0         // mutable binding

Bindings are read-only by default. Add var when you need to assign a new value.

Use :: to declare a compile-time constant. Its value must be known at compile time. You can let Chic infer the type from the value, or specify the type before =.

Form	Meaning
`<identifier> :: <value>`	A compile-time constant with an inferred type.
`<identifier> :: <type> = <value>`	A compile-time constant with an explicit type.

BufferSize :: 4096            // inferred type
PacketLimit :: u16 = 65_535  // explicit type

Composed types

Form	Meaning
`^T`	A pointer to a value of type `T`.
`[N]T`	An array with fixed-size storage for `N` elements.
`[?]T`	An array whose length is inferred from its initializer.
`[]T`	A non-owning view over contiguous elements.
`[T, U]`	A tuple containing multiple values.
`func(T) -> U`	A callable function type.
`funcptr(T) -> U`	A raw, context-free function pointer for native ABI boundaries.

values : [3]i32 = {10, 20, 30}
view : []i32 = values[:]
pointer : ^i32 = &values[0]
text : string = "hello"
c_text : cstring = c"hello"

User-defined types

Declare your own types with struct, enum, union, or raw_union. An alias gives an existing type another name.

alias UserId : i64

Point : struct {
    x : f32 = 0
    y : f32 = 0
}