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<H2><A NAME="s6">6. Variables</A></H2>
<P>
<P>A variable must be declared before it can be used, otherwise an
undefined name error will be generated. A variable is declared
using the <CODE>variable</CODE> keyword, e.g,
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
variable x, y, z;
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
declares three variables, <CODE>x</CODE>, <CODE>y</CODE>, and <CODE>z</CODE>. This
is an example of a variable declaration statement, and like all
statements, it must end in a semi-colon.
<P>Variables declared this way are untyped and inherit a type upon
assignment. The actual type checking is performed at run-time. For
example,
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
x = "This is a string";
x = 1.2;
x = 3;
x = 2i;
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
results in x being set successively to a string, a float, an
integer, and to a complex number (<CODE>0+2i</CODE>). Any attempt to use
a variable before it has acquired a type will result in an
uninitialized variable error.
<P>It is legal to put executable code in a variable declaration list.
That is,
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
variable x = 1, y = sin (x);
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
are legal variable declarations. This also provides a convenient way
of initializing a variable.
<P>Variables are classified as either <EM>global</EM> or <EM>local</EM>. A
variable declared inside a function is said to be local and has no
meaning outside the function. A variable is said to be global if
it was declared outside a function. Global variables are further
classified as being <CODE>public</CODE>, <CODE>static</CODE>, or <CODE>private</CODE>,
according to the name space where they were defined.
See chapter ??? for more information about name spaces.
<P>The following global variables are predefined by the language and
are mainly used as convenience variables:
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
$0 $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 $6 $7 $8 $9
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>An <EM>intrinsic</EM> variable is another type of global variable.
Such variables have a definite type which cannot be altered.
Variables of this type may also be defined to be read-only, or
constant variables. An example of an intrinsic variable is
<CODE>PI</CODE> which is a read-only double precision variable with a value
of approximately <CODE>3.14159265358979323846</CODE>.
<P>
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