Vala Reference Manual [Draft]

This is an editable draft version of the Vala Reference Manual, and so is not guaranteed to be correct.

Read only versions of the manual are available from vala-project.org:

• Multi-page HTML

• PDF

The Vala Reference Manual is also available as a DevHelp version from your distribution, such as Fedora or Ubuntu.

The authoritative version of the manual is carried in the Vala repository directory `doc/manual`. Periodically the authoritative source is updated from edits made on this wiki. Contributions to the manual are encouraged. See the README in the Vala repository on how to contribute.

• Overview

• Concepts

• Types

• Expressions

• Statements

• Namespaces

• Methods

• Delegates

• Errors

• Classes

• Interfaces

• Generics

• Structs

• Enumerated types (Enums)

• Attributes

• Preprocessor

• GIDL metadata format

• GIR metadata format

Two-level expanded table of contents:

• Overview 

  • Getting started 

  • Documentation conventions 

  • Vala source files 

  • Vala conventions 

  • Vala syntax 

  • GType and GObject 

  • Memory management 

  • Vala compilation 

  • Application entry point 

• Concepts 

  • Variables, fields and parameters 

  • Scope and naming 

  • Object oriented programming 

  • References and ownership 

• Types 

  • Value types 

  • Reference types 

  • Parameterised types 

  • Nullable types 

  • Pointer types 

  • Type conversions 

• Expressions 

  • Literal expressions 

  • Arithmetic operations 

  • Bitwise operations 

  • Relational operations 

  • Logical operations 

  • Assignment operations 

  • Flag operations 

  • Type operations 

  • Conditional expressions 

  • Method call expressions 

  • Class instantiation 

  • Struct instantiation 

  • Member access expressions 

  • Array instantiation 

  • Element access 

  • Ownership transfer expressions 

  • Pointer expressions 

• Statements 

  • Simple statements 

  • Variable declaration 

  • Selection statements 

  • Iteration statements 

  • Jump statements 

  • Try statement 

  • Lock statement 

• Namespaces 

  • The global namespace 

  • Namespace declaration 

  • Members 

  • Fields 

  • Constants 

  • The "using" statement 

  • Examples 

• Methods 

  • Parameter directions 

  • Method declaration 

  • Invocation 

  • Scope 

  • Lambdas 

  • Contract programming 

  • Examples 

• Delegates 

  • Types of delegate 

  • Delegate declaration 

  • Using delegates 

  • Examples 

• Errors 

  • Error throwing 

  • Error catching 

  • Examples 

• Classes 

  • Types of class 

  • Types of class members 

  • Class scope 

  • Class member visibility 

  • Class declaration 

  • Controlling instantiation 

  • Construction 

  • Class fields 

  • Class constants 

  • Class methods 

  • Properties 

  • Signals 

  • Class enums 

  • Class delegates 

  • Examples 

• Interfaces 

  • Interface declaration 

  • Interface fields 

  • Interface methods 

  • Interface properties 

  • Interface signals 

  • Other interface members 

  • Examples 

• Generics 

  • Generics declaration 

  • Instantiation 

  • Examples 

• Structs 

  • Struct declaration 

  • Controlling instantiation 

  • Struct fields 

  • Struct constants 

  • Struct methods 

  • Examples 

• Enumerated types (Enums) 

  • Enum declaration 

  • Enum members 

  • Methods 

  • Flag types 

  • Error domains 

  • Examples 

• Attributes 

  • Applying attributes 

  • CCode Attribute 

  • SimpleType attribute 

  • BooleanType Attribute 

  • IntegerType Attribute 

  • FloatingType Attribute 

  • Signal Attribute 

  • Deprecated Attribute 

  • Description Attribute 

  • DBus Attribute 

  • Other attributes 

  • Examples 

• Preprocessor 

  • Directives syntax 

  • Defining symbols 

  • Examples 

• GIDL metadata format 

  • Comments 

  • Other Lines 

  • Specifiers 

  • Specifying Different Things 

  • Properties Reference 

  • Examples 

• GIR metadata format 

  • Examples 

Update two-level TOC

• Download the docbook version and save it as manual.xml

• Download toc.xsl

• Install xsltproc

• Run xsltproc --xinclude toc.xsl manual.xml

Export as HTML

• Download the docbook version and save it as manual.xml

• Download xhtml.xsl and default.css

• Install xsltproc

• Run xsltproc --xinclude xhtml.xsl manual.xml > index.html