> > I have many other thoughts for small improvements like this.
On this: 1. Comments on poor error messages are always welcome, since top quality error messages is an explicit goal for Elm 2. Bug reports are always welcome, so long as they are not already documented, and you have a minimal example: http://sscce.org/ 3. Changes to the language/APIs can be okay, but walk more carefully here: * What actual code have you written, that is bad without your suggestion? What are you trying to do that can't get done? * Every suggestion has disadvantages. What are yours? Have you thought about them? * Has this been discussed before on the mailing list or on GitHub? * Is the change worth the hassle? This is particularly relevant for minor syntax changes, which break a bunch of existing code. Examples of poor proposals, that we often see, are: * Can we have monads/GADTs/fancy types/etc? (already proposed a ton) * Can we have "where" clauses like Haskell? (already proposed a ton) * Can we allow for assignment/mutation with variables? (goes against main Elm principle of no side effects) * Can you make the synax more like JavaScript and less like Haskell? (would break all code) On Mon, Jul 11, 2016 at 2:41 PM, John Bugner <[email protected]> wrote: > If you have taken the time to learn Elm to a level where you start to >> understand its core values >> > I think I'm already at that point. I like that Elm values simplicity and > clarity, even if it means bucking the current convention. For example, I > think switching from the Haskellian keywords 'data' and 'type' to the more > obvious keywords 'type' and 'type alias' was a move in the right direction. > Talking about Haskell, I've explained to people before that 'data' defines > a type and 'type' defines an alias, and it always confused them a little. > ("Why doesn't 'type' just define a type?" they say.) Sure, it's too late to > change it in Haskell now, but at least Elm got it right! > > I like that Evan has put so much effort into making the compiler give > useful descriptions of errors and how to resolve them. But, I ran into this > unhelpful error message the other day: > > I need whitespace, but got stuck on what looks like a new declaration. You > are > either missing some stuff in the declaration above or just need to add some > spaces here: > > 3| import ModuleToImport > ^ > I am looking for one of the following things: > > whitespace > > > But what caused the error? Not the lack of whitespace! I just forgot to > add an 'exposing' clause to 'module' declaration. Sure, the error says "You > are > either missing some stuff in the declaration above", but it mentions > needing whitespace three times, and needing an 'exposing' clause zero > times. I could see a newbie to Elm getting confused and stuck on this error > because of the unhelpful error message. I admit though that I'm not > familiar with Elm's compiler, so I don't know how easy or hard it would be > to change the error message, and what other situations it would affect. > > I have many other thoughts for small improvements like this. Should I > simply make a new thread that lists them all? I fear a bit that people > will think that I'm just splitting many petty hairs though. > > regarding (2) if one creates a project that follows the [elm packages > guidelines](http://package.elm-lang.org/help/design-guidelines) all they > have to do is just publish it and wait a little bit for the caches of the > website to refresh. > After publishing a package, you are able to use it (install it with > elm-package) but it take a little bit of time until it is listed as a valid > package. > > Also, concerning (2), > https://github.com/elm-lang/elm-package/blob/master/README.md#publishing-packages > <https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Felm-lang%2Felm-package%2Fblob%2Fmaster%2FREADME.md%23publishing-packages&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGMkDu9pPtmnqdtUHLMF0koHphlTA> > > > Thank you, I will read those pages and try it out. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Elm Discuss" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Elm Discuss" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
