From 586d55df858ff0ca4da0e8dda43eb869ffdee255 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Dustin Swan <dustin@dustinswan.com>
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2026 17:29:40 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] Letting me save things to _ or _myVar to throw it away.
 fixing printing newlines in strings

---
 src/ast.ts      |  7 ++++---
 src/compiler.ts |  8 ++++++++
 src/parser.ts   | 14 ++++++++++++--
 3 files changed, 24 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/ast.ts b/src/ast.ts
index 0b8bf41..92a03db 100644
--- a/src/ast.ts
+++ b/src/ast.ts
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ export function prettyPrint(ast: AST, indent = 0): string {
                 const escaped = val.value
                     .replace(/\\/g, '\\\\')
                     .replace(/"/g, '\\"')
-                    .replace(/\n/g, '\\n')
+                    // .replace(/\n/g, '\\n')
                     .replace(/\t/g, '\\t');
                 return `"${escaped}"`;
             }
@@ -347,13 +347,14 @@ export function prettyPrint(ast: AST, indent = 0): string {
             return `...${prettyPrint(ast.spread, indent)}`;
 
         case 'definition':
+            const displayName = /^_\d+$/.test(ast.name) ? '_' : ast.name;
             const ann = ast.annotation
                 ? ` : ${ast.annotation.constraints.length > 0
                     ? ast.annotation.constraints.map(c => `${c.className} ${c.typeVar}`).join(', ') + ' :: '
                     : ''}${prettyPrintType(ast.annotation.type)}`
                 : '';
-            if (!ast.body) return `${ast.name}${ann};`;
-            return `${ast.name}${ann} = ${prettyPrint(ast.body, indent)};`;
+            if (!ast.body) return `${displayName}${ann};`;
+            return `${displayName}${ann} = ${prettyPrint(ast.body, indent)};`;
 
         default:
             return `Unknown AST kind: ${i}${(ast as any).kind}`
diff --git a/src/compiler.ts b/src/compiler.ts
index e82434a..38be08c 100644
--- a/src/compiler.ts
+++ b/src/compiler.ts
@@ -268,6 +268,10 @@ export function compileAndRun(defs: Definition[], typeDefs: TypeDefinition[] = [
 
     for (const def of defs) {
         if (!def.body) continue; // type declaration only
+        if (def.name.startsWith('_')) {
+            definitions.set(def.name, def);
+            continue;
+        }
         definitions.set(def.name, def);
         const free = freeVars(def.body);
         const deps = new Set([...free].filter(v => topLevel.has(v)));
@@ -287,6 +291,10 @@ export function compileAndRun(defs: Definition[], typeDefs: TypeDefinition[] = [
 
     for (const def of defs) {
         if (!def.body) continue;
+        if (def.name.startsWith('_')) {
+            definitions.set(def.name, def); // keep it..
+            continue; // but don't compile it
+        }
         const ctx: CompileCtx = { topLevel, bound: new Set() };
         const compiled = `store[${JSON.stringify(def.name)}] = ${compile(def.body, ctx)};`;
         compiledDefs.push(compiled);
diff --git a/src/parser.ts b/src/parser.ts
index 1a7be08..ba2b9be 100644
--- a/src/parser.ts
+++ b/src/parser.ts
@@ -199,9 +199,19 @@ export class Parser {
         return { definitions, typeDefinitions, classDefinitions, instanceDeclarations };
     }
 
+    private underscoreCounter = 0;
+
     private parseDefinition(): Definition {
-        const nameToken = this.expect('ident');
-        const name = (nameToken as { value: string }).value;
+        let nameToken: Token;
+        let name: string;
+
+        if (this.current().kind === 'underscore') {
+            nameToken = this.advance();
+            name = `_${this.underscoreCounter++}`;
+        } else {
+            nameToken = this.expect('ident');
+            name = (nameToken as { value: string }).value;
+        }
 
         let annotation: Annotation | undefined;
         if (this.current().kind === 'colon') {