ATOMIC AI ITERATIONS SPEC (EN)

SCOPE
RULE: This document defines the complete and binding iteration system of the Atomic language.
RULE: Iterations in Atomic are syntactic constructs.
RULE: Iterations are not functions.
RULE: Iterations do not return values.

SUPPORTED ITERATION CONSTRUCTS
RULE: Atomic supports only the following iteration constructs:
ripeti per <n> volte
ripeti finché
RULE: This list is closed.
RULE: No other iteration construct exists.

RIPETI PER CONSTRUCT
RULE: The construct ripeti per <n> volte executes a block of code a finite number of times.
RULE: It is conceptually equivalent to a counting loop.

SYNTAX OF RIPETI PER
RULE: The syntax is:
ripeti per <number> volte
{
code
}

RULE: The block delimited by curly braces is mandatory.
BEHAVIOR OF RIPETI PER
RULE: <number> is a numeric expression.
RULE: The value of <number> is evaluated exactly once, at loop entry.
RULE: If <number> is less than or equal to 0, the block is never executed.
RULE: The block is executed sequentially for the specified number of iterations.
RULE: The loop terminates automatically after the last iteration.

PREDEFINED ITERATION VARIABLE RIPETIZIONE
RULE: Inside ripeti per, the predefined variable ripetizione exists.
RULE: Properties of ripetizione:
numeric type
initial value is 1
automatically incremented at each iteration
takes consecutive values up to the total number of repetitions
read-only
exists only inside the ripeti per block
RULE: ripetizione does not exist outside the loop.

RIPETI FINCHE CONSTRUCT
RULE: The construct ripeti finché executes a block of code while a condition is true.
RULE: It is conceptually equivalent to a conditional loop.

SYNTAX OF RIPETI FINCHE
RULE: The syntax is:
ripeti finché <condition>
{
code
}
RULE: The block delimited by curly braces is mandatory.

BEHAVIOR OF RIPETI FINCHE
RULE: <condition> is a logical expression producing true or false.
RULE: The condition is evaluated before each iteration.
RULE: If the condition is false at the beginning, the block is never executed.
RULE: The loop terminates when the condition becomes false.
RULE: It is the responsibility of the code to make the condition false.
RULE: Atomic does not automatically interrupt infinite loops.

CONDITION CONTENT
RULE: The loop condition may include:
variables
predefined variables
mathematical expressions
logical operators
comparison operators

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIPETI PER AND RIPETI FINCHE
RULE: ripeti per <n> volte:
number of iterations is known at loop entry
repetition count is evaluated once
provides an automatic counter (ripetizione)
RULE: ripeti finché:
number of iterations is not known in advance
condition is re-evaluated at each iteration
no automatic counter exists

ITERATIONS AND FRAME MODEL
RULE: Atomic uses a frame-based execution model.
RULE: Iterations are executed entirely within a single frame.
RULE: Iterations do not introduce any notion of time.
RULE: If an iteration is inside CICLO CONTINUO:
it is executed again entirely at every frame
RULE: If the program does not explicitly define events:
iterations are executed inside the implicit CICLO CONTINUO

VARIABLE SCOPE AND ITERATIONS
RULE: Atomic does not enforce a strict lexical scope.
RULE: Variables defined before a loop are accessible inside the loop.
RULE: Variables defined inside a loop exist in the current execution context.
RULE: The variable ripetizione is an exception:
it is local to ripeti per
it does not exist outside the loop

ACCENT-FREE FORM
RULE: For keyboard convenience, the form ripeti finche (without accent) is accepted.
RULE: ripeti finche is fully equivalent to ripeti finché.
RULE: No other textual variants exist.

UNSUPPORTED ITERATION FEATURES
FORBIDDEN:
break
continue
do-while
ripeti mentre
ripeti fino a
loops with declared index variables
implicit or time-based loops

FORMAL CLOSURE
RULE: The iteration system of Atomic is limited to what is described in this document.
RULE: Any undocumented iteration construct:
is invalid
is not part of the Atomic language