From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
To: Tom DL <tom_dl@hotmail.com>
Cc: 70392-done@debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#70392: 29.3; null info page is unclear
Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2024 14:53:18 +0300 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <86le5elu4x.fsf@gnu.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <VI1P194MB2166F15F2124CB6BEDC35E5CEE092@VI1P194MB2166.EURP194.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM> (message from Tom DL on Mon, 15 Apr 2024 07:28:59 +0000)
> From: Tom DL <tom_dl@hotmail.com>
> Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2024 07:28:59 +0000
>
> …as a matter of clarity we use null when object is considered a list and
> not when it is considered a truth value…
>
> But my understanding is that we also use null when object is considered
> a non-boolean value. E.g. if `foo` could be `red` `green` or `nil` then
> `foo` is neither a list nor a truth value. The info page made me think I
> should use `not` rather than `null`, but upon further research, it looks
> like `null` is fine for checking for `nil` when `nil` isn't used to
> represent falsity.
'null' is fine here, but the manual describes this in a section about
lists, so that's why it contrasts between lists and booleans.
> I would suggested rewording the info page to read as so:
>
> …as a matter of clarity we use null when object is considered a list or
> other non-boolean value. We use not when object is considered a boolean
> value…
>
> It may also be helpful to change the section on `not` in "Constructs for
> Combining Conditions":
>
> …we recommend using the name null if you are testing for an empty list
> or other non-boolean nil.
Thanks, I clarified the wording in these two cases, and I'm therefore
closing this bug.
prev parent reply other threads:[~2024-04-15 11:53 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 2+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2024-04-15 7:28 bug#70392: 29.3; null info page is unclear Tom DL
2024-04-15 11:53 ` Eli Zaretskii [this message]
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