Quest Documentation

Built-in Functions #

Quest provides several built-in functions that are always available without needing to import any modules.

Output Functions #

puts(args...) #

Prints values to stdout, followed by a newline. Multiple arguments are printed without separators.

Arguments: Any number of values

Returns: nil

Example:

puts("Hello, World!")           # Hello, World!
puts("Answer:", 42)             # Answer:42
puts("x =", 5, "y =", 10)      # x =5y =10

print(args...) #

Prints values to stdout without a trailing newline.

Arguments: Any number of values

Returns: nil

Example:

print("Loading")
print(".")
print(".")
print(".")
puts(" Done!")
# Output: Loading... Done!

Utility Functions #

len(value) #

Returns the length of a collection or string.

Arguments:

  • value - An array, dict, or string

Returns: Number - the length/size

Example:

let arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
puts(len(arr))              # 5

let text = "hello"
puts(len(text))             # 5

let dict = {"a": 1, "b": 2}
puts(len(dict))             # 2

chr(codepoint) #

Converts a Unicode codepoint (integer) to a character string.

Arguments:

  • codepoint - Integer Unicode codepoint (0-1114111)

Returns: Str - Single character string

Raises: Error if codepoint is invalid

Example:

# ASCII characters
puts(chr(65))           # A
puts(chr(90))           # Z
puts(chr(97))           # a

# Build strings from codepoints
let hello = chr(72) .. chr(101) .. chr(108) .. chr(108) .. chr(111)
puts(hello)             # Hello

# Special characters
puts(chr(32))           # (space)
puts(chr(10))           # (newline)
puts(chr(9))            # (tab)

# Unicode characters
puts(chr(8364))         # €
puts(chr(9731))         # ☃
puts(chr(128077))       # 👍

# Character arithmetic (Caesar cipher)
let shifted = chr(ord("A") + 3)
puts(shifted)           # D

# Invalid codepoint
try
    chr(0xFFFFFFFF)     # Error: Invalid Unicode codepoint
catch e
    puts(e.message())
end

ord(string) #

Returns the Unicode codepoint of the first character in a string.

Arguments:

  • string - Non-empty string

Returns: Int - Unicode codepoint of first character

Raises: Error if string is empty

Example:

# ASCII characters
puts(ord("A"))          # 65
puts(ord("Z"))          # 90
puts(ord("a"))          # 97

# Unicode characters
puts(ord("€"))          # 8364
puts(ord("👍"))         # 128077

# Multi-character strings (takes first char)
puts(ord("Hello"))      # 72 (H)

# Roundtrip with chr()
puts(chr(ord("A")))     # A

# Character ranges
let a_code = ord("A")
let z_code = ord("Z")
puts(z_code - a_code)   # 25 (26 letters)

# Empty string error
try
    ord("")
catch e
    puts(e.message())   # ord expects non-empty string
end

Note: ord() is also available as a String method: "A".ord() returns 65.

Type Checking #

Quest is dynamically typed, but you can check types at runtime:

let x = 5
puts(x.cls())  # "Num"

let s = "hello"
puts(s.cls())  # "Str"

See Also #

Edit this page