Data Types

In kOS, unlike in many other computing platforms, each value has an associated type.

These types are as follows:

• NULL is a value that is equivalent to "nothing"
• Bool is a true or false value
• Byte is an integer that can store numbers from -128 to 127
• Int16 is an integer that can store numbers from -32,768 to 32,767
• Int32 is an integer that can store numbers from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
• Float is a number that can have a fractional component such as 2.33
• Double is a float, but with double the precision of the fractional component, see this
• String is a "string" of characters, such as "Hello, kOS!"
• ARG MARKER is a special value used inside of kOS that marks the end of function "arguments"
• ScalarInt is an integer that can store the same numbers as the Int32, but has associated functions inside of kOS
• ScalarDouble is a double, but with associated functions inside of kOS
• BoolValue is a boolean value, true or false, but with associated functions
• StringValue same as a string, but with associated functions

Inside of KASM

Data types are for the most part handled automatically by KASM

KASM chooses the smallest size data type in order to make the assembled executable file as small as possible.

For example, in the code:

push 2

That 2 would be stored using the Byte type, meanwhile in:

push 200

00 would be stored as an Int16 because it is the smallest type that can hold the value of 200.

When trying to pass any floating-point number such as 2.33, KASM will automatically store it as a Double.

If you wanted to push a StringValue instead of a String in KASM, you simply use the pushv pseudoinstruction:

push  "Hello"        ; This is a regular String
pushv "kOS!"         ; This will push a StringValue

If pushv is given an integer, it will be pushed as a ScalarInt.

Pushing Other Types

Simply writing an integer or another value to be the operand to an instruction is simple enough, however there are still two types that are not accounted for:

NULL
ARG MARKER

These are shown in KASM code as follows:

push # ; This is a NULL
push @ ; This is an ARG MARKER

Declaring Symbols

In KASM there are pieces of data that can be referenced outside of the current file called symbols. They are explained more in the advanced tutorial.

However it is important to note that when declaring symbols in KASM, the type of the symbol must be provided.

An example of how to declare each type of symbol is shown below:

.section .data
a  #              ; Null
b  .b    true     ; Bool
c  .i8   120      ; Byte
d  .i16  300      ; Int16
e  .i32  900      ; Int32
f  .f64  2.33     ; Double
g  .s    "Hello"  ; String
h  @              ; Arg Marker
i  .i32v 900      ; ScalarInt
j  .f64v 2.33     ; ScalarDouble
k  .bf   false    ; BoolValue
l  .sv   "kOS"    ; StringValue