The prefix symbol

[Lawrence Kesteloot]

Okay so this is 2011. Can we use the Unicode lambda symbol? Of course
also support some digraph, like ,\

IDEs would adapt instantly, as would window-based editors like gvim.
Terminal text editors might have problems. Then there are possible
problems with source file encoding ambiguity (when not specified
explicitly).

So yeah there would be a bunch of problems, but if we could solve
them, how *cool* would that be?

Lawrence



On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 8:27 PM, maurizio cimadamore
<maurizio.cimadamore at oracle.com> wrote:
> On 21/06/2011 17:47, Pavel Minaev wrote:
>> Isn't this only true for statement lambdas? What about Strawman
>> expression syntax, which doesn't have ')' '{'?
> I was assuming a simplified version of Strawman (that has been discussed
> in this mailing list) in which both statements and expressions have the
> '{' '}'.
>
> Maurizio
>>
>> Either way, it seems that it would require infinite lookahead to parse?
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 9:18 AM, Maurizio Cimadamore
>> <maurizio.cimadamore at oracle.com
>> <mailto:maurizio.cimadamore at oracle.com>> wrote:
>>
>>     On 21/06/11 17:14, Sam Pullara wrote:
>>     > Both the $ and _ are valid method names so this would likely not
>>     work.
>>     This wouldn't be much of a problem, as the Strawman syntax cannot
>>     possibly be confused with a method call - the compiler would need to
>>     look for the 'special' token sequence ')' '{' after the '_' or '$'.
>>
>>     Maurizio
>>     > Sam
>>     >
>>     > On Jun 21, 2011, at 2:57 AM, Maurizio Cimadamore wrote:
>>     >
>>     >> On 21/06/11 10:42, Milos Nikic wrote:
>>     >>> Well since you are mentioning, i think it is not  unreasonable
>>     to say that
>>     >>> $ could be on this list too.
>>     >>> $ is not very different than #, in that java web developers
>>     use # for jsf
>>     >>> based expressions, and $ for jsp ones.
>>     >>>
>>     >>> $(x) { return x + 1; }
>>     >>> ${x ->   x + 1}
>>     >> What about '_' as in:
>>     >>
>>     >> _(x) { return x + 1; }
>>     >>
>>     >>
>>     >> It's less intrusive than # and it has that 'unnamed' feeling that I
>>     >> think fits well in this case...
>>     >>
>>     >> Maurizio
>>     >>> Regards,
>>     >>> Milos
>>     >>>
>>     >>> On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 11:35 AM, Stephen Colebourne
>>     >>> <scolebourne at joda.org <mailto:scolebourne at joda.org>>wrote:
>>     >>>
>>     >>>> Prefix character summary after 15 hours:
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> Use a #
>>     >>>>   #(x) { return x + 1; }
>>     >>>>   #{x ->   x + 1}
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> Use a ^
>>     >>>>   ^(x) { return x + 1; }
>>     >>>>   ^{x ->   x + 1}
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> Use a \ (from another thread)
>>     >>>>   \(x) { return x + 1; }
>>     >>>>   \{x ->   x + 1}
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> (I'm not listing keywords that have been suggested elsewhere)
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> Issues around typing the various characters on different
>>     keyboards
>>     >>>> have been raised.
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> Once again, does anyone have a character they prefer more
>>     than one of
>>     >>>> the three above that they want to be considered? Remember,
>>     this isn't
>>     >>>> a vote, or a discussion thread, but a "gathering the options"
>>     thread.
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> Stephen
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> On 20 June 2011 18:54, Stephen
>>     Colebourne<scolebourne at joda.org <mailto:scolebourne at joda.org>>
>>     wrote:
>>     >>>>> The four syntax families split into two types, those with a
>>     prefix
>>     >>>>> symbol and those without.
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>> The prefix symbol is commonly mentioned as #:
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>> #(x) { return x + 1; }
>>     >>>>> #{x ->   x + 1}
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>> *** If you have a strong desire to see any symbol other than #
>>     >>>>> considered then please respond to this thread. ***
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>> - Your reply MUST specify the symbol
>>     >>>>> - Your reply MUST give a brief justification
>>     >>>>> - Your reply MUST repeat the two examples above using your
>>     preferred
>>     >>>> symbol
>>     >>>>> - You SHOULD try to ensure that your alternate symbol choice
>>     would
>>     >>>>> parse acceptably
>>     >>>>> - You MAY reply to suggest a keyword, however you should
>>     expect that
>>     >>>>> to be rejected
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>> Thread rules:
>>     >>>>> - Only reply if you prefer your alternate symbol to #
>>     >>>>> - To discuss something, change the thread title
>>     >>>>> - Don't reply just to say "I don't want a prefix symbol"
>>     >>>>> - Responding with a symbol suggestion doesn't preclude your
>>     first
>>     >>>>> choice actually being "no prefix symbol"
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>> For example, my preferred choice of prefix symbol is #, thus
>>     I should
>>     >>>>> not respond to this thread!
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>> Stephen
>>     >>>>> (this is an experiment to see if we can focus on one particular
>>     >>>>> discussion element at a time)
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>
>>
>>
>>
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