reference: expand notation section

Also, move it after the language-model section.
This commit is contained in:
Matthew Flatt 2013-05-01 10:19:27 -06:00
parent 7611e295f4
commit ae570e843e
3 changed files with 163 additions and 51 deletions

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@ -1,34 +1,37 @@
#lang scribble/doc
@(require scribble/struct scribble/racket "mz.rkt")
@title[#:tag "notation"]{Notation}
@title[#:tag "notation"]{Notation for Documentation}
This chapter introduces essential terminology and notation that is
used throughout the rest of the document and other Racket reference
manuals.
used throughout Racket documentation.
@; ----------------------------------------
@section{Notation for Module Documentation}
@section{Notation for Module Declarations}
Since Racket programs are organized into @tech{module}s, documentation
reflects that organization with an annotation that the beginning of a
section or subsection that describes the bindings that a particular
module provides.
Racket programs are usually organized into @tech{module}s. Documentation
reflects this organization with a notation for module declarations.
A module declaration often prefaces the beginning of a section
or subsection:
For example, the section that describes the functionality provided by
@racketmodname[racket/list] starts
@(defmodule racket/list #:no-declare #:link-target? #f)
@nested[#:style 'inset
(defmodule racket/list #:no-declare #:link-target? #f)]
The preceding @racket[require] statement in a section indicates that the bindings that are
documented in the section are available from the @racketmodname[racket/list] module.
Instead of @racket[require], some module declarations are written with
Instead of @racket[require], some modules are introduced with
@hash-lang[]:
@(defmodule racket/base #:lang #:no-declare #:link-target? #f)
@nested[#:style 'inset
(defmodule racket/base #:lang #:no-declare #:link-target? #f)]
Using @hash-lang[] means that the module is normally used as a
language, instead of imported with @racket[require]. Unless otherwise
specified, however, a module name documented with @hash-lang[] can
also be used with @racket[require] to obtain the same bindings.
Using @hash-lang[] means that the module is normally used as the
language of a whole module---that is, by a module that starts
@hash-lang[] followed by the language---instead of imported with
@racket[require]. Unless otherwise specified, however, a module name
documented with @hash-lang[] can also be used with @racket[require] to
obtain the language's bindings.
Sometimes, a module specification appears at the beginning of a
document or at the start of a section that contains many subsections.
@ -39,23 +42,115 @@ section. Thus, bindings documented in @other-doc['(lib
@racketmodname[racket] and @racket[racket/base] unless otherwise
specified in a section or subsection.
@; ----------------------------------------
@section{Notation for Syntactic Form Documentation}
@section{Notation for Syntactic Forms}
@guideintro["syntax-notation"]{this notation for syntactic forms}
Syntactic forms, whether provided from the base language or via
syntactic extensions, are specified using the same format that is
described in the @guidesecref{syntax-notation} chapter of @|Guide|.
Syntactic forms are specified with a grammar. Typically, the grammar
starts with an open parenthesis followed by the syntactic form's name,
as in the grammar for @racket[if]:
Note that @racket[_number] in a grammar specification means that a
literal number must appear in the syntactic form, while
@racket[_number-expr] would allow any expression that produces a
number. Similarly, @racket[_module-path] in a grammar corresponds to
the non-terminal described for @racket[require], while
@racket[_module-path-expr] would allow an arbitrary expression that
produces a value for which @racket[module-path?] returns true.
@nested[#:style 'inset
@defform[#:link-target? #f
(if test-expr then-expr else-expr)]
]
Since every @deftech{form} is expressed in terms of @tech{syntax
objects}, parentheses in a grammar specification indicate a @tech{syntax
object} wrapping a list, and the leading @racket[if] is an identifier
that starts the list whose @tech{binding} is the @racket[if] binding
of the module being documented---in this case,
@racketmodname[racket/base]. Square brackets in the grammar indicate
a @tech{syntax-object} list in the same way as parentheses, but in
places square brackets are normally used by convention in a program's
source.
Italic @tech{identifiers} in the grammar are @deftech{metavariables}
that in correspond to other grammar productions. Certain metavariable
names have implicit grammar productions:
@itemize[
@item{A metavariable that ends in @racket[_id] stands for an
@tech{identifier}.}
@item{A metavariable that ends in @racket[_keyword] stands
for a @tech{syntax-object} @tech{keyword}.}
@item{A metavariable that ends with @racket[_expr] stands for any
form, and the form will be parsed as an expression.}
@item{A metavariable that ends with @racket[_body] stands for any
@tech{form}; the form will be parsed as either a local definition or
an expression. A @racket[_body] can parse as a definition only
if it is not preceded by any expression, and the last
@racket[_body] must be an expression; see also
@secref["intdef-body"].}
@item{A metavariable that ends with @racket[_datum] stands for any
@tech{form}, and the form is normally uninterpreted (e.g.,
@racket[quote]d).}
@item{A metavariable that ends with @racket[_number] or
@racket[_boolean] stands for any @tech{syntax-object} (i.e.,
literal) @tech{number} or @tech{boolean}, respectively.}
]
In a grammar, @racket[_form ...] stands for any number of forms
(possibly zero) matching @racket[_form], while @racket[_form ...+]
stands for one or more forms matching @racket[_form].
Metavariables without an implicit grammar are defined by productions
alongside the syntactic form's overall grammar. For example, in
@nested[#:style 'inset
@defform[#:link-target? #f
(lambda formals body ...+)
#:grammar ([formals id
(id ...)
(id ...+ . rest-id)])]
]
the @racket[_formals] metavariable starts for either an
@tech{identifier}, a zero or more @tech{identifiers} in a
@tech{syntax-object} list, or a @tech{syntax object} corresponding to
a chain of one or more pairs where the chain ends in an
@tech{identifier} instead of an empty list.
Some syntactic forms have multiple top-level grammars, in which case
the documentation of the syntactic forms shows multiple grammars. For
example,
@nested[#:style 'inset
@defform*[#:link-target? #f
((init-rest id)
(init-rest))]
]
indicates that @racket[init-rest] can either be alone in its
@tech{syntax-object} list or followed by a single @tech{identifier}.
Finally, a grammar specification that includes @racket[_expr]
metavariables may be augmented with run-time @tech{contract}s on some
of the metavariables, which indicate a predicates that the result of
the expression must satisfy at run time. For example,
@nested[#:style 'inset
@defform[#:link-target? #f
(parameterize ([parameter-expr value-expr] ...)
body ...+)
#:contracts
([parameter-expr parameter?])]
]
indicates that the result of each @racket[_parameter-expr] must be a
value @racket[_v] for which @racket[(parameter? _v)] returns true.
@section{Notation for Contracts for Functions}
@; ----------------------------------------
@section{Notation for Function Documentation}
Procedures and other values are described using a notation based on
@tech{contract}s. In essence, these contracts describe the interfaces of
@ -64,8 +159,10 @@ the documented library using Racket predicates and expressions.
For example, the following is the header of the definition of a
typical procedure:
@nested[#:style 'inset
@defproc[#:link-target? #f
(char->integer [char char?]) exact-integer?]{}
(char->integer [char char?]) exact-integer?]
]
The function being defined, @racket[char->integer], is typeset as if it
were being applied. The metavariables that come after the function name
@ -85,10 +182,12 @@ specifies the expected result that is produced by the function.
Contract specifications can be more expressive than just names of
predicates. Consider the following header for @racket[argmax]:
@nested[#:style 'inset
@defproc[#:link-target? #f
(argmax [proc (-> any/c real?)]
[lst (and/c pair? list?)])
any]{}
any]
]
The contract @racket[(-> any/c real?)] denotes a function contract specifying
that @racket[proc]'s argument can be any single value and the result should be
@ -104,9 +203,11 @@ combinator name will provide more information on its meaning.
A Racket function may be documented as having one or more optional arguments.
The @racket[read] function is an example of such a function:
@nested[#:style 'inset
@defproc[#:link-target? #f
(read [in input-port? (current-input-port)])
any]{}
any]
]
The brackets surrounding the @racket[_in] argument in the application
syntax indicates that it is an optional argument.
@ -120,40 +221,49 @@ Functions may also be documented as accepting mandatory or optional
keyword-based arguments. For example, the @racket[sort] function has
two optional, keyword-based arguments:
@nested[#:style 'inset
@defproc[#:link-target? #f
(sort [lst list?] [less-than? (any/c any/c . -> . any/c)]
[#:key extract-key (any/c . -> . any/c) (lambda (x) x)]
[#:cache-keys? cache-keys? boolean? #f]) list?]{}
[#:cache-keys? cache-keys? boolean? #f]) list?]
]
The brackets around the @racket[_extract-key] and
@racket[_cache-keys?] arguments indicate that they are optional as
before. The contract section of the header shows the default values
that are provided for these keyword arguments.
@section{Notation for Parameter Contracts}
@; ----------------------------------------
@section{Notation for Parameter Documentation}
Parameters are used in Racket for dynamically customizable arguments
to code. They are documented with a notation similar to function
contracts:
A @tech{parameter} is documented the same way as a function:
@defparam[#:link-target? #f
current-command-line-arguments
argv
(vectorof (and/c string? immutable?))]{}
@nested[#:style 'inset
@defparam*[#:link-target? #f
current-command-line-arguments
argv
(vectorof (and/c string? immutable?))
(vectorof string?)]
]
Since parameters can be read or written, there are two entries in the
Since @tech{parameters} can be referenced or set, there are two entries in the
header above. Calling @racket[current-command-line-arguments] with no
arguments is documented to return a vector that contains objects that
pass both @racket[string?] and @racket[immutable?]. Similarly, the
single argument case takes a vector with the same specification and
returns an object satisfying @racket[void?].
arguments accesses the parameter's value, which must be a vector whose elements
pass both @racket[string?] and @racket[immutable?]. Calling
@racket[current-command-line-arguments] with a single argument
sets the parameter's value, where the value must be a vector whose
elements pass @racket[string?] (and a guard on the @tech{parameter}
coerces the strings to immutable form, if necessary).
@section{Notation for Contracts on Other Values}
@; ----------------------------------------
@section{Notation for Other Documentation}
Some libraries provide bindings to constant values. These values are
documented with a separate header:
@defthing[#:link-target? #f object% class?]{}
@nested[#:style 'inset
@defthing[#:link-target? #f object% class?]
]
The @racketmodname[racket/class] library provides the @racket[object%]
value, which is the root of the class hierarchy in Racket. Its

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@ -57,8 +57,8 @@ The @racketmodname[racket] library combines
@table-of-contents[]
@include-section["notation.scrbl"]
@include-section["model.scrbl"]
@include-section["notation.scrbl"]
@include-section["syntax.scrbl"]
@include-section["data.scrbl"]
@include-section["struct.scrbl"]

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@ -108,7 +108,9 @@ banner text for an embedding program, such as GRacket). The banner string
ends with a newline.}
@defparam[current-command-line-arguments argv (vectorof (and/c string? immutable?))]{
@defparam*[current-command-line-arguments argv
(vectorof (and/c string? immutable?))
(vectorof string?)]{
A @tech{parameter} that is initialized with command-line arguments when
Racket starts (not including any command-line arguments that were