Type Annotation with as

The as keyword explicitly specifies the type of a variable, parameter, or return value.

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Variable Type Annotation

counter is 0 as int;
ratio is 0.5 as float;
name is "Alice" as string;
flag is true as bool;

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Without as (Type Inference)

When as is omitted, the compiler infers the type automatically:

counter is 0;        // inferred as int
ratio is 0.5;        // inferred as float
name is "Alice";     // inferred as string

See Type Inference for details.

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Method Parameter Types

Parameters use name as type syntax:

Add method(a as int, b as int) as int {
    return a + b;
}

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Method Return Type

Use as after the parameter list to specify the return type:

GetName method() as string {
    return "Morph";
}

// No return type (void)
PrintHello method() {
    Print("Hello!");
}

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Class Field Types

Player class {
    name is "" as string;
    health is 100 as int;
    speed is 1.0 as float;
}

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When to Use Explicit Types

Situation	Recommendation
Type is obvious from value	Omit as — x is 10;
Type needs clarification	Use as — x is 0 as float;
Method parameters	Always specify types
Method return values	Always specify if non-void

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Next Steps

• Type Inference — How the compiler deduces types
• Type Casting — Converting between types with as, maybe, and then