Don't amputate numberFormat (was: affecting array keys???)

[Mike Kerner]

I tend to agree.  There is nothing about "format" that is intuitive to the
non-initiated.

On Fri, Apr 21, 2017 at 8:51 PM, Curry Kenworthy via use-livecode <
use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:

> Mark Waddingham:
> > I think this is perhaps more evidence that 'numberFormat'
> > should probably be deprecated - or at least marked as
> > 'present for HyperCard compatibility only and shouldn't
> > be used in new code'.
>
> I emphatically disagree.
>
> There's nothing wrong with numberFormat as a binary to text option. On the
> contrary, it's a splendid way to present the formatting to users. The array
> key example is an outlier case to watch out for, but it's also easy to use
> an alternate formatting option or careful coding for those rare cases.
>
> The numberFormat is very easy to read and clean, similar to formatting
> systems used by Excel and others. (Naturally SpreadLib uses it too.) People
> understand the representation intuitively, and it's also extremely popular.
>
> It provides a consistent shortcut compared to using a function several
> times, for clean code with one statement to edit, so it is compatible with
> KISS philosophy.
>
> I prefer numberFormat for most tasks and would detest having it
> deprecated. Obviously the show must go on when someone concatenates text
> with a number, so a default behavior would have to be in place for that
> regardless (unless LC would throw an error), but we would lose the
> customizable aspect. LiveCode will be disfigured if we hack off all the
> pleasant parts.
>
> It will also be less "English-like" than before if we remove the wrong
> parts. I've been working on materials for my new fluency method for
> teaching LiveCode's syntax, based on proven language learning methods and
> enhanced with my own additional techniques geared to CS and LC.
>
> This is such a readable sentence to teach and use:
>
> set the numberformat to "0.00"
>
> Although I don't have time to be as vocal an advocate as some others here
> on LC trends and directions, there's so much to be said on the subject of
> LC's English-like language, how to optimize learning and coding around it,
> and what the result offers compared to other computing languages. (But I'll
> say most of that in my upcoming book rather than here on the list.)
>
> I sure don't intend to teach the best parts of LC as deprecated or
> denigrated, so I hope the language stays intact without self-mutilation. :)
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Curry K.
>
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