Re: 10 problems with Elisp, part 10

[Emanuel Berg <incal@dataswamp.org>]

Bob Rogers wrote:

>    [
>      end  :r  0<   :d 73         :pa
>      step :rc 2-10 :d (/ end 10)    
>      i    :r  0<=  :d 0             
>    ]
>
>    :r means signal error if outside of the interval.
>
>    :rc means set to min or max if outside of the interval.
>
> This is damn near unreadable.

To me, thanks to the spaces with keywords and values, it is
much easier to edit and read.

A bunch of interactive format strings from the Emacs source:

  (interactive "^p\nd\nd")

  (interactive "r\nP\np")

  (interactive "i\np\ni\np")

  (interactive "P\ncMark:" ...)

You think they are easier to read?

Okay, people are different.

I did offer a spelled out version, of this format:

[
  end  :range     0<   :default 73 :prefix-arg
  step :range-cut 2-10 :default 7
  i    :range     0<=  :default 0
]

They don't express the same things at all, almost, but one can
compare then from the readability aspect, sure. Take it for
what it is.

> Instead of advocating for cryptic code and talking about how
> few characters it is, maybe you should look for completion
> methods or typing aids and then talk about how few
> keystrokes normal Lisp takes to enter?

Nah, I don't like it, takes the fun out of typing.

And it isn't just typing, it is also looking at and browsing
the code.

Fewer chars is always better, as long as you can understand
it. The above, I can understand very easily and I would be
100% fluent with it if I used it often, and that goes for
a lot of people, I think.

Besides, even apart from the syntax, the proposed interface
isn't anything like `interactive', really, as you can guess
from the keywords above.

-- 
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