The readable way to build strings, as you noted `{a} {b}` beats `a + " " + b`.
A backtick string embeds any expression in `{…}` and desugars to the Phase-7c
`+` chain, wrapping each hole in `str(...)`:
`hello {name}, n={count + 1}`
== "hello " + name + ", n=" + str(count + 1)
- Lexer: a backtick captures its content raw as TK_INTERP.
- Parser: parse_interp splits literal runs from `{…}` holes (brace-depth aware,
`{{`/`}}` escape to literal braces), re-lexes each hole as a full expression
(save/restore toks/pi like an import), and folds it all into E_BIN(+) nodes —
so no new AST or runtime beyond the existing concat.
- str(x): a string passes through; int/bool/fixed convert via a small emitted
@fn_int_str prelude (digits from the end of a buffer, '-' for negatives),
emitted once into any program that uses it.
examples/strings.ludic gains interpolation cases (now prints 1..7); the smoke
covers it. Grammar + ludic_syntax.h tokenize backtick strings (holes highlighted
as embedded code). LANGUAGE.md documents it as the preferred form.
Reseeded (22530 lines); C-free fixpoint holds; goldens identical; 18/18; vocab +
doc-fences clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Strings are values now: `a + b` concatenates and `a == b` / `a != b` compare by
content, replacing the 605 `sconcat(...)` / `streq(...)` calls that made the
compiler read like C.
streq(name, "let") -> name == "let"
sconcat("load ", reg) -> "load " + reg
sconcat(a, sconcat(b, c)) -> a + b + c
Implementation: emit_bin gains a string path. Strings are pointer-typed, so any
`+` with a pointer operand concatenates and `==`/`!=` between pointers compares
content — except when one side is the `null` literal, which stays a pointer
identity test (the only two kinds of pointer `==` in the codebase). Both call a
small hand-written IR prelude, @fn_str_eq / @fn_str_concat, emitted once into any
program that uses string ops (so it works for tools, games and the compiler with
no runtime-splice dependency and no duplicate symbols).
Delivered as two reseeds: (A) add the operators + prelude with the full
pointer-aware dispatch, keeping streq/sconcat; (B) migrate every call site
(354 lines, via a string-literal-safe balanced-paren script that leaves the
function definitions alone) and delete streq/sconcat. examples/strings.ludic +
a test.sh smoke (prints 1 2 3 4 5) guard it.
Reseeded (21890 lines); C-free fixpoint holds; goldens byte-identical; 18/18;
vocab + doc-fences clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
