Raz Manual/Language Reference

Language Reference

Keywords and Lexical Forms

Reserved words, literal forms, comments, and identifier rules visible in the active lexer.

Raz Gen2 Manual·Language Reference

Keywords

Keyword Role Design reference
function Declares a named function and its signature. Raz syntax; lineage not formally recorded
struct Declares a type with named fields. C struct concept
let Declares a mutable binding; type may be inferred or explicit. Rust let as naming reference; Raz rules differ
const Declares a binding that cannot be reassigned. C/C++ const concept
return Returns a value or exits a return context. C-family syntax
if, else Conditional branch and alternative branch. C-family syntax
while Conditional loop. C-family syntax
true, false Boolean literals. C++ / Rust-style spelling
new Requests construction of a typed value. C++-influenced spelling; not assumed to mean heap allocation
use Imports a Raz module or a quoted native C++ header. Rust use concept, adapted for Raz
include Expands another Raz source file during compilation.
unsafe Marks a region permitting restricted unsafe constructs. Rust unsafe concept, adapted
nullptr Null pointer literal. C++ nullptr
define Declares a parameterized source macro. Raz-specific; not the C preprocessor
Inconsistent handling: the parser has an extern-related token check, but the lexer does not currently emit a token for the word extern. It is therefore not listed as a supported keyword.

Identifiers and literals

Form Current behavior
Identifier ASCII letters or underscore, followed by ASCII letters, digits, or underscore.
Number Digits, optionally followed by a dot and more digits; decimal form is inferred as f64.
String Double-quoted. Common escapes include \n, \t, and \r.
Character Single-quoted, represented internally by a numeric character code. Full Unicode/code-point behavior is not specified.
Line comment // comment — skipped by the lexer.
Block comment /* comment */ — skipped by the lexer.

Lexical questions

Unknown characters currently fall through to token kind 99. Whether this becomes a mandatory lexer error, and how escape sequences are validated, must be specified before this behavior is treated as a public guarantee.