From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
Message-Id: <200302262126.h1QLQYO23923@fine1008.math.princeton.edu>
To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu
Subject: Re: [9fans] A proposal regarding # in bind
From: John Stalker <stalker@Math.Princeton.EDU>
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 16:26:34 -0500
Topicbox-Message-UUID: 734971e4-eacb-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025

In some sense # has to be a special case.  The / hierarchy is (potentially)
different for each process.  The # hierarchy is not.  You need a global
namespace from which to choose what to include in a local namespace.  At least
you do if you want children to be able to bind things which were not in their
parents' name spaces.  /ur or variants thereof in some sense hide a copy of
the global namespace inside the local one.  Whether that's a good thing or a
bad thing is partially a matter of aesthetics.  Since I actually like ed(1)
my opinion in questions of aesthetics should be regarded as worthless.
--
John Stalker
Department of Mathematics
Princeton University
(609)258-6469