> > why do we have to give up a space when calling functions under Pugs? > > >> Not sure whether it's enough of an answer, but see: > >> http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/design/syn/S04.html#Statement_parsing > > it says: > > if $term ($x) # syntax error (two terms in a row) > > if this cause an error, why not treat '$term ($x)' as a function call. > At least when $term is not some abstract variable but valid name of simple > function.
(I have nothing to do with the design process, so this is just my take on it)... I get the impression that driving these sort of decisions, is the historical problem we've had with only `perl` being able to parse Perl. Syntax is getting tightened up a little, with the result that perl6 programs are much more easily read, with the intention of allowing different compiler implementations. Also, we can only know if $term contains a valid subroutine name at runtime, and perl6 aims to allow very separate compilation and runtime phases (and syntax errors need to be figured out at compilation time). Carl
