On 9/15/06, Jason Grossman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >> This feature makes the language more complicated, and so makes code > >> harder to read. To understand an if-statement that has an end > >> condition, I now have to remember to check not only its if-condition > >> but also the end-condition. I expect that more bugs will occur from > >> forgetting to check this, than the bugs avoided by it. > > > > No you don't. You don't have to change a single line of code. You > > simply have the _option_ of explicitly stating what a specific end > > block ends. In a 100-line code block that is nested five levels, this > > can be a very nice memory aid. You have always had the option of using > > something like > > Aren't you two talking at cross purposes here? The first person's > assertion is that the new feature makes things harder to READ. The > second person is pointing out that the new syntax shows that it > doesn't make code harder to WRITE, since we have the option of not > using it. Seems to me that both of you are right, but not (at this > point in time) talking about the same thing.
Rereading Philips post, I am not 100% sure what he meant. I may have misunderstood what he was trying to say. A restatement is welcome. > > The fact remains that some people will use the new syntax if it's > there, while other people won't. So, if there's a danger of that > making code harder to read then it's an issue we should take seriously. >From that point of view, I would agree. I've simply seen this syntax as obvious enough that you wouldn't even consider it a new syntax, just a simple extention to what's already there that is self explaining. But the number of comments to my original mail clearly shows that there is nothing self-explaining about this feature, so I may be wrong here. > > Personally, I think that we should not have this new feature in a > simple scripting language. I would find it useful, hypothetically, > in a full-blown language in one expects to code very complicated > algorithms. In that hypothetical case, one could encourage people to > use the new syntax all the time. But in a simple shell language, > obviously a lot of people (certainly me) would mostly use the old > syntax. And then when I was reading code which used the new syntax, > not being used to it, I'd get confused. So I'd prefer to keep things > as they are, with just the one block ending, "end". KISS. That is a valid point. > > Jason > -- Axel ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Using Tomcat but need to do more? Need to support web services, security? Get stuff done quickly with pre-integrated technology to make your job easier Download IBM WebSphere Application Server v.1.0.1 based on Apache Geronimo http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=120709&bid=263057&dat=121642 _______________________________________________ Fish-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/fish-users
