The trait Instruction represents instructions within RoboSpeak programs. The program of each Tribe consists of instruction objects; a TribalBot is able to execute sequences of instructions.
A single Instruction object represents an instruction for a tribal robot to do something. By way of example, here are two RoboSpeak instructions in textual form, each of which can also be represented by an Instruction object:
turn
goto 1
See the documentation of class Tribe for more details and examples of RoboSpeak.
There are various kinds of instruction objects representing the various kinds of instructions that can appear in RoboSpeak programs. However, all instructions share the common interface described by this trait. Through this interface, instructions can be examined and executed. Each instruction object, irrespective of what is does, provides the following:
Methods for determining basic information about the instruction: Does executing the instruction end a tribal robot’s turn? On which line in a RoboSpeak program does the instruction appear?
A method for executing the instruction and determining which instruction to execute next.
Causes the given tribal bot to execute the instruction. What happens as a result depends on the instruction. In the case of an action instruction such as move or hack, the tribal bot does something visible. In the case of a logic instruction such as ifempty, goto or callsub, nothing visible happens immediately, but the bot does something which affects its future behavior.
Causes the given tribal bot to execute the instruction. What happens as a result depends on the instruction. In the case of an action instruction such as move or hack, the tribal bot does something visible. In the case of a logic instruction such as ifempty, goto or callsub, nothing visible happens immediately, but the bot does something which affects its future behavior.
This method also determines the next instruction that is to be executed by the acting robot next after this instruction is done with. The next instruction may be either the instruction on the following line of the RoboSpeak program (e.g., after a move instruction, or after an ifempty when the square ahead is not empty), or it may be an instruction somewhere else in the program (e.g., after a goto, or after an ifempty when the square ahead is empty).
Parameters
actor
a tribal bot whose turn it is and who is to execute the instruction
Attributes
Returns
the next instruction that is to be executed by the actor after this one (possibly only during a future turn)
