On 09/05/2018 21:44, Sean Conner wrote:
It was thus said that the Great Lorenzo Donati once stated:I wouldn't mind if Lua allowed an optional syntax for specifying what "end" ends; optional but enforced if used, i.e. an error would be issued if (say) "end for" didn't end a for structure. I can't say if it would be too heavy for the compiler or if a nice syntax could be devised that didn't render the grammar too complicated For example: end for (ambiguous) vs. end for; vs. end ---for (semantic comments?) vs. end ::for:: (fake label? ambiguous) vs. <choose your poison!>Here are some other options: function() ... endfunction if ... then ... endif while ... do ... endwhile for ... do ... endfor do ... enddo -- hmm ... Okay ... function() ... noitcnuf if ... then ... fi while ... do ... elihw for ... do ... rof do ... od --- hmm ... The do keyword is problematic. Several constructs use it, but it can be used on its own to intruduce a new lexical scope. In my own code, I don't think I've ever used a semicolon. -spc
Interesting POVs.I've never been a fan of languages that use reversing the keywords. They make my "internal linguistic processor" go poof! and slow me down to a crawl ( "'fi'?!? What the heck is 'fi'?!?" :-). Although new keywords would fit the bill, I'd prefer something optional and more "minimalist". In throwaway script I rarely bother to mark end of scopes (even if quite lengthy), since I know I wouldn't be maintaining that code beyond its initial purpose. So a plain "end" to end all scopes is good and short (and in general you will have that verbose "LaTeX environment feeling" with begin{myenv}/end{myenv} which is tedious). The headaches begin when I have an "old" (maybe 5 years) 1kLOC script or, worse still, a 1kLOC+ library module where I put some "clever" algorithm which once in a while needs some polishing or fixing (in the last couple of years I did very little Lua coding, although I run Lua scripts almost daily, since I have automated many common tasks using scripts). In this case having a way to mark scope ends that is enforced by the compiler could be very nice.
Cheers! -- Lorenzo