← Starting Henceforth

Episode 6

Letters are numbers

Letters, words, even pictures — all just numbers you print.

1:59 · Trepak · Russian Dance (Nutcracker, Op. 71)

Watch here · code in the app

Henceforth is the real terminal — one purchase ($9.99) for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Type the commands below into the app as you watch.

Code along

Tap to copy, then type it into Henceforth.

What you’ll learn

  • emit prints one character from its number — 42 is *, and 65 66 67 are A B C. A letter is just a number you print.
  • A word can hold text too: : dog ." the dog" ; — then string printing-words into a sentence. Words from words, applied to letters.
  • s" hands you a string as a pair — an address and a count — and type prints it. That same pair is what pay-rent fed send back in episode four.
Transcript
  • we've moved numbers around. but what about letters?
  • two ways to print. first — just text.
  • dot-quote prints what you typed. the quotes hold the words.
  • the other way — one letter at a time.
  • forty-two — a star came out.
  • wait. one number, one character?
  • a, b, c — next number, next letter. letters are just numbers.
  • name it once — now star's a word.
  • thirty-two? just a blank — a space is a number too.
  • a word can hold text, too — not just a number.
  • now string them — a space between each. that's a word too, remember.
  • a sentence — built from words.
  • ...the dog. that's me, by the way.
  • and the same words draw pictures.
  • letters, words, pictures — all just numbers you print.
  • and a whole word at once?
  • s-quote hands you a string — an address, and a length.
  • type prints all of it — given where, and how many.
  • remember this pair — an address, and a count?
  • that's exactly what pay-rent fed send, back in episode four.
  • a string, and where it goes.
  • more in episode ten.
  • henceforth.