The Structure of a Sheerpower Program

A brief overview of the main structural elements used in Sheerpower programs, including statements, comments, function calls, routine calls, variables, blocks, directives, and layout conventions.

The Structure of a Sheerpower Program

A Sheerpower program is made from simple, readable structural elements. Each element has a clear purpose, and together they make programs easier to write, test, debug, and maintain.

This tutorial gives a quick overview of the most important structural elements found in Sheerpower programs.

• Statements — one logical instruction at a time.
• Comments — use // or ! to explain intent, assumptions, non-obvious logic, or other important details.
• Line continuation — long statements can continue when the compiler can see that more input is required, including comma continuation in built-in function calls and routine calls.
• Built-in function calls — use parentheses, with multiple arguments separated by commas. A trailing comma indicates an implied line continuation.
• Routine calls — use with and, when needed, returning. Do not use call, and do not use parentheses. A trailing comma indicates an implied line continuation.
• Variable naming — Sheerpower is case-insensitive. Tutorial examples use lowercase names and snake_case for consistency.
• Type suffixes — when a variable's type is not explicitly declared, Sheerpower uses suffixes to identify common types: string variables end with $, Boolean variables end with ?, and numeric variables have no suffix.
• Code blocks — structured blocks use clear ending statements such as end if, end select, and end do.
• Routines — reusable code sections used to organize related logic.
• Include files — use %include to bring shared source code into a program.
• Compiler directives — directives such as %include, %debug, and %todo provide instructions to the compiler.
• Program flow — programs normally execute from top to bottom, with loops, branches, routines, and exception handling controlling the flow when needed.
• Layout conventions — use indentation, line wrapping, spacing, and clear organization to make programs easier to read and maintain.

Below is a coding sandbox where you can enter, edit, and run Sheerpower code. Type any Sheerpower code into the sandbox, then choose Run to try it. Each tutorial includes a sandbox.