fun with scopes in The

$ the
> a = 0
> { a = a + 1; a print } do -- normal; assigns a only within the block
1
> a
0
> action = { a = a + 1; a print }
> action scope do: action -- now executing it as part of its original scope
1
<prototype (delegates to <bottom>)
  (<self> Object = <reference>)
  (<self> Block = <reference>)
  (<self> Char = <reference>)
  (<self> Double = <reference>)
  (<self> Integer = <reference>)
  (<self> List = <reference>)
  (<self> Message = <reference>)
  (<self> Particle = <reference>)
  (<self> Process = <reference>)
  (<self> String = <reference>)
  (<self> if: <id> then: (a: <id>) else: <id> = (((a) do)))
  (<self> if: <id> then: <id> else: (b: <id>) = (((b) do)))
  (<self> when: (b: <id>) do: (action: <id>) = ((<top> if: (b) then: (action) else: {})))
  (<self> if: <id> then: (a: <id>) else: <id> = (((a) do)))
  (<self> if: <id> then: <id> else: (b: <id>) = (((b) do)))
  (<self> when: (b: <id>) do: (action: <id>) = ((<top> if: (b) then: (action) else: {})))
  (<self> Bool = <reference>)
  (<self> True = <reference>)
  (<self> False = <reference>)
  (<self> if: <id> then: (a: <id>) else: <id> = (((a) do)))
  (<self> if: <id> then: <id> else: (b: <id>) = (((b) do)))
  (<self> when: (b: <id>) do: (action: <id>) = ((<top> if: (b) then: (action) else: {})))
  (<self> while: (test: <id>) do: (action: <id>) = ((<top> when: (((test) do)) do: {(((((action) scope)) do: (action)));
                                                                                    ((<top> while: (test) do: (action)))})))
  (<self> action = {<self> a = (((a) + 1)); (((a) print))})
  (<self> a = 1)
>
> a
1
> -- that big dump is because @do: returns the new object, but you can see a = 1 at the bottom there too
> -- this works too:
> {} scope do: { b = 20; a = 42 }
<prototype (delegates to <bottom>)
  (<self> Object = <reference>)
  (<self> Block = <reference>)
  (<self> Char = <reference>)
  (<self> Double = <reference>)
  (<self> Integer = <reference>)
  (<self> List = <reference>)
  (<self> Message = <reference>)
  (<self> Particle = <reference>)
  (<self> Process = <reference>)
  (<self> String = <reference>)
  (<self> if: <id> then: (a: <id>) else: <id> = (((a) do)))
  (<self> if: <id> then: <id> else: (b: <id>) = (((b) do)))
  (<self> when: (b: <id>) do: (action: <id>) = ((<top> if: (b) then: (action) else: {})))
  (<self> if: <id> then: (a: <id>) else: <id> = (((a) do)))
  (<self> if: <id> then: <id> else: (b: <id>) = (((b) do)))
  (<self> when: (b: <id>) do: (action: <id>) = ((<top> if: (b) then: (action) else: {})))
  (<self> Bool = <reference>)
  (<self> True = <reference>)
  (<self> False = <reference>)
  (<self> if: <id> then: (a: <id>) else: <id> = (((a) do)))
  (<self> if: <id> then: <id> else: (b: <id>) = (((b) do)))
  (<self> when: (b: <id>) do: (action: <id>) = ((<top> if: (b) then: (action) else: {})))
  (<self> while: (test: <id>) do: (action: <id>) = ((<top> when: (((test) do)) do: {(((((action) scope)) do: (action)));
                                                                                    ((<top> while: (test) do: (action)))})))
  (<self> action = {<self> a = (((a) + 1)); (((a) print))})
  (<self> b = 20)
  (<self> a = 42)
>
> [b, a]
[20, 42]
>

this allows you to implement while loops.the.hs

while: (test: Block) do: (action: Block) =
    when: test do
        do: {
            action scope do: action
            while: test do: action
        }