[swift-evolution] Thoughts on replacing \() with $() or some other symbol

[Dave Abrahams]

on Tue Jun 21 2016, Kenny Wyland <swift-evolution at swift.org> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I'm new to the list and I just searched through the archives as best I
> could to see if someone else had already brought this up, but I didn't find
> anything. Forgive me if this horse has been beaten.
>
> I find that typing \(var) is very disruptive to my typing flow. The more I
> code in Swift, the more I like it, but every time I'm coding and then have
> to hiccup while typing \ then ( causes me to be annoyed. I know, it's
> minor, but it isn't a key combination that flows quickly.
>
> I would much rather have $() or perhaps ${} (like Groovy lang) or perhaps
> @() to go along with other uses of @ throughout the language.
>
> A shifted key, like $ or @, followed by another shifted key like (, allows
> for a much faster flow and they are much closer to the home keys than \
> which is nearly as far from home keys as possible (and awkward).

I'm forced to agree that \ is quite awkward for something that may be
used so pervasively, and $ would likely meet more peoples' expectations.

-- 
Dave