Dan Sugalski wrote:
>
> Numbers and strings really aren't different things, at least not as far as
> people are concerned. They are for machines, but computer languages
> ultimately aren't for machines, they're for people.
I guess I can't fault you for towing the party line on this...
Strings and numbers are not *exactly* the same, even to humans, are they?
The difference between numbers and strings is analogous to --
or, on further reflection, IDENTICAL to -- the difference between
arrays and associative arrays. (The former are numerically indexed,
the latter indexed by strings.)
> I'm not presuming that, though there are plenty of languages already that
> have no symbols. Perl's not one of them, though.
Now you're appealing to the argument that "if we changed the language
to be like that, it simply Wouldn't Be Perl." Not buying it.
> It's going to always be more difficult. You need to *think* to turn a word
> into a symbol. = is already a symbol. Less effort's needed.
I guess I'm not sure what you're getting at here.
In the expression C<foo( bar )>, bar is a symbol, regardless of its type.
There's no "turning a word into a symbol" going on that I can see.
Here I appeal to the de facto elimination of symbols on function names.
If, in the expression C<foo bar>, foo is allowed to be a symbol (a function
name) without decoration, then bar should be too, I maintain.
(I hope no confusion has arisen due to the overloading of the term "symbol"
in this discussion...)
Btw, I am way overstating the case, i.e. devil's advocate.
I really don't feel that strongly about it!
> > > ...exploiting instinct and
> > > inherent capabilities give you faster response times, and quicker
> > > comprehension.
> >
> >Sure. But "instinct and inherent capabilities" do not apply here.
>
> Yes, they do. People write source. People read source....
Sure. No argument there. Nonetheless, humans certainly have no instincts,
and very likely no inherent capabilities, relevant to computer programming,
except for abstract reasoning, which IMHO does not favor one side of this
argument over the other.
--
John Porter
Aus tiefem Traum bin ich erwacht.
