Transcript and Dot Notation

[Rob Cozens]

Hi all--except Mr. X     :{(

> So if Transcript does go object-oriented -- and I hope and believe it
> will, though it may be an alternative fork rather than a forced switch
> -- I hope it *does* in fact adopt dot notation so that all of us who
> have trained our brains to think in those terms when we create and
> program with objects will e comfortable doing so.
>
>

We have had other conversations along this line, and the thing I find 
most interesting is that some of the people who readily extoll the 
virtues of Xtalk syntax also take the lead in suggesting that RRLtd use 
existing syntax from some other language to implement new features.

Dan wants dot notation, Richard has proposed Visual Basic syntax, some 
want C notation, etc.

I want Xtalk syntax.  I want my Transcript scripts to read like a 
novel; not a mathematical formula.  And I believe it is possible.

Did Winkler & Atkinson grab pieces of this syntax and that syntax from 
other platforms when they created HyperTalk?  My answer: "no, they 
created a logically integrated syntax that performed most of the same 
functions as FORTRAN, Basic, Pascal, C, etc. in a more readable and 
efficient syntax".

Suppose someone reviewed all existing programming languages, determined 
which has the "best" syntax for each operation, and created a language 
that combined them.  Would the result be the world's most efficient 
language or an illogical nightmare?

Additionally, simply incorporating existing syntax from another 
language dooms Transcript to "same-old, same-old" status and foregoes 
an opportunity to make it different & better than the competition.  I 
think Dan & Richard are among the best and brightest among us, and if 
they were motivated they (and the rest of us) could integrate the 
features they desire into an Xtalk syntax that fits logically into 
Transcript.

Sure it's harder than lobbying RRLtd to adopt a syntax one already 
knows; but the results, IMFO, are worth the extra effort.

Rob Cozens
CCW, Serendipity Software Company

"And I, which was two fooles, do so grow three;
Who are a little wise, the best fooles bee."

from "The Triple Foole" by John Donne (1572-1631)