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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