Re: [stack] Syntax for combinators

On 2/5/07 12:23 AM, "James Hague" <[email protected]> wrote:

> [..]
>> >The ifte combinator immediately removes the three quotations, and all other
>> >combinators do the same. Could one have a different notation?
> 
> The Forth-like notation you suggest is a step-backwards.  This is coming
> from someone who has written a lot of Forth :)

Firstly, I wasn¹t actually suggesting it, I was merely listing various
alternatives.
Is it a step backwards? Maybe, but that can be a a good thing if one has
been led
up the garden path. I was really looking for a cost/benefit analysis of the
various
possible alternative notations. Then, when one has settled on one notation,
at
least one knows why it was chosen in preference to others. My own little
contribution
to the analysis was my usage statistic: 95% of programs could be written
with
a less permissive notation and be clearer. Are the 5% using the various
extras
worth the risks? It is safe rigidity versus freedom (to shoot oneself in the
foot).
I have tried not to make my preferences shine through.

  - Manfred



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