I moved to Ruby about six months ago so I'm weak on history and
community context. I've searched the Talk and Core Archives (and done
some Googling) and haven't found anything relevant to a question which
has been on my mind recently.
NB: I am not interested in a greater [pointless flame-bait] argument
about how Ruby compares to Python or any other language so you can leave
your flame-retardant pants in the other room.
···
---
I am interested if the Ruby community has ever had a conversation about
what whitespace interpretation could do for clarity and readability in
the language. My guess is that his idea HAS already been raised, and
discussed, and rejected. Can anyone provide references to such discussions?
If not, here's a brief sample of what I'm talking about:
Current:
def MyClass
def do_stuff @my_array.each { |elt| puts elt }
end
def do_stuff_foo @my_array.each do |elt|
puts elt.foo
end
end
end
Proposed:
def MyClass
def do_stuff @my_array.each { |elt| puts elt }
def do_stuff_foo @my_array.each do |elt|
puts elt.foo
---
I recognize that this would represent a huge and controversial breaking
change, and I also recognize that the only way to know for sure is to
try it in a fork and see what happens (easier said than done) but the
merits and demerits of whitespace dependence, esp. relative to Ruby
specifically, seems like an intriguing topic.
Looking forward to lots of reading!
Cheers,
-Chris
On Mon, May 12, 2014 at 10:04 AM, Chris Tonkinson <chris@masterbran.ch>wrote:
I moved to Ruby about six months ago so I'm weak on history and
community context. I've searched the Talk and Core Archives (and done
some Googling) and haven't found anything relevant to a question which
has been on my mind recently.
NB: I am not interested in a greater [pointless flame-bait] argument
about how Ruby compares to Python or any other language so you can leave
your flame-retardant pants in the other room.
---
I am interested if the Ruby community has ever had a conversation about
what whitespace interpretation could do for clarity and readability in
the language. My guess is that his idea HAS already been raised, and
discussed, and rejected. Can anyone provide references to such discussions?
If not, here's a brief sample of what I'm talking about:
Current:
def MyClass
def do_stuff @my_array.each { |elt| puts elt }
end
def do_stuff_foo @my_array.each do |elt|
puts elt.foo
end
end
end
Proposed:
def MyClass
def do_stuff @my_array.each { |elt| puts elt }
def do_stuff_foo @my_array.each do |elt|
puts elt.foo
---
I recognize that this would represent a huge and controversial breaking
change, and I also recognize that the only way to know for sure is to
try it in a fork and see what happens (easier said than done) but the
merits and demerits of whitespace dependence, esp. relative to Ruby
specifically, seems like an intriguing topic.
Looking forward to lots of reading!
Cheers,
-Chris
NB: I am not interested in a greater [pointless flame-bait] argument
about how Ruby compares to Python or any other language so you can leave
your flame-retardant pants in the other room.
Mah. You put your finger square on the #1 reason why I found Python
unusable - even before Ruby was created. How could this sort of
comparison ever hope to be escaped?
If you are happy about having a mistaken, hardly detectable, whitespace
deletion or insertion deeply change the semantics of your code,
Python is there at your service. Luckily with Ruby I do not run that
risk.
Carlo
···
Subject: Whitespace dependence - old topic?
Date: Mon 12 May 14 01:04:41PM -0400
--
* Se la Strada e la sua Virtu' non fossero state messe da parte,
* K * Carlo E. Prelz - fluido@fluido.as che bisogno ci sarebbe
* di parlare tanto di amore e di rettitudine? (Chuang-Tzu)