the := operator (affectation

[Richard Gaskin]

Eric Chatonet wrote:
> Hi Richard,
> 
> Don't think it's a problem of religion :-)

Agreed, that was an imprecise choice on my part.
But I do think at the hear of things it's a philosophical issue.


> Or you want to maintain an "every day" language or you want to allow  
> specialists languages come in.
> As for me I don't mind : I use both.

Precisely.  xTalk is big enough for both, so maybe we can be as
big as the language.

It's hard to get less "xTalk-like" than RegEx, but those who use it seem 
to like it and those who don't aren't bothered by its availability.

I don't teach RegEx to newcomers, but I sure wouldn't advocate
removing it either.

I'll venture to suggest that if Raney had subjected the decision to 
include RegEx to this sort of discussion it might well not be in the 
language.  Fortunately he actted as a benign dictator and just went 
ahead and put it in after enough folks had asked for it.  It provides 
tremendous convenience over traditional xTalk alternatives, and does no 
harm if not used.

I don't really care all that much whether RunRev adds an OPTION for 
simpler assignment syntax to make it easier to use for folks experienced 
in nearly any other language to pick up Transcript.  And I don't care 
that much which operator is used so long as it isn't "==" since C 
programmers already lose millions each year tracking down bugs related 
to mistyping it.

But I do believe it may be useful to keep an open mind when a 
significant percentage of newcomers are asking for the same thing.  If 
there's a way to maintain traditional methods while making a lot of new 
people happy I see no harm in that, and much good.

If Transcript is to grow we have to expect that from time to time there 
will be additions to the language which represent whole new ways of 
working with it.  As with RegEx, sometimes even radical departure from 
traditions can be useful.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
  ___________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com       http://www.FourthWorld.com