synonyms

[Mark Wieder]

On 06/26/2017 03:55 AM, Mark Waddingham via use-livecode wrote:

> I think it is probably generally true that the more consistent and 
> simpler the language is, the easier it is to learn.

...and I would follow that with the (long-running by now) argument that 
synonyms provide for an ease-of-use facility in coding and therefore a 
simpler approach to using the language. For the trivial case here, if I 
can't remember whether the language supports "is" or "=" for variable 
assignments, I can use one or the other without having to interrupt my 
train of thought to look it up in the dictionary/guides.

One of LiveCode's strengths is the fact that there are many possible 
solutions to a given problem, and the xtalk language allows much 
flexibility in solving it. For a problem placed before any three coders, 
you will find at least four different solutions. Limiting the language 
limits the ways in which a problem may be thought of - that's the basis 
of the linguistic relativism, and it applies to programming languages as 
well as to natural languages.

-- 
  Mark Wieder
  ahsoftware at gmail.com