On 1/24/13 9:02 PM, Jonathan M Davis wrote:
On Friday, January 25, 2013 10:37:51 kenji hara wrote:
2013/1/25 kenji hara<[email protected]>
I have thought an additional idea.
If we really want a feature to disable optional parentheses for normal
functions, we can add @function attribute to the language spec.
int foo();
@property int bar();
@function int baz(); // new!
int x1 = foo(); // ok
int x2 = foo; // optional parentheses, allowed
int y1 = bar(); // disallowed, calling int is meaningless
int y2 = bar; // ok
int z1 = baz(); // ok
int z2 = baz; // *disallowed* by @function attribute
I think calling a function which does not annotated with @attribute without
parenthesis is legal, Even if a function has some side-effects and a name
looks like verb. Because native English grammar does not require
parentheses.
He runs(). // normal function call
He runs. // optional parentheses
Honestly, I don't think that English grammar has anything to do with this.
Code isn't English, even if the symbol names chosen are in English. A
programming language's grammar should reflect what works best for having a
language which is appropriately usable and maintainable. That doesn't
necessarily have anything to do with the grammar of any natural language,
especially when you consider how different programming language grammars are
from those of natural languages.
I agree parallels with natural language are tenuous.
Anyhow, here's a thought. It is becoming rather clear that one way or
another that optional parens are here to stay. So no more need to argue
over that - it's just there.
Once we consider this a given, the design space is much easier to
navigate (which is what Kenji is doing).
Andrei
