On 12/20/2014 11:37 AM, Bart Schaefer wrote:
I would. OTOH why is variant syntax there at all? What does it accomplish *but* the confusion of the user? The culture seems to be one in which it is considered good that one can do things in 50 different ways. I understand that in Python culture they make a virtue out of saying that there is only ever *one* way to do whatever it is that you are doing, which means that reading Python must be a breeze because one does not have to learn 50 dialects of the language. That's probably going too far IMHO, tho.[> workers] On Dec 19, 9:35am, Peter Stephenson wrote: } } I'm wondering, however, if we can do a bit better by strengthening the } warnings against variant syntax --- whose sole role appears to be to } confuse the user --- and provide some kind of good practice guide for } complex syntax such as functions, loops, etc. But would anyone read it?
Speaking as the newcomer here, the agony of learning zsh is that it is so encrusted with these ancient confusions and obscure gotchas and exceptions and variations and deep mysteries going back to the Chaos before the World was created. Supposing that the goal was to rid the shell of pointless obscurities rather than adding another layer of safety nets to help one cope with them?
Kill variant syntax! Less is more. What's that saying: "The code is perfect, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away." Simplicity and clarity matter. Burn, burn, burn.
rant rant rant ;-)