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bear wrote:
At this point I have only one question: For a rank-5 array, why #5A(...) instead of #A5(...)?
Maybe #A5 is marginally better, but I think compatibility with the prior art of Common Lisp argues for #5A. That's not an overwheming argument, but (I think) tips the scales in favor of #5A. More technical argument: What happens with a rank-0 array? In APL this is equivalent to a scalar, and in any case a rank-0 array has a single element. Given the choice between #A0XXX and #0AXXX, the latter is better since the former leads to ambiguities.
I'm thinking about parsers here, where it's easier on everybody if tokens differ as soon as possible.
A (non-human) parser handles either just fine - except for the degenerate rank-0 case. -- --Per Bothner per@xxxxxxxxxxx http://per.bothner.com/