Layout and blocks

Kalm has two ways to write a block. Braces make boundaries explicit; a colon introduces an indented suite that keeps the body uncluttered. Both styles support function and type bodies, control-flow branches, and other compound statements. Colon suites can be multiline or, for a simple statement, inline. Empty bodies are written {}.

pub fun greet(name: Text?) -> Unit:
    fix display = name ?? "Guest"
    if display == "Guest":
        sayLine("Welcome!")
    else:
        sayLine(display)

Keep related blocks at the same level in one style. In particular, use matching delimiters for all branches of an if/else, and keep neighboring declarations or statements consistent. The formatter applies the style of the first block in each same-level group, including at the top level. For example, if the first top-level function uses :, a following function written with {} is formatted with : too. The empty-block form {} remains available because a colon suite requires a body.

Style is chosen independently at each nesting level. A function written with a colon suite may contain an if/else written with braces, as long as both branches use braces:

pub fun greet(name: Text?) -> Unit:
    if name == null {
        sayLine("Welcome!")
    } else {
        sayLine(name)
    }

Simple statements end at a logical newline or semicolon. Use semicolons when placing multiple simple statements on one line. bin/kalm format <source-root> checks formatting without changing files and reports any that differ; pass --fix to apply the formatter's changes. Editor formatting applies changes when you invoke the editor's format command.

Use fix instead of the former fixed keyword. Unit still means Java void; Java's boxed Void remains a separate type. Console, text, collection and numeric helpers come from the kalm-stdlib dependency and its automatic prelude.