BlitzMax/Language/Literals

Literals are simple numeric or string values.

Integer literals

Integer literals may be in either decimal, hexadecimal or binary format. To specify a hexadecimal literal, prepend it with the @$ character. To specify a binary literal, prepend it with the % character. Here are some examples of integer literals:

100  'decimal literal
$CAFEBABE 'hexadecimal (base 16) literal
%10101010 'binary (base 2) literal

Floating point literals

Floating point literals are numeric values with a fractional part. The fractional part is specified using a decimal point. Floating point literals may also be extended using 'e notation'. For example:

.5  'one half
10.0  'ten point zero
1e6  '1 times (10 to the power of 6)
1.5e-6  '1.5 times (10 to the power of -6)

String literals

A string literal is a sequence of characters enclosed in quotation marks. For example:

"Hello World"
""  'empty string

String literals can also contain escape sequences. An escape sequence is a special sequence of characters used to represent another character. This is useful for including 'untypable' characters and quotation marks in strings. Escape sequences always start with the ~ character. The following escape sequences are supported:

Escape sequence	Equivalent character
~0	Null character (ascii code 0)
~t	Tab character (ascii code 9)
~r	Return character (ascii code 13)
~n	Newline character (ascii code 10)
~q	Quote character (ascii code 34)
~~	Tilde character (ascii code 126)

For example:

Print "And then Mark said, ~qescape sequences rule!~q"
Print "Line1~nLine2~nLine3~nLine4~nLine5"

The type of a literal may also be modified by appending @:TypeName to the literal. For example:

$8000000000000000:Long
10:Double