How to resolve the algorithm Idiomatically determine all the characters that can be used for symbols step by step in the Mathematica/Wolfram Language programming language

Published on 22 June 2024 08:30 PM

How to resolve the algorithm Idiomatically determine all the characters that can be used for symbols step by step in the Mathematica/Wolfram Language programming language

Table of Contents

Problem Statement

Idiomatically determine all the characters that can be used for symbols. The word symbols is meant things like names of variables, procedures (i.e., named fragments of programs, functions, subroutines, routines), statement labels, events or conditions, and in general, anything a computer programmer can choose to name, but not being restricted to this list. Identifiers might be another name for symbols. The method should find the characters regardless of the hardware architecture that is being used (ASCII, EBCDIC, or other). Display the set of all the characters that can be used for symbols which can be used (allowed) by the computer program. You may want to mention what hardware architecture is being used, and if applicable, the operating system. Note that most languages have additional restrictions on what characters can't be used for the first character of a variable or statement label, for instance. These type of restrictions needn't be addressed here (but can be mentioned).

Let's start with the solution:

Step by Step solution about How to resolve the algorithm Idiomatically determine all the characters that can be used for symbols step by step in the Mathematica/Wolfram Language programming language

The given Wolfram code performs the following tasks:

  1. Generate a List of Unicode Characters:

    • chars = Characters[FromCharacterCode[Range[0, 1114111]]] creates a list of Unicode characters covering the range from 0 to 1114111.
  2. Identify Possible First Characters:

    • out = Reap[Do[...]][[2, 1]] captures the results of an iteration over the character list chars.
    • The Do loop checks if the symbol represented by each character does not exist (i.e., Quiet[Length[Symbol[c]] == 0]).
    • If a character's symbol doesn't exist, it is recorded and stored in the list out.
    • Print["Possible 1st characters: ", out // Length] prints the number of characters that can be used as the first character in a valid symbol.
  3. Identify Possible Second and Subsequent Characters:

    • This process is repeated again, but this time, it checks for characters that can be used as the second or subsequent characters in a valid symbol.
    • out = Reap[Do[...]][[2, 1]] captures the results of an iteration over the character list chars.
    • The Do loop checks if the symbol represented by the character, when prepended with the letter "a", does not exist (i.e., Quiet[Length[Symbol["a" <> c]] == 0]).
    • If a character's symbol, when prepended with "a", doesn't exist, it is recorded and stored in the list out.
    • Print["Possible 2nd-nth characters: ", out // Length] prints the number of characters that can be used as the second or subsequent characters in a valid symbol.

Ultimately, the code provides information about the range of possible first characters and second/subsequent characters that can be used in valid symbols in the Wolfram programming language.

Source code in the wolfram programming language

chars = Characters[FromCharacterCode[Range[0, 1114111]]];
out = Reap[Do[
     If[Quiet[Length[Symbol[c]] == 0],
      Sow[c]
      ]
     ,
     {c, chars}
     ]][[2, 1]];
Print["Possible 1st characters: ", out // Length]
out = Reap[Do[
     If[Quiet[Length[Symbol["a" <> c]] == 0],
      Sow[c]
      ]
     ,
     {c, chars}
     ]][[2, 1]];
Print["Possible 2nd-nth characters: ", out // Length]


  

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