RE: [Axiom-developer] RE: Emacs + input syntax

[Page, Bill]

Gaby, Ralf,

On Thursday, May 11, 2006 5:58 PM you wrote:
> 
> Bill Page writes:
> 
> | On Thursday, May 11, 2006 1:01 PM Ralf Hemmecke wrote:
> | > ... 
> | > I would always suggest to forget about the #pile mode when 
> | > you program in Aldor ...
> | 
> | Why? Your suggestion seems to me only a kind of
> | linguist prejudice.
> 
> I think I'm with Ralf here.  I find the pile notation highly
> confusing and irritating when editing.  It is one of the
> downsides I find with Python, Haskell, Axiom, etc.  For me,
> it isn't different those infamous "tabs" in Makefiles.  It
> is a relic from stone ages we should not carry over.

In what sense is this notation "a relic"? Do you know other
"ancient" languages (besides SPAD) that used this syntax?

> Your mileage may vary.
> 

It does. :-)

Can either of you give any objective argument about why
you prefer to write in a serialized one-dimensional manner,
encoding nested structures with the bracket (or even a
parenthesis) notation, instead of using the natural two
dimensional nature of the display media to express this
structure more succinctly?

If not, my label of "linguist prejudice" must surely apply.

Regards,
Bill Page.