Lexical structure

Identifiers

Identifiers name variables, functions, types, fields, and other declarations. Names are case-sensitive. Identifiers can use Unicode letters, digits, and _; a digit cannot begin an identifier.

var request_count: i64 = 0;
var 이름: str = "Wave";

Projects may still prefer a consistent naming convention for tooling and searchability.

Statements and delimiters

Most declarations and expression statements end with ;. Constructs with bodies, such as functions, conditionals, loops, and structs, use { ... } blocks.

var answer: i32 = 42;

fun double(value: i32) -> i32 {
    return value * 2;
}

Literals

var integer: i32 = 42;
var decimal: f64 = 3.14;
var text: str = "Wave";
var letter: char = 'W';
var enabled: bool = true;
var address: ptr<u8> = null;

Wave has integer, floating-point, string, character, Boolean, and null literals. Use null as a pointer value.

Keywords and type spellings

Wave keywords include:

pub, fun, extern, export, type, enum, static, var, deref, const, if, else, proto, struct, while, for, in, out, clobber, as, asm, import, return, continue, print, input, println, match, break, true, false, and null.

Built-in type spellings include bool, char, byte, str, the integer and floating-point types, ptr<T>, and array<T, N>. Keywords and built-in type names cannot be used as declaration names.