I was reading an article about Perl 6, I forget which one, and it happened to
mention that code can be interpolated inside double quoted strings. That's
one thing, my concern is with the selected syntax.
say "foo { 1+1 }"; # "foo 2"
The {...} construct seems far too common one in normal text to be given
special meaning. One data point is to do a google code search for "{ in Perl
5. It comes up with quite a lot.
http://www.google.com/codesearch?hl=en&lr=&q=%5C%22%5C%7B+lang%3Aperl&btnG=Search
Another concern is embedded YAML.
$yaml = "{ $key: 42 }"; # syntax error in Perl 6
Finally, it chokes on unbalanced braces adding another trap for users.
I'm concerned this will lead to a lot of unsightly backwhacking or having to
be more careful about what type of string you're using.
What about ${} and @{} instead? ${} would execute in scalar context and @{}
in list. They're just cleaned up versions of the successful, but ugly, Perl 5
idioms ${\(...)} and @{[...]} idioms. They make use of an existing
interpolated character so there's no additional load on the programmer.
${} and @{} already have interpolated meanings in Perl 5 but not in Perl 6.
--
...they shared one last kiss that left a bitter yet sweet taste in her
mouth--kind of like throwing up after eating a junior mint.
-- Dishonorable Mention, 2005 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest
by Tami Farmer
