About this guide...

This is the Programmer's Guide for ioL.

Assumed knowledge

This guide won't teach you how to program from scratch. It is assumed that you already know how to write simple programs in a language such as Python (or another programming language that may also be available in your version of Proxima).

This guide focuses on an essential aspect of programming - dealing with input and output - which Proxima's VUI (Versatile User Interface) system manages in a different way to other operating systems. It will teach you how to make your program deal with input and output in a way that takes full advantage of the capabilities provided by ioL and Proxima's VUI system.

The VUI layer interprets ioL output

Many of the example programs and excerpts in this guide are written in Python because it is easy to read and follow, but ioL is not a feature of Python or of any one programming language. In Proxima, the operating system uses the output from your program to build the user interface in the console. That output must follow the rules of ioL, and Proxima's VUI layer interprets it and renders it as a rich user interface with interactive content. The programming language you use to write the program is separate from this interface layer: it is the tool for telling the program what to do, while ioL is the language for describing what should appear on screen.

If you prefer another programming language, the examples in this guide will still apply; you will just need to use the input and output syntax that is appropriate to that language. For example, Python uses a print(...) statement for program output, while another language may use a different function or keyword for the same task.

How the guides are structured

• The Programmer's Guide introduces basic concepts chapter by chapter, eventually moving on to more advanced concepts and practices. The chapters are brief, and the fastest way to get up to speed with ioL is to read and work through this guide in order.
• Once you grasp the basics, the Language Reference is where you can look up various tags (objects and functions) available in ioL and how to use them.

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Navigate through the sections using the right-hand menu near the top of this page.