[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Prefix, not postfix (poll)

This page is part of the web mail archives of SRFI 88 from before July 7th, 2015. The new archives for SRFI 88 contain all messages, not just those from before July 7th, 2015.




On Tue, 11 Apr 2006, Eli Barzilay wrote:

>On Apr 11, Ben Goetter wrote:
>> [...]
>> Syntax-rules should treat keywords as valid /identifier/s in a
>> production.  I am thinking of the ":" token in Scsh SRE syntax.
>
>Why?  Keywords are a new type, so they should be used as valid
>identifiers in syntax just like numbers, strings, and booleans.

Here's the thing; I don't think keywords express anything that
isn't expressed by an existing type.  Their value is in the
gray area of *limiting* what you can do with some set of symbols.
And the philosophical arguments around that are kinda murky -
especially in a language like scheme, which demonstrates
the power of *removing* such arbitrary limitations wherever
possible.

If we think that a variable being immutably bound to a
particular value, and un-shadowable with a variable of the
same name and different binding, is a good idea, then we
should be talking about the new ideas generally - immutable,
global and unshadowable bindings - not about a particular
application of them as keywords.

					Bear