squiggle/packages/website/docs/Guides/Language.mdx

---
sidebar_position: 1
title: Language Basics
---

import { SquiggleEditor } from "../../src/components/SquiggleEditor";

Squiggle supports some simple types and language features.

## Numbers

<SquiggleEditor defaultCode="4.32" />

## Distributions

There are several ways of easily entering distributions. See the [documentation](/docs/Api/Dist/) on distributions for a complete API.

<SquiggleEditor
  defaultCode={`a = normal(4,2)
b = 30 to 50
c = lognormal({mean:90, stdev: 7})
d = mixture(a,b,c, [.3, .3, .4])
d`}
/>

## Lists

Squiggle lists can accept items of any type, similar to those in Python. [API](/docs/Api/List).

<SquiggleEditor
  defaultCode={`[beta(1,10), 4, isNormalized(SampleSet.fromDist(1 to 2))]`}
/>

## Dictionaries

Squiggle dictionaries work similarly to Python dictionaries. [API](/docs/Api/Dictionary).

<SquiggleEditor
  defaultCode={`d = {dist: triangular(0, 1, 2), weight: 0.25}
d.dist`}
/>

## Functions

<SquiggleEditor
  defaultCode={`f(t) = normal(t^2, t^1.2+.01)
f`}
/>

## Anonymous Functions

<SquiggleEditor defaultCode={`{|t| normal(t^2, t^1.2+.01)}`} />

## Comments

<SquiggleEditor
  defaultCode={`// This is a single-line comment\n
/*
This is a multiple
-line comment.
*/
""
`}
/>

## Pipes

Squiggle features [data-first](https://www.javierchavarri.com/data-first-and-data-last-a-comparison/) pipes. Functions in the standard library are organized to make this convenient.

<SquiggleEditor
  defaultCode={`normal(5,2) |> truncateLeft(3) |> SampleSet.fromDist |> SampleSet.map({|r| r + 10})`}
/>

## Standard Library

Squiggle features a simple [standard libary](/docs/Api/Dist).

Most functions are namespaced under their respective types to keep functionality distinct. Certain popular functions are usable without their namespaces.

For example,

<SquiggleEditor
  defaultCode={`a = List.upTo(0, 5000) |> SampleSet.fromList // namespaces required
b = normal(5,2) // namespace not required
c = 5 to 10 // namespace not required
""`}
/>

## Number Prefixes

Numbers support a few scientific notation prefixes.

| prefix | multiplier |
| ------ | ---------- |
| n      | 10^-9      |
| m      | 10^-3      |
| k      | 10^3       |
| M      | 10^6       |
| B,G    | 10^9       |
| T      | 10^12      |
| P      | 10^15      |

<SquiggleEditor
  defaultCode={`simpleNumber = 4.32k
distribution = 40M to 50M
distribution`}
/>