On Mon 10 Dec 2001 at 01:05PM +0100, Simon Wascher wrote: > Hello, > > I think the main topic here is about abc format philosophy. > > Laurie Griffiths: > > Why have these alternatives? They add nothing > > to the expressiveness of the language. > > To me a syntax should allow to write everything that does not harm its > integrity. > It is not the target to tell how a text must be written, but how it must > not be written. > Any expression a person wants to use should be legal as long as it does > not collide with the integrity of the syntax.
In short, why Occam's Razor instead of Occam's entire workshop of shaving instruments ? I think the answer is that you want people to actually write programs that will do things with abc. The more encrusted with options and strange cases a language becomes, the harder it is write a parser for it and the more likely that the parser will have bugs in at the end of it all. Also, the harder it becomes to add further encrustations at a later stage. James Allwright To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
