3. Newlines terminate statements

• Status: Accepted
• Date: 2026-09-02

Context

A language needs to know where one statement ends and the next begins. The options are an explicit terminator (;), an explicit separator only when statements share a line, or newline-as-terminator with rules for continuation.

Semicolons at end of line are pure ceremony in a language that also uses indentation: the newline is already there and already meaningful.

Decision

A newline ends a statement. There is no statement terminator or separator character, and no way to put two statements on one line — that is the "one obvious way" choice; a line is a statement.

A statement may span multiple physical lines only when the break is unambiguous:

• inside unclosed (, [, or { — the lexer suppresses NEWLINE while any bracket is open;
• immediately after a binary operator or a comma (the line is syntactically incomplete).

There is no line-continuation character (\).

Consequences

• No ;, no "missing semicolon" errors, no ASI-style hazards from inserting one incorrectly.
• Long expressions are wrapped by opening a bracket, which is a mild constraint and a common style anyway.
• The lexer must track bracket depth to decide whether a newline is significant. This lives next to the indentation logic (see 0007).
• No a = 1; b = 2 on one line. Deliberate.

Alternatives considered

• Optional trailing ; (JavaScript, Swift). Creates two ways to write every line and an ASI rule that has to be learned.
• ; as a separator for multiple statements per line (Python). Adds a feature whose main use is writing code that is harder to read.
• Explicit \ continuation. More syntax for something brackets already handle.