Re: [Scheme-reports] Formal Comment: Change syntax of symbols from |<symbol element>*| to #"<string element>*"
John Cowan 13 Mar 2012 05:02 UTC
Andrew Robbins scripsit:
> In terms of transmission, the (inline hex escape) lexical space of
> R6RS is sufficient to encompass most of the value space of (vertical
> bar) identifiers, with the added bonus of being able to be transmitted
> to interpreters and compilers via 8-bit unsafe channels and 7-bit
> encoded ASCII text files.
Everything except ||, the result of (string->symbol "").
> Neither (vertical bar) nor Unicode identifiers (also added in R6RS)
> can make this claim.
Vertical bar as defined in draft 6 allows inline hex escapes within the
bars, so it allows everything that inline hex escapes do.
> Why would we add 1114111 redundancies to Scheme identifier lexical
> space when the only addition to the value space is ||?
Vertical bars allow mixed-case identifiers in a case-folding context to
be readable. |Foo| is much more readable than \x46;oo, and |FOO| is
infinitely more readable than \x46;\x4F;\x4F;. This is the example that
convinced me of the virtues of |...|.
--
We call nothing profound cowan@ccil.org
that is not wittily expressed. John Cowan
--Northrop Frye (improved)
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