tl;dr DON'T PANIC At RacketCon today, after summarizing the state of work on Racket CS, I recommended that we next explore the possibly of changing to an infix-oriented syntax in "Racket2".
You can find the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnz6y5U0tFs Start at 32:27 for the part about what Racket2 could be. I'll produce a text version of the rationale soon. For now, I'd like to offer a few clarifications: * There is no specific proposal for a new syntax, yet. Our next step will be creating a process to explore a possible new syntax. * The talk does include some initial constraints that might guide the choice of a syntax. Even that meta level (i.e., the set of constraints) remains subject to a community process. * `#lang racket` is not going away and will always have its current parenthesis-oriented syntax. In the same way that Racket still supports `#lang scheme` and `#lang mzscheme` and even `(module <name> mzscheme ....)` and even top-level programs, the Racket compiler and runtime system will always support `#lang racket` programs. We believe that Racket's `#lang`-based ecosystem makes it uniquely positioned for trying new language variants while preserving and building on our past investments. * Any new syntax must specifically preserve Racket-style language-oriented programming, which means everything from defining simple pattern-based macros to building whole new `#lang`s with a smooth path in between. Again, our current macro technology must be an enabler for a new surface syntax, not a casualty. As I hope comes across in the talk, I like the current Racket syntax --- and how could I not, after 24 years of helping to define it? --- and I am aware of many potential technical and social pitfalls that this kind of shift could create. Still, in addition to keeping the core Racket implementation running, I feel obliged to recommend changes that I think would be good for the Racket language and community. We've been lining up some technical solutions for a while. I don't know where the community discussion will lead, but I'm pretty sure it's time to start the conversation. Whether or not we eventually decide on a different syntax, the design of Racket2 will require community input and participation. If you want to know more about how we're thinking about that process, see the keynote by Aaron Turon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSjk2PdQm5k (We'll have professionally edited videos of all talks available soon.) Thanks, Matthew -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Racket Users" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to racket-users+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/racket-users/5d2be52a.1c69fb81.f77b6.e393SMTPIN_ADDED_MISSING%40gmr-mx.google.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
