On Wed, Jun 12, 2002 at 12:36:45AM +0000, Derek M Jones wrote: > Occam is the only other language I know that has this property. > I suspect it derives more from mathematicians delight in minimalism > than good language design practice.
The popular scripting language Python (http://www.python.org) uses indentation as the primary mechanism for structuring code. The language was originally designed as a first teaching language in both a school and adult education context, as part of the "Computer Programming for Everybody" project. However, I don't know what (if any) theoretical work this design decision was based on. On a slightly tangential note, my experience is that this feature of Python polarises people; they either love it (which I do) or wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. (Also, it might be worth noting that Makefiles have a similar, although far less sophisticated, way of delimiting blocks: any line beginning with a tab is "contained" by the latest preceding line that isn't preceded by a tab.) -- Rob Hague <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rgh22 "Tim, about the wasps. Seriously, NO." - Automatic footer for [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] unsubscribe discuss To join the announcements list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe announce To receive a help file, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] help This list is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40ppig.org/ If you have any problems or questions, please mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
