OpenEuphoria

Namespaces

• Posted by kbochert at ix.netcom.com Jun 24, 2001
• 596 views

-------Phoenix-Boundary-07081998-

My vote goes for the simple "include file as F" syntax which is simple to 
use and backward -compatible. However there are 2 fine points which don't 
seem to have been mentioned yet.

1) Namespaces should not be referenced with the dot operator! The dot 
operator is more or less standardized across languages to reference members 
of objects, structures and sometimes arrays. It is not necessary or 
desirable for Euphoria to buck this trend. In a similar way, the colon 
operator generally refers to namespaces (as in C++ or XML).
EX ------------
  include file.e as F
  ...
  F:x =3D 1	-- set the x defined in file.e to 1
---------------
 Euphoria may wish, someday, to use '.' for objects!  

2) Even when a file has been included 'as X', it should still be possible 
to reference its globals without decoration, as long as the reference does 
not conflict with another global.
EX 1------------
  include stack.e as ST
  ..
  a =3D ST:pop ()	-- call the pop function in stack.e
  b =3D pop ()		-- the only 'pop' is in stack.e, so it is called

EX 2--------
  include stack.e as ST
  function pop () --		local function

  b =3D pop()		-- local
  a =3D ST:pop()	-- must use 'ST:' to get to stack's version
------------
  The basic rule is that ':' is a scope resolution operator. Its use is 
only necessary where scope must be resolved. When it is not used, normal 
scope resolution takes place, (local, file, then global) and normal error 
messages are generated.

Karl Bochert

-------Phoenix-Boundary-07081998---