INTRO(2) INTRO(2)
NAME
intro - introduction to Limbo modules for the Inferno system
SYNOPSIS
include "sys.m";
sys := load Sys Sys->PATH;
include "draw.m";
draw := load Draw Draw->PATH;
include "tk.m";
tk := load Tk Tk->PATH;
... etc.
Generically:
include "module.m";
module := load Module Module->PATH;
DESCRIPTION
This section introduces the Limbo modules available to the
programmer; see the corresponding manual pages for more
information. Each module is declared with a single Limbo
include file. Before calling a module's functions, an
application must load the module; the application stores the
resulting value in a variable for later use as the module
qualifier. The examples above illustrate the style. It
will usually be necessary in some cases to qualify names
with the appropriate module pointer or to import the types
and functions; the manual pages assume the names are acces-
sible in the current scope.
Although many modules are self-contained, dependencies may
exist. For example, the system module, Sys, provides basic
services that many other modules require. These are the
Inferno equivalent to `system calls'.
In a few cases, several related modules share a single
include file; for instance, security.m.
The manual pages describe how to include a module definition
during compilation and load an implementation during execu-
tion. The documentation also lists relevant functions or
abstract data types. Although the include files declare
these components, the manual pages list them explicitly. In
all cases, the enclosing module declaration is assumed so
that unqualified identifiers can be used in the text without
ambiguity, reducing clutter in the text. In practice when
programming, many consider it good style to use an explicit
module reference for functions and constants.
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INTRO(2) INTRO(2)
The Limbo modules are identical on any machine that is run-
ning Inferno, either native or hosted, which enables Limbo
programs to be written and tested on any Inferno system.
Many modules are described in a single page, such as
regex(2). Several larger modules are explained in several
sections, such as math-intro(2), math-elem(2), math-fp(2),
and math-linalg(2).
SEE ALSO
draw-intro(2), keyring-intro(2), math-intro(2), prefab-
intro(2), security-intro(2), sys-intro(2)
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