[fpc-devel] Pascal Standard, and what we can do.

[Paul van Helden]

On Wed, Jul 22, 2015 at 7:43 PM, Jonas Maebe <jonas.maebe at elis.ugent.be>
wrote:

> On 22/07/15 19:24, Paul van Helden wrote:
> > What is wrong with a language evolving to allow (in addition to the
> above)?:
> >
> > if X is not TSomeClass then ..
> > if 5 not in [1,2,3] then ..
> >
> > I'm not a compiler programmer, but it almost seems like laziness that
> > the second case is not possible already?
>
> If the "not" operator is overloaded in TSomeClass, "not TSomeClass" can
> be a valid expression in itself. "not in" could never be anything else,
> but consistency is also very important.
>
> Additionally, keeping the compiler fast and maintainable (and able to
> produce sensible error messages when syntax errors are found) conflicts
> with arbitrary word orders. Calling that laziness is a bit blunt.
>

Well, apologies for using the word "laziness". I simply meant that to
someone who doesn't understand the complexities of compiler programming it
seems as (almost) such. I still believe (in my ignorance) that it shouldn't
be all that hard to have multi word operators like in SQL, but what do I
know. I have personally found little use for operator overloading and I
would be happy to have such restricted to things other than "not" or "not
is".


> > IMO the design philosophy should be: "if it is more readable it
> > should be allowed".
>
> Allowing multiple ways to say the same thing generally does not increase
> readability, even if in isolation it can look fine.
>
>
There are always multiple ways to say the same thing, and especially in
programming, so I don't understand your point. Perhaps I can try to explain
myself: The only reason I have stuck with Pascal for more than two decades
is because of the way the written language *looks*. I find it pleasing
compared to other languages. So please understand my arguments as coming
from that perspective. I may be wrong technically or practically, but this
is how I feel and I am sure there are others that feel the same.
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