An hour ago, Carl Eastlund wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 10:20 AM, Eli Barzilay <e...@barzilay.org> wrote:
> > Three minutes ago, Carl Eastlund wrote:
> >>
> >> The Racketish name would be #%main, wouldn't it?
> >
> > Yes. But the problem is that `#%foo' names are intended to be
> > things that you don't write in end-user code, only if you
> > implement a new language or change some fundamental thing. In
> > that respect, the `#%' feels like serving the same role as `__',
> > which feels dirty. (I'm also trying to imagine the first-time
> > user impression being told to define `#%main' vs `main' -- the
> > first looks like it leads to an impression of some perl-like
> > language...)
>
> Yeah, I agree completely, I was just looking for alternatives to
> MAIN. Now we need an alternative to both. What was wrong with just
> main, again? (Looking back... oh, you said not clashing with
> existing code.)
Yes. Unfortunately, reusing `main' means that current code that
current uses for it (to achieve two running modes) breaks.
> Well, we go in for verbose, self-explanatory names (e.g.
> current-command-line-arguments), how about the-main-program or
> start-program-here or something similar?
I really want to find something short. Not only to make it very easy
to remember, but also to minimize the transition step from things like
(printf "Hi, I'm a very quick script.\n")
to
(define (MAIN . _)
(printf "Look at me, I'm a more serious application now.\n"))
BTW, I also considered `run', but that's something that I've used in a
few places, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
[/me fires up a thesaurus.]
[/me gets frustrated.]
How about one of these:
- `start'
- `launch'
- `execute'
- `act'
- `invoke'
- `*main*'
?
The thing that makes `main' more appealing is that it's conventional,
and that it's more like "the default entry point". That's why I
included the `*main*' thing. Also, given that any of these could be
used in an existing file, maybe some extra punctuation is inevitable.
So maybe things like `main.', `<main>', or `main:'?
All of this makes me think that `MAIN' is better. Or maybe `Main'.
--
((lambda (x) (x x)) (lambda (x) (x x))) Eli Barzilay:
http://barzilay.org/ Maze is Life!
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