Module System

Objects

In HyperMake, sometimes it is needed to bundle certain definitions together so that it can be reused. This forms an object in HyperMake (think of it as a singleton object in OO languages):

object my_obj:
  key = value
  def f(...):
    ...
  
  task t0(...) -> out = f(...)

Objects can be used as namespaces. To refer to a definition in an object, use the . sign. For example, to refer to

• the key in my_obj, write $my_obj.key；
• the out output in task t0, write $my_obj.t0.out.

Given a task a.b.c, it will be placed in ${fileSys.root}/a/b/c.

Classes

Classes are just abstract objects that can be instantiated with parameters.

class my_class(param0, param1, ...):
  key = value
  task t0(...) -> out:
    ...

To instantiate a class, write

object my_obj = my_class(arg0, arg1, ...)

Note that instantiation of an object starts with the keyword object. Just doing my_obj = ... would define a string-valued literal.

Modules

HyperMake's module system is based on objects: each file, when imported, forms a singleton object. Given the following directory structure:

• main.hm
• data/
  • preprocess.hm

In main.hm, you can import preprocess.hm as follows:

import data.preprocess

This will create an object data.preprocess that contains all definitions in preprocess.hm. Or you can import it as an alias:

import data.preprocess as pp

This will create an object pp that contains all definitions in preprocess.hm.

Additionally, you can import a HyperMake script in the current namespace, not as an object:

import "data/preprocess.hm"

Importing a file by its filename will import all definitions in preprocess.hm into the current namespace.