I quickly acclimated to Stefan's && idiom and now happily read and write code containing it. That said, it did throw me for a loop when first learning the language. I'm not too big of a fan of reserving another keyword for an optional syntax… but I could perhaps support its inclusion if it were *only* for one-line if statements and didn't require a terminating `end` (and had no support for else/elseif clauses):
if 4 == 2+2 then go_home() On Friday, March 21, 2014 4:54:53 PM UTC-4, Stefan Karpinski wrote: > > On the other hand, saying "4 == 2 + 2 or go home" is perfectly reasonable > ;-) > > > On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 6:47 PM, John Myles White > <johnmyl...@gmail.com<javascript:> > > wrote: > >> To me, this actually explains why the i == 1 && do_stuff() idiom feels so >> unnatural: you'd never mix a declarative statement with an imperative >> statement in English using only an "and" or an "or". "4 == 2 + 2 and go >> home" is verging on being Doge. >> >> -- John >> >> >> On Mar 20, 2014, at 2:46 PM, Stefan Karpinski >> <ste...@karpinski.org<javascript:>> >> wrote: >> >> I always just read them like this: >> >> cond "and" do_something >> cond "or" do_something >> >> >> That seems like it reads pretty naturally to me. This is also one of the >> reasons I've occasionally brought up the idea of having "and" and "or" >> keywords. >> >> >> On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 5:27 PM, Leah Hanson <astri...@gmail.com<javascript:> >> > wrote: >> >>> I'm not so sure about i == 1 && do_stuff() being readable, but I think >>> it's better than do_stuff() if i==1. Every time I see i==1 && do_stuff(), I >>> have to stop and reason about what it's doing, but at least it isn't >>> tricky. With && either you can read it easily, or you see that something >>> weird is going on; with end of line if's, it's always this surprising thing >>> where you need to reconsider the preceding part of the line (which makes it >>> much more appealing for the person *writing* the code than the one >>> *reading* it. >>> >>> -- Leah >>> >>> >>> On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 4:16 PM, Jacob Quinn >>> <quinn....@gmail.com<javascript:> >>> > wrote: >>> >>>> I agree. I've never liked python's do_stuff() if i == 1. It's too >>>> disconcerting to parse what's going on and then have to backtrack and >>>> think >>>> about the condition that came afterwards. I've found the i == 1 && >>>> do_stuff() has become really natural after only using it a few times. >>>> >>>> -Jacob >>>> >>>> >>>> On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 5:13 PM, Ivar Nesje <iva...@gmail.com<javascript:> >>>> > wrote: >>>> >>>>> The suffix `if` and `unless` is the reason I never managed to become >>>>> literate in Ruby. Maybe it is just a matter of time and experience, but I >>>>> read code lines from left to right, and my mental read buffer is not long >>>>> enough to see the `if` that someone hid at the end of the line. >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >> >> >
