Re: Emacs regexp scan (Sep 29)

[Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu>]

On 10/5/19 3:59 AM, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
> The text in the manual says:
> 
>    To include a ‘-’, write ‘-’ as the first or last character of the
>    character alternative, or as the upper bound of a range.

That quote is from an older version of the manual, which was amended after some 
discussion on this very point. The manual now distinguishes more carefully 
between what's recommended, and what's valid even though it may cause confusion. 
The manual now recommends putting literal '-' at the end and says that putting 
it elsewhere is not the best style even when it is valid.

I take your point about not modifying Emacs just for the fun of it. However, 
when bugs are being fixed, it's OK if the person doing the fix takes the 
opportunity to make nearby code clearer, as the added clarity can increase the 
probability of the fix being correct and can simplify later maintenance. 
Although one can go overboard in the process and it's sometimes better to leave 
code alone even when it is confusing, generally speaking we should delegate 
these minor decisions to whoever's actually doing the work, in order to 
encourage bug-fixers rather than throw cold water on them.