Modules

Modules in Marigold represent datatypes. They act like the functional version of an object-oriented class.

The module keyword

Modules are defined by using the module keyword.

Modules may contain

• Comments
• Functions
• Recursive functions
• Variables

Items in modules are accessed like: [module name].[module item name]

Example

The Cons function

Cons (short for constructor) is used to initialize “objects” in Marigold. It can be called both with [module name].Cons or simply with [module name].

Example

Unpacking

Sometimes, you don’t want to say the module name everytime you access a module item. In this case, you can use the unpack keyword

Importing

In Marigold, you may import modules from other files. To do so, you must name the file identically to the name of the modules. So, if you want to import an Employee module, it must be in employee.mg.

Modules may be in different folders than the script you are importing it into. In this case, put the name of the directory at the start, followed by a .

For example if you have a project with a myproject/main.mg file and a myproject/modules/employee.mg file, to access the Employee module from main.mg, at the top of your file put import Modules.Employee;.

The Packages directory has an alias ($), meaning if you’d like to access myproject/packages/employee.mg, simply type import $Employee;.

importall

The problem with the current setup is that sufficiently large scripts will begin with a wall of imports followed by a wall of unpacks, to use the imported modules. To import a module, and then to unpack it, use the importall keyword.

importall Employee;

achieves the same result as

import Employee; unpack Employee;

See also

• Variables
• Functions