Bonum Certa Men Certa

How To Write fig Programs

By figosdev

Young programmer



Summary: This is the second in a two-part series on fig

This is the second in a two-part series on fig, an educational language that I use for other practical purposes.



Because I designed fig for computerphobes, you may decide it has a few odd qualities. One example is that it uses a "plus" command instead of + and a "minus" command instead of -. It also has an inline Python feature, which can be used to import Python functions into fig programs, as well as allow more traditional expressions to be evaluated, if you prefer:

python
    import math
    evaluated = math.sqrt(p ** int(s / 2.5))
    fig


Fig has its own function definition command, which you can use to create functions with Python-like scope:

function greet whom
    now = "Hello, " plus whom ; print
    fig


Fig is the standard command that in Python would be unindenting, and it is named for "return to fig programming" after inline Python. In most instances, you can use "next" if you prefer:

function greet whom
    now = "Hello, " plus whom ; print
    next


You can use this as a wrapper around a python feature like this:

function pi
python
    from math import pi as ppi ; return ppi
    fig
    fig   



r = 50 circumference = pi times 2 times r ; print


In fig, the only mandatory punctuation in syntax is "quotes for strings" and # hashes for comments. Decimal points work the same way they do in Python.

These characters are optional, and for the most part can be freely used to help visually organise your code: = ( ) | ; : ,

The vertical bar can be used to introduce students to Bash. With the exception of a few commands that start on their own line -- such as for, next, forin, ifmore, ifless, iftrue, ifequal, else, break, while, wend -- nearly all fig commands share a line with a variable on the far left:

height = 60 ; plus 5 ; str ; len ; print


height is 60, it adds 5 to become 65, is converted to a string: "65" then the length is found, and 2 is printed to the screen.

As in Python, there are a few ways to create arrays:

titles = "" ; arr ; times 100


This will create an array of 100 string items. you can add items like this:

titles plus "A History of Red Hat: From Cottage Industry to Corporation"


Each time a variable is used on the left, it is set to 0-- arrays are the exception:

now 5 print # prints 5
now print # prints 0
now 5 arr 
now print # prints [5]


You can create an array using split:

ingredients = "milk eggs sugar flour water" ; split ingredients " "


Unlike Python, split and join both put the variable to split or join first -- then the thing to split or join it with:

ingredients = "milk eggs sugar flour water" ; split ingredients " "
ingredients = join ingredients " " ; print


Arrays are 1-based (apologies purists, it's an educational language) and for loops are started with count-variable, start-var, stop-var, step-var:

ingredients = "milk eggs sugar flour water" ; split ingredients " "
howmany = ingredients ; len
for each, 1, howmany, 1
    now = each ; print
    next


Forin loops are started with value-tracking-variable, array:

ingredients = "milk eggs sugar flour water" ; split ingredients " "
forin each, ingredients
    now = each ; print
    next


(nextin can be used instead of next)

Files can be opened with arropen, and webpages with arrcurl:

urls = arropen "urls.txt"
buffer = arr ; mid 1 0 # zero-length array
newline = 10 ; chr 



forin each urls iftrue each geteach arrcurl each ; join geteach newline buffer plus geteach fig nextin


Failed downloads create an error, so add error trapping (no, this is not how you should do this in python -- it is just a simple introduction to error trapping)

try
        geteach arrcurl each ; join geteach newline
        buffer plus geteach
except
        geteach ""
        resume


Finally, you can open geany using fig:

openleafpad = "leafpad &" shell


Or get the output of shell commands into an array:

textfiles = "ls *.txt" arrshell


To compile your fig program, give it a .fig extension and run it this way:

$ fig46.py program.fig



$ ./program.fig.py


To get help on a command, type part of it into the help feature:

$ fig46.py help
print


It will return all commands containing "print" in the name. hit enter instead to list all commands.

This will not work:

$ fig46.py help print


This will:

$ echo print | fig46.py help


All commands:

$ echo | fig46.py help


Fig is based on Python 2 -- as much as the Python Foundation is trying to kill Python 2, I think it is a much friendlier language than the latest Python.

PyPy is Python 2 compatible, and is the interpreter fig will most likely to be paired with in the future. There are two factors being waited on: PyPy is planning to support Pygame (an optional component for fig that lets it do real graphics) and Python 2 is still supported by many distros, not least of all Debian, Devuan and Refracta.

The Python Foundation will officially drop Python 2 on January 1. If you love it anyway, try PyPy.

To make fig use PyPy instead, change the two lines that contain the string "env python2" to "env pypy" and that should do it. You can download fig 4.6 here.

Happy Coding!

Licence: Creative Commons cc0 1.0 (public domain)

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Has a Policy on Racism and Sexism
In then future we'll show the misogyny and racial slurs
The 50-Pound Note Experiment and the "War on Cash"
Britain is actually seeing a rebound in cash payments, and it's not a temporary phenomenon
 
Links 22/09/2025: More American 'Censorship' (Retaliation for Journalism), Cheeto "Might Be Losing His Race Against Time"
Links for the day
The Blob Slop
Give me more words, give me some text
Slopwatch: Blaming the Victims for Microsoft's Failures and Plagiarising Phoronix
That's what Google has been reduced to: slop and slopfarms
Links 22/09/2025: Breaches, Windows TCO, and Arrests
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Rabbit Hole and DeGoogling Fairphone
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: Russian War Planes Invade NATO Airspace While Dihydroxyacetone Man Escalates Attack on Free Speech Because of Critics
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 21, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 21, 2025
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
Vintage is Sometimes Better
Why can't we get back to "simple" if (or where) "simple" means better?
Climate Breakdown Means We'll be Publishing More, Not Less
Press freedom will be a common, recurring theme
Our 5-Year Geminispace Anniversary is Coming Up
I still remember when Gemini Protocol was quite new
It's Right to Point Out Violence From the Right
Violence is a recurring theme
Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
Web Browsers That "Do Hey Hi" (AI)
State-of-the-art plagiarism or "autocomplete on steroids" (not coined by us, nevertheless a nice description) don't have much/any prospect
Links 20/09/2025: Hardware Projects in View, Some Independent Publishers About Russia Prosper After Cheeto Cuts Funding
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Options and TV Time Machine
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Retrocomputer, Antique Phone Experience, and More
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day