> 2.  almkglor: treat QUOTE-whitespace the same as the symbol 'quote.
> 
> 2.1.  Pros:
> 2.1.1.  Makes QUOTE etc. rules very very simple
> 2.2. Cons:
> 2.2.1.  The following syntax is no longer correct:
> 
> ..` let
> ......\
> ........,var ,val
> ......,expr
> 
> As it gets translated to (quasiquote let (((unquote var) (unquote
> val))) (unquote expr))

...
> However, it could be argued that this is actually *clearer* - but we
> do lose the vertical space, sadly.

I don't like this alternative. Quote, quasiquote, and so on are really common 
(especially quote!); creating situations where we have to have more blank lines 
& more indentation for a common case sounds user-unfriendly.

If you say:
'a b c
that maps, reasonably enough, to ('a b c).

But how can you quote the WHOLE list, if you already have it (a common text 
modification)?  Creating a new line, and having to re-indent, seems painful.  
The original SFRI had this as a special case; you can then say:
' a b c
which then maps to '(a b c) which is really (quote (a b c)).

Pros for '+space having a different meaning from no space:
* Makes it easy to quote existing lists (or quasiquote, or whatever).
* Consistent with SFRI.

Cons:
* Makes spec little longer
* Thus, slightly more work to implement (but not much)

We only need to implement this a few times, and we hope there will be a LOT of 
code that uses it.  I think making the spec longer, but the result easier to 
use, is worth it.  And staying consistent with the existing SFRI on this point 
sounds like a good idea, too.

--- David A. Wheeler

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