From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Rusi Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: if vs. when vs. and: style question Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2015 19:25:43 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: References: <87sicvwckx.fsf@wmi.amu.edu.pl> <87wq27yvqg.fsf@debian.uxu> <8d531e99-7260-4263-ac99-09c6871e2708@googlegroups.com> <87vbhq53lf.fsf@debian.uxu> <87a8z23p23.fsf@kuiper.lan.informatimago.com> <87lhilx0cf.fsf@debian.uxu> <87twx9360u.fsf@kuiper.lan.informatimago.com> <0d1d19ab-06e9-462d-8867-9a49b1e232d3@googlegroups.com> <87pp7x2jav.fsf@kuiper.lan.informatimago.com> <87d23s4nt4.fsf@debian.uxu> <7e8ddf8f-163a-4d16-9ce2-25b0cb3f35aa@googlegroups.com> <878uefdhkt.fsf@wanadoo.es> <80c1b614-ad00-48b1-96fd-546b9ba17011@default> NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1427682621 9050 80.91.229.3 (30 Mar 2015 02:30:21 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2015 02:30:21 +0000 (UTC) To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Mon Mar 30 04:30:20 2015 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1YcPT1-00060k-1S for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Mon, 30 Mar 2015 04:30:19 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:59005 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1YcPT0-0002Co-53 for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Sun, 29 Mar 2015 22:30:18 -0400 X-Received: by 10.66.139.130 with SMTP id qy2mr36001710pab.38.1427682343770; Sun, 29 Mar 2015 19:25:43 -0700 (PDT) X-Received: by 10.50.79.232 with SMTP id m8mr140894igx.5.1427682343735; Sun, 29 Mar 2015 19:25:43 -0700 (PDT) Original-Path: usenet.stanford.edu!h15no648277igd.0!news-out.google.com!q14ni2882ign.0!nntp.google.com!h15no648275igd.0!postnews.google.com!glegroupsg2000goo.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail Original-Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help In-Reply-To: Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: glegroupsg2000goo.googlegroups.com; posting-host=117.195.63.4; posting-account=mBpa7woAAAAGLEWUUKpmbxm-Quu5D8ui Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 117.195.63.4 User-Agent: G2/1.0 Injection-Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2015 02:25:43 +0000 Original-Xref: usenet.stanford.edu gnu.emacs.help:211155 X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:103436 Archived-At: On Monday, March 30, 2015 at 7:25:42 AM UTC+5:30, =C3=93scar Fuentes wrote: > Another issue is related to what Pascal Bourguignon mentions, and my > reply to Stefan: the abundance of symbols adds mental strain. > Furthermore, using shorter textual representations for objects makes the > code almost cryptic, moreso when such representations uses symbols taken > from a large pool. That's my experience and, IIRC, there are studies > that back that impression. One of the most fundamental DNAs of a programmer is what we may call 'batch-moding' Examples from more specialized to more universal: - preprocessing string search to get fancy algorithms like KMP - Use a compiler rather than an interpreter - Write a program (to do a computation) rather than do the computation (on pen-paper) The same principle applies to the wetware in the box atop our shoulders. So if you take Stefan's has_type env exp type vs =20 =CE=93 =E2=8A=A2 e : =CF=84=20 The first is ok and preferable to the second if its to be written once=20 (or a few times). As it becomes increasingly frequent the demand for (something like) the second will correspondingly increase. "Something like" because Stefan:=20 > Some of those letters/signs have meaning shared within a fairly large mat= hematical > community while others are much more specific to a specialized subfield. Here are TWO points that are separate and deserve orthogonalization 1. Mathematicians do good compression of their subject 2. Mathematics is a cottage industry =E2=80=93 one uses gzip, one LZ, one g= ood-old huffman Many arguments seemingly against the first, are under the hood, arguments= =20 against the second. > The usual advice about descriptive names and > self-documenting code applies. Yes... Between has_type env exp type vs =20 =CE=93 =E2=8A=A2 e : =CF=84=20 Some will find the second frightening; the first ok Some will find it exactly the opposite -- "prose" and "prolix" are quite cl= ose How much are these judgments objective? Genetic-structural? Just plain illiteracy/bad-habits?? Open questions... [And questions unrelated IMHO to the systems used by a certain Mr. Noah to= =20 design a large boat on which our ancestors were collected] ------------------- tl;dr Unicode is an ISO standard =E2=80=93 something mathematicians have ne= ver heard of. Seems like a good idea to take their knowledge and discard their ignorance