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INTERCAL programs consist of a list of statements. Execution of a program starts with its first statement; generally speaking each statement runs after the previous statement, although many situations can change this.
Whitespace is generally insignificant in INTERCAL programs; it cannot be added in the middle of a keyword (unless the keyword contains whitespace itself) or inside a decimal number, but it can be added more or less anywhere else, and it can be removed from anywhere in the program as well.
An INTERCAL statement consists of an optional line
label, a statement identifier, an optional execution chance, the
statement itself (see Statements), and optionally
ONCE
or AGAIN
.
• Princeton and Atari Syntax: | There are two syntaxes for INTERCAL | |
• Line Labels: | Allowing lines to be referred to | |
• Statement Identifiers: | Marking the start of a statement | |
• Execution Chance: | Statements that might not execute | |
• ONCE and AGAIN: | Self-abstaining and self-reinstating statements |