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Variables & Types

Storing and working with data

Declaring Variables

In Ifá-Lang, you declare variables using ayanmo (Yoruba: "destiny") or its English alias let:

variables.ifa 
// Declaring variables (Yoruba style)
ayanmo oruko = "Ifá";
ayanmo iye = 42;
// Declaring variables (English style)
let name = "Ifá";
let count = 42;
💡 Why "ayanmo"?

In Yoruba philosophy, ayanmọ́ means "destiny" or "fate". When you declare a variable, you're declaring its destiny — what it will hold.

Data Types

Ifá-Lang has these built-in types:

Type Example Description
Number 42, 3.14 Integers and floats
String "Hello" Text enclosed in quotes
Boolean otito, iro True (otito/true) or False (iro/false)
List [1, 2, 3] Ordered collection
Nil nil Absence of value

Working with Variables

Working with Data 
// Numbers
ayanmo age = 25;
ayanmo price = 19.99;
ayanmo total = age + price;  // 44.99

// Strings
ayanmo first = "Ọba";
ayanmo last = "Adé";
ayanmo full = first + " " + last;  // "Ọba Adé"

// Booleans
ayanmo active = otito;   // true
ayanmo complete = iro;   // false

// Lists
ayanmo numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
ayanmo names = ["Ọba", "Adé", "Ifá"];
// Numbers
let age = 25;
let price = 19.99;
let total = age + price;  // 44.99

// Strings
let first = "Ọba";
let last = "Adé";
let full = first + " " + last;  // "Ọba Adé"

// Booleans
let active = true;
let complete = false;

// Lists
let numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
let names = ["Ọba", "Adé", "Ifá"];

Type Checking

Use Ogbe.type() (or Sys.type()) to check a value's type:

Checking Types 
ayanmo x = 42;
ayanmo t = Ogbe.type(x);
Irosu.fo(t);  // "number"

ayanmo s = "Hello";
Irosu.fo(Ogbe.type(s));  // "string"

ayanmo list = [1, 2, 3];
Irosu.fo(Ogbe.type(list));  // "list"
let x = 42;
let t = Sys.type(x);
Fmt.println(t);  // "number"

let s = "Hello";
Fmt.println(Sys.type(s));  // "string"

let list = [1, 2, 3];
Fmt.println(Sys.type(list));  // "list"

String Concatenation

Use + to join strings and other values:

Concatenation 
ayanmo name = "Ifá";
ayanmo age = 1000;

Irosu.fo("Name: " + name);
Irosu.fo("Age: " + age);  // Numbers auto-convert
let name = "Ifá";
let age = 1000;

Fmt.println("Name: " + name);
Fmt.println("Age: " + age);  // Numbers auto-convert

Variable Reassignment

Variables can be reassigned (shadowed) or modified:

Reassignment 
ayanmo count = 0;
Irosu.fo(count);  // 0

ayanmo count = count + 1; // Shadowing (original pattern)
Irosu.fo(count);  // 1

// Or strictly speaking, mutable updates depend on scope, 
// usually we use standard 'ayanmo' again for shadowing in examples.
let count = 0;
Fmt.println(count);  // 0

let count = count + 1; // Shadowing
Fmt.println(count);  // 1

What You Learned

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