Anyway, let me start by adding to the statistics: I very much like method <~ $obj and $arg ~> sub and I like support of Unicode aliases for operators as long as plain ascii versions remain available too.
Now the real subject.. has the issue of multiple statement modifiers already been settled? I saw some mention it wasn't going to be supported, but also mentions of how it would be useful; I can think of such a situation myself:
.method when MyClass given $obj; as alternative to: $obj.method if $obj.isa(MyClass);
except without duplicating $obj, which may be worthwhile if it's a longer expression. If multiple modifiers are really a no-no, then I think at least the conditionals (if, unless, when) could be made lowest-precedence right-associative infix operators, and leave the status of "statement modifier" for loops and topicalizers.
This would mean that the above would be valid, and also things like:
.. if .. if .. for ..; But that multiple nested loops would be illegal using modifiers and would require a real block. (which makes some sense, since it's hard to think of a construction where multiple loop-modifiers would be useful: if you have ... for @a for @b then you'd be unable to use the @b-element since $_ would be the loop var of the inner loop)
I also think this gives a nice symmetry of various operators that only differ in L2R/R2L and precedence (plus the ability to overload ofcourse):
$x and $y $y if $x $x or $y $y unless $x $x . $y $y <~ $x $x ( $y ) $y ~> $x
Which I personally think is a Good Thing: I like to structure my code to put the most important part of a statement on the left and exceptional cases and details on the right. Having multiple operators with different precedence (&&, and, if) also helps avoiding lots of parentheses, which I think is another Good Thing because they make code look cluttered. When I want visual grouping I prefer to use extra whitespace. Perhaps it's not as maintainable, but it is more readable imho.
Hmmm.. and I just realized.. is something like 'print while <>;' still available in perl 6? And if so, that means the while-loop would topicalize in this case? What would the criterium be for "this case"? (I hope not the kludge it is right now in perl 5 ;-)
-- Matthijs van Duin -- May the Forth be with you!
