Error Handling

Zink provides clear, line-numbered error messages at every stage of execution.

Error Types

Lex Errors

Occur when the source contains invalid characters or malformed tokens:

[Lex Error, line 3] Unterminated string
[Lex Error, line 7] Unknown char: '@'

Parse Errors

Occur when the code structure is invalid:

[Parse Error, line 5] Expected '{' after if condition
[Parse Error, line 8] Expected ')' after arguments

Runtime Errors

Occur during execution:

[Runtime Error, line 4] Undefined variable 'x'
[Runtime Error, line 6] Cannot call non-function value
[Runtime Error, line 9] Index out of bounds: 10

Common Mistakes

Missing braces

# Wrong — braces are required
if x > 0
  say "positive"

# Right
if x > 0 {
  say "positive"
}

Using undeclared variables

# Wrong — forgot 'let'
x = 42

# Right
let x = 42

Division by zero

say 10 / 0   # Runtime Error: Division by zero

Tips

• Error messages always include the line number — check that line first
• The REPL catches errors without crashing, so you can fix and retry
• Use type(value) to check what type a value is at runtime

say type(42)       # number
say type("hi")     # string
say type(true)     # boolean
say type(null)     # null
say type([1,2])    # array