Getting Started

Install Pacioli with the Visual Studio Code extension or as command line application as describe in the GitHub project.

Creating a .pacioli file

Create a file, say foo.pacioli, and add the following code

define sum_first_n(n) =
    n * (n + 1) / 2;

sum_first_n(100);

A Pacioli file contains definitions and top-level expressions, terminated by a semi-colon. After reading the definitions, all expressions in the file are evaluated sequentially.

If you work with the Visual Studio Code extension you must open a directory or workspace that contains the file. VS Code requires an open workspace to run compiler tasks. After opening a workspace it should recognize .pacioli files when you view them.

Now run the file. In vs-code you can choose Pacioli run in the popup menu or press ctrl-F9. On the command line you can run pacioli run foo.pacioli.

You should see something like the following with the answer 5050.

Running file '/home/paul/code/pacioli/samples/shells/shells.pacioli'
Compiling file '/home/paul/code/pacioli/samples/shells/shells.pacioli'
Running mvm file '/home/paul/code/pacioli/samples/shells/shells.mvm'

5050

The compiler generates file foo.mvm and runs that file. You can also just generate the .mvm file with popup menu “Generate mvm code”.

Viewing types

You can print the types of all definitions in the current file.

Choose the right-mouse menu Pacioli types or use command pacioli types foo.pacioli to infer the types.

Typing is optional. Add declaration

declare sum_first_n ::
    (1) -> 1;

If you run type inference again you will see that the compiler picks up the declared type.

Using libraries

Libraries can be imported with the import statements.

Add the following import statement to the beginning of the file.

import geometry;

This makes the geometry library available. Add the following definition:

define my_vector =
    vector3d(5*|metre|, 5*|metre|, 0*|metre|);

This defines a vector with unit metre.

See the Pacioli Library Documentation for an overview of the available libraries.

Using include files

You can split your code. Use an include to include code from other files in the same directory or a subdirectory.

Create file “my_lib.pacioli” and move the definition to it, including the declaration.

The original file now becomes

include my_lib;

sum_first_n(100);

Only values and functions with a type declaration are included.

Next steps

From here you can continue with the Examples, Tutorials and Guides, or go back to the Start Page and look at the manual or libraries documentation.