1. Re: we need official libs : Swap
- Posted by Roderick Jackson <rjackson at CSIWEB.COM>
Jul 20, 1999
-
Last edited Jul 21, 1999
Ralf Nieuwenhuijsen wrote:
>> (One might suggest that theoretically we should be able to close our eyes
>to
>> the implementation, but that's just not possible with this
>construct--which
>> says something by itself. There's no way of knowing how
>>
>> {s[i], s[j]} = my_func ()
>>
>> evaluates when i=j without knowing how it's implemented.)
>
>Interesting. You can code confusingly with theoretical improvements.
>I can even do it with any feature of euphoria already ... Should we start
>removing all those features ?
>
>I don't care how the above is handled. Illegal, legal ( s[i/j] becomes 2nd
>element as if it was written out. )
Ralf, that's part of the problem. Euphoria was designed to be a wholistic
programming language. It was meant to be consistent, not a collection of
unrelated ideas and constructs. You can't continue with that paradigm by
just throwing in new things to ease one particular situation without
caring about what it leads to.
<snip>
>Thirdly, although, you may have been taught differently, as most. Just
>because something is there and others use it, doesn't mean you have to use
>it.
Yes, the "if you don't like it, don't use it" argument. It's not credible.
>Yes, off course, did you understand every Euphoria program without even
>reading the documentation ? Get real.
>Most parts of Euphoria are quite confusing in the beginning.
<snip>
????
Perhaps I'm in the minority here, but I had no difficulty learning the
basics of Euphoria. The operation of certain *functions* (routine_id comes
to mind) held me back for a while, but Euphoria itself, even multiplying
sequences by sequences, was IMMEDIATELY very clear, very elegant, and very
obvious in it's strength and power.
WHY was this the case? Because of consistency. There were a handful of
key rules, and a handful of key concepts and that was it. Virtually
everything from that derived logically from those keys. This doesn't just
make the language easier to learn... it makes it easier to USE, day in and
day out, whether whipping up a quick program, or trying to decode someone
else's library.
Please forgive me if I'm against anything I feel takes away from that
overall consistency, even if it's as simple as "x += 1".
Rod
