[swift-evolution] Beyond Typewriter-Styled Code in Swift, Adoption of Symbols

[Dave DeLong]

I’m sorry, I don’t really understand the point you’re trying to make. Swift is open source. Anyone is free to make a Swift editor or integrate Swift support in to non-Apple IDEs, and then support additional features in their IDEs to make a custom-tailored Swift experience.

I also think you forgot to turn off your caps lock.

Cheers,

Dave

> On Aug 31, 2017, at 4:33 PM, John Pratt <jprattx at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> OK BUT WHEN YOU CHANGE THE LANGUAGE YOU MIGHT ALSO CHANGE THE EDITOR.
> WE AREN'T TO BE HELD HOSTAGE BY APPLE'S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OBSESSIONS
> AND GREED.
> 
> On Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 5:17 PM, Dave DeLong <delong at apple.com <mailto:delong at apple.com>> wrote:
> 
>> On Aug 31, 2017, at 3:58 PM, David Sweeris <davesweeris at mac.com <mailto:davesweeris at mac.com>> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>> On Aug 31, 2017, at 2:51 PM, Dave DeLong via swift-evolution <swift-evolution at swift.org <mailto:swift-evolution at swift.org>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Just a side observation…
>>> 
>>> One of the downsides I would put forward to notation like this is it massively increases the barrier to entry for anyone else. I look at that “Reduction.agda” file and wonder if I need to go back to school for a degree in Math just to understand what’s going on.
>>> 
>>> On the other hand, while using inefficient matrix notation may be more verbose, it is consistent with the other notation used in programming, which means it is more easily understandable for new-comers to the code.
>> 
>> New-comers from where? I've met more than one mathematician or physicist who claims they can't code because the syntax isn't what they're used to. People with different backgrounds can and do have vastly different ideas about what constitutes an intuitive syntax for any given semantic (which why I disagree with the notion that having more than one spelling for stuff is inherently bad).
> 
> That’s a fair point, which IMO reinforces the notion that changes like this should be an editor-level feature, and not a code-level feature.
> 
> An editor can reformat code (using a font with bazillions of ligatures or whatever) in was that you wouldn’t want to necessarily “hard code”.
> 
> Dave
> 

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