From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: weis Received: (from weis@localhost) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) id SAA06559 for caml-redistribution; Mon, 6 Sep 1999 18:18:37 +0200 (MET DST) Received: from nez-perce.inria.fr (nez-perce.inria.fr [192.93.2.78]) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) with ESMTP id UAA09806 for ; Sat, 4 Sep 1999 20:52:23 +0200 (MET DST) Received: from iggy.triode.net.au (iggy.triode.net.au [203.63.235.1]) by nez-perce.inria.fr (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id UAA17356 for ; Sat, 4 Sep 1999 20:52:19 +0200 (MET DST) Received: from egret (pm1-20.triode.net.au [203.63.235.36]) by iggy.triode.net.au (8.9.3/8.8.8) with SMTP id EAA15537; Sun, 5 Sep 1999 04:45:17 +1000 Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.19990903172837.00970c60@mail.triode.net.au> X-Sender: skaller@mail.triode.net.au X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.6 (32) Date: Fri, 03 Sep 1999 17:28:37 +1000 To: "Stefan Monnier" , caml-list@inria.fr From: John Skaller Subject: Re: convincing management to switch to Ocaml In-Reply-To: <5lwvubixh8.fsf@tequila.cs.yale.edu> References: <37C661C2.D374D8F9@ps.uni-sb.de> <199908300802.KAA15269@pauillac.inria.fr> <3.0.6.32.19990831053557.0096ea40@mail.triode.net.au> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: weis At 15:03 31/08/99 -0400, Stefan Monnier wrote: >Caml (like SML and Pascal and C and ...) has taken the point of view >that begin/end entities should not be made mandatory if they are >unambiguously unneeded. I can only agree with that point of view: >why should I say > > if a then (1) else (2) > >? Why not: if a then q else 2 fi >You could also try to rely on your programming environment to >help you. I do. (But I'm using Vim :-) >> (fun x -> print_endline ..) >> is ugly compared to: >> begin fun x -> print_endline .. end > >Aesthetics is in the eye of the beholder. This is very true, and a fundamental problem for publishing. Intent is important too: what works fine on my screen is not quite the same as what looks good on paper. >> but the ideal would be >> fun x is print_endline .. efun > >Plop! Yet another reserved keyword! .. which is not good, I agree. >Syntax is one of those things that you just can't get right. There is some truth in that, however, many would claim that, for example, the syntax of C++ or Perl, compared with say Python, is indeed superior. ------------------------------------------------------- John Skaller email: skaller@maxtal.com.au http://www.maxtal.com.au/~skaller phone: 61-2-96600850 snail: 10/1 Toxteth Rd, Glebe NSW 2037, Australia