Variables & Lexical Scope

In Djazair, variables are declared using the let keyword. The language uses dynamic typing with lexical block scoping.

Declaring Variables

Variables are declared using let followed by an identifier and an optional initial value:

let name = "Djazair"
let version = 1.1
let isReleased = True

# Numbers can include underscores for readability
let largeCount = 100_000_000
let hexNumber = 0xFF

Reassignment & Mutation

Once declared with let, variables can be reassigned to values of any type, or mutated using shorthand assignment operators:

let score = 10
score += 5       # score is now 15
score *= 2       # score is now 30
score++          # score is now 31

# Changing types dynamically
score = "Thirty-One" # Valid dynamic typing

Lexical Block Scoping

Djazair follows strict lexical block scoping. Any variable declared inside a block (such as an if, while, for, or fn block) is isolated to that block and shadows any identical outer identifier:

let count = 100

if True
    let count = 50  # Shadows the outer count
    print("Inner count: ${count}") # => Inner count: 50
end

print("Outer count: ${count}")     # => Outer count: 100

Identifier Naming Rules

• Identifiers can start with any ASCII letter (a-z, A-Z), underscore (_), or any valid Unicode letter (including Arabic letters like ع, س).
• Subsequent characters may include digits (0-9) and emojis (e.g. let 🚀_speed = 300).
• Keywords such as let, fn, class, if, and while cannot be used as variable names.