From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: (from weis@localhost) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.6.10/8.6.6) id KAA29659 for caml-redistribution; Thu, 25 Jul 1996 10:22:08 +0200 Received: from concorde.inria.fr (concorde.inria.fr [192.93.2.39]) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.6.10/8.6.6) with ESMTP id EAA28817 for ; Thu, 25 Jul 1996 04:13:02 +0200 Received: from kronstadt.rahul.net (kronstadt.rahul.net [204.95.70.128]) by concorde.inria.fr (8.7.1/8.7.1) with ESMTP id EAA19313 for ; Thu, 25 Jul 1996 04:12:58 +0200 (MET DST) Received: (from itz@localhost) by kronstadt.rahul.net (8.7.5/8.7.3) id TAA04865; Wed, 24 Jul 1996 19:12:38 -0700 Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 19:12:38 -0700 Message-Id: <199607250212.TAA04865@kronstadt.rahul.net> From: Ian T Zimmerman To: caml-list@pauillac.inria.fr In-reply-to: christo@nextsolution.co.jp's message of Wed, 24 Jul 1996 18:53:44 +0900 Subject: Re: Language improvements (?) References: <199607240844.KAA21840@pauillac.inria.fr> <9607240953.AA00610@sparc3.nextsolution.co.jp> Sender: weis In article <9607240953.AA00610@sparc3.nextsolution.co.jp> christo@nextsolution.co.jp (Frank Christoph) writes: > No, although that would be nice too. :) I mean an indentation > convention for lexical scoping. For example, instead of > if x = y then (do_a; if x = z then do_b) else do_the_other_thing > > write: > > if x = y then do_a; > if x = z then do_b > else do_the_other_thing > > Here the lexical analyzer can determine that the else-clause belongs > to the first "if" because the position of the "else" is to the left > of the second "if" (off-side) and thus must belong to an outer > scope. Hmm, I sincerely hope the Caml team will _not_ follow this suggestion, or at the very least leaves an escape in the form of a compiler switch for those of us who dislike it. It is a religious issue, and I see little point in repating the arguments made many times before in comp.compilers, among other places. I recognize the points of the other side, but this would be a fundamental change in how the language `looks and feels' and so I think prudence should prevail and scoping by keywords should be preserved. -- +-------------------------------------------+ I When the dead are left to bury the dead, I I the living remain alone. Arthur Koestler I +-------------------------------------------+