From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from mp1 ([2001:41d0:2:4a6f::]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits)) by ms11 with LMTPS id uAH5OKdylF9odQAA0tVLHw (envelope-from ) for ; Sat, 24 Oct 2020 18:29:59 +0000 Received: from aspmx1.migadu.com ([2001:41d0:2:4a6f::]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits)) by mp1 with LMTPS id OLrTNKdylF+fcAAAbx9fmQ (envelope-from ) for ; Sat, 24 Oct 2020 18:29:59 +0000 Received: from lists.gnu.org (lists.gnu.org [209.51.188.17]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by aspmx1.migadu.com (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 86A149401DD for ; Sat, 24 Oct 2020 18:29:59 +0000 (UTC) Received: from localhost ([::1]:59882 helo=lists1p.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1kWOIg-0007QJ-Gb for larch@yhetil.org; Sat, 24 Oct 2020 14:29:58 -0400 Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:470:142:3::10]:46840) by lists.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1kWOIB-0007Pr-5b for guix-devel@gnu.org; Sat, 24 Oct 2020 14:29:27 -0400 Received: from static.214.254.202.116.clients.your-server.de ([116.202.254.214]:54856 helo=ciao.gmane.io) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1kWOI8-0006oo-L7 for guix-devel@gnu.org; Sat, 24 Oct 2020 14:29:26 -0400 Received: from list by ciao.gmane.io with local (Exim 4.92) (envelope-from ) id 1kWOI3-0004jy-W9 for guix-devel@gnu.org; Sat, 24 Oct 2020 20:29:19 +0200 X-Injected-Via-Gmane: http://gmane.org/ To: guix-devel@gnu.org From: Robin Templeton Subject: Re: Using #true and #false everywhere? Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2020 14:29:15 -0400 Message-ID: <87blgr1nr8.fsf@terpri.org> References: <875z7a78ww.fsf@gnu.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/27.1 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:1bT75Tvj78GYV1Gywy3gP0SI+Sc= Received-SPF: pass client-ip=116.202.254.214; envelope-from=gcggd-guix-devel@m.gmane-mx.org; helo=ciao.gmane.io X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: First seen = 2020/10/24 08:56:36 X-ACL-Warn: Detected OS = Linux 2.2.x-3.x [generic] [fuzzy] X-Spam_score_int: -15 X-Spam_score: -1.6 X-Spam_bar: - X-Spam_report: (-1.6 / 5.0 requ) BAYES_00=-1.9, HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS=0.25, SPF_HELO_NONE=0.001, SPF_PASS=-0.001 autolearn=no autolearn_force=no X-Spam_action: no action X-BeenThere: guix-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.23 Precedence: list List-Id: "Development of GNU Guix and the GNU System distribution." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: guix-devel-bounces+larch=yhetil.org@gnu.org Sender: "Guix-devel" X-Scanner: scn0 Authentication-Results: aspmx1.migadu.com; dkim=none; dmarc=none; spf=pass (aspmx1.migadu.com: domain of guix-devel-bounces@gnu.org designates 209.51.188.17 as permitted sender) smtp.mailfrom=guix-devel-bounces@gnu.org X-Spam-Score: 0.49 X-TUID: CpMysDRpwW4U Ludovic Courtès writes: > Hello Guix! > > As discussed on IRC recently, several of us think that using “#true” and > “#false” instead of “#t” and “#f” throughout or documentation and code > would probably make it easier for newcomers to decipher that. > > WDYT? > > This syntax is supported since Guile 2.0. ‘write’ still uses the > abbreviations, but the good thing is that it means we can change all of > gnu/packages without triggering a single rebuild. > > As for the manual, I’m afraid it’ll make every msgid that contains > @code{#t} stale. So maybe now’s not a good time to make this change? > > Thoughts? I like the bikeshed color just as it is ;-) It's not obvious to me that the "#t"/"#f" syntax is actually more confusing than "#true"/"#false" for newcomers, and many users would need to learn both ways to write boolean constants anyway. It may be *more* confusing to newcomers who know pre-R7RS Scheme, or who refer to external documentation that uses the shorter names, including the Guile reference manual, existing web pages about Guix, pre-R7RS Scheme tutorials, etc.