Operators and reserved words

• , or line break : demarcate commands
• ( ... ) : group terms in an expression
• X~ : ignore output of expression X
• | : single-line comment
• |* ... *| : multiple-line comment
• & : continue command on next line

Numeric operators:

• x + y : addition
• x - y : subtraction
• x * y : multiplication
• x / y : division
• x ^ y : raise to a power
• i mod j : modulo (integer only)

Boolean operators:

• A == B : if equal
• A ==@ B : if same reference
• A /= B : if not equal
• A /=@ B : if different reference
• A >= B : if greater than or equal to
• A > B : if greater than
• A <= B : if less than or equal to
• A < B : if less than
• A and B : if A and B (both arguments are always evaluated)
• A or B : if A or B or both (both arguments are always evaluated)
• A xor B : if A or B, but not both
• not A : true only if A is false

Member/array/list operators:

• A.B : step from A into member B
• [ A ] : step into array index A
• [< A, B >] : step into array indices A through B
• [^ N ] : resize array to given size N, step into all indices 1-N
• [+ A ] : insert index
• [+< A, B >] : insert indices
• [] : step to all indices; can resize before = or =!
• remove A or [-< A, B >] : remove member or indices A through B

Define/equate operators:

• A :: B : define A (member with a variable) with the type of the variable that B points to
• A = B or A <- B : copy data from B to A
• A := B : define A to type B, copy data from B to A
• A =@ B or A <- @ B : make A an alias of B
• A :=@ B : define A and make it an alias of B
• A @:: B : define A to be of type B (variable type only)
• A *:: B : define A to be of type B (member type only)
• A =! B or A <- ! B : copy data from B to A; even between dissimilar data types

Predefined variables:

• this : the function currently executing
• parent or \ : the next function up the search path
• that : variable on the left side of an equate
• args : the argument variable to the function currently executing
• top : within array brackets, the number of indices
• nothing or * : the void

Program flow:

• if A then ..., else if B then ..., else ... : do if A, B, etc. are true
• while A do ..., : do as long as A is true
• loop ... until A : do until A is true
• for I in < A, B > ... : do for a defined number of times
• backfor I in < A, B > ... : same as for, except starts at B and counts backwards to A
• A( ... ) : call A as a function with given arguments
• code or ; : begin a new code block
• return A or return : exit function with return variable A (if specified)
• exit : exit Cicada

Data types:

• bool : Boolean
• char : character
• int : integer
• double : floating point
• string : string of characters
• '...' : inlined character constant (one character only)
• "..." : inlined string containing given characters
• [ N ] or [ ] : array
• [[ ]] : list
• { ... } : inlined function, set, class or data type
• A : B : an inherited type specialized by B from parent type A
• A << B : the code/type of B substituted into the variable space of A
• A # B : the Bth code block of variable A

Last update: November 12, 2025