> print "-------" # must read the next line to > # figure out if new line is statement terminator or not > if $condition";
Yes, let's expand that example, and assume the "semicolons optional where obvious" proposal. sub foo { print "abcde" if $condition { print "fghij" } } Is this sub foo { # Conditionally print. print "abcde" if $condition; return sub { # closure, see A4 print "fghij"; }; } or is it sub foo { print "abcde"; # Always print. if $condition { # Optionally print fghij right here. print "fghij"; } return; # No return value. } ? See the problem? Optional semicolons mean that something else has to take up the syntactic slack, in this case extra keywords or indentation. Personally, as a Perl programmer, I *like* semicolons. They are the programming equivalent of the end-of-phrase markers you get in music to tell your brain to take a breath. -- Debbie Pickett http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~debbiep [EMAIL PROTECTED] "You gotta bat your eyes - like this." - _The Little Mermaid_