Re: [stack] Advantages of cat, joy ..?

On Feb 20, 2009, at 1:00 PM, Joe Bowbeer wrote:

> As the old saying goes: in matters of taste, there's no argument.

True, but I don't think syntax is a "matter of taste" the same way raw  
eel is. Different syntaxes have different qualities. For example,  
Scheme has a syntax that is well-suited to meta-programming and  
structural editing. Joy's syntax makes algebraic manipulation very  
easy. Such qualities aren't subjective or matters of taste.

Of course, some elements of syntax are subjective. My concern though  
is that it's too easy to throw out objectively useful things because  
someone said "ewww" upon first seeing them.

- John