ludic/docs/language/control/kw-try.md
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feat(errors): recoverable failures as values — try/else over ok/err results (#46)
A fallible function returns a `result` value, built with ok(payload) on success
or err(message) on failure. The caller recovers a value with `try EXPR else {
… }`: on ok the whole expression is the payload; on err the else block runs —
with the failure message bound to `error` — and its trailing expression supplies
the fallback. It is a plain branch on the result's tag: no exceptions, no hidden
control flow, nothing unwinds. is_ok(r) / is_err(r) classify without unwrapping.

Payloads are any i32-width scalar (int/fixed/bool/entity). The feature is
additive and only kicks in when ok/err/try are used, so untouched programs
compile byte-identically (verified) and the C-free bootstrap fixpoint holds.
Complements panic/assert from #8 (the unrecoverable half). The optional
top-level frame `recover` stays deferred (needs a frame-abort mechanism); the
full tagged-union/any generalization is tracked in #1.

Adds the `try` keyword and ok/err/is_ok/is_err builtins across the compiler,
the vocabulary header, JetBrains + TextMate/VSCode grammars, the docs inventory
and pages, examples/library/recover.ludic, and a regression case.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-31 15:04:14 +03:00

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---
id: kw-try
name: try
category: control
kind: keyword
tokens: try
sig: try EXPR else { … }
tip: Recover a fallible result as a value, with a fallback — no exceptions, no unwinding.
order: 12
---
A <code>try EXPR else { … }</code> expression recovers a fallible operation without exceptions or unwinding. <code>EXPR</code> evaluates to a <a href="fn-ok"><code>result</code></a> — a value carrying either a success payload (from <a href="fn-ok"><code>ok</code></a>) or a failure message (from <a href="fn-err"><code>err</code></a>). When it is <code>ok</code>, the whole <code>try</code> expression <em>is</em> that payload and the <code>else</code> block is skipped. When it is <code>err</code>, the <code>else</code> block runs and its trailing expression supplies the fallback value; inside the block the failure message is bound to <code>error</code>, so you can log or branch on it. It is a plain branch on the result's tag — the happy path stays one line, there is no hidden control flow, and nothing unwinds the stack.
The payload is an <code>i32</code>-width scalar (<code>int</code>, <code>fixed</code>, <code>bool</code>, or <code>entity</code>) — the common case of "a number or nothing". For richer payloads and full pattern-matching over tagged unions, see the type-system work (#1).
```ludic
program SaveLoad {
# a fallible op returns a result: ok(payload) or err(message)
function load_score(slot: int) -> result {
if slot == 1 { return ok(4200) }
return err("no save in that slot")
}
test "ok yields the payload, err falls back" {
let a = try load_score(1) else { 0 } # 4200
let b = try load_score(9) else { 0 } # 0 (fallback)
expect_eq(a, 4200)
expect_eq(b, 0)
}
test "the fallback can read the failure via `error`" {
var logged = 0
let score = try load_score(3) else {
if error == "no save in that slot" { logged = 1 }
0 # trailing expression = the fallback
}
expect_eq(score, 0)
expect_eq(logged, 1)
}
}
```