[plt-scheme] poll: keyword syntax

From: Abdulaziz Ghuloum (aghuloum at gmail.com)
Date: Mon Jun 15 08:30:26 EDT 2009

On Jun 15, 2009, at 2:32 AM, Shriram Krishnamurthi wrote:

> To quote Matthew:
>
> "The "vote" is not binding in any sense. I'd just like to get a better
> idea of what PLT Scheme programmers think, since I consider the
> question to be purely a matter if opinion --- and not worth  
> debating at
> all on the list. :)"
>
> But maybe that was a futile hope...

Maybe it's because the question is not really a matter of pure
opinion.  The colon character is a valid identifier character
in all RnRS's: making it a special keyword prefix or suffix
poses interoperability problems when you mix plt-scheme code
with other scheme code.  The "#:keyword" syntax is an extension
to the RnRS syntax, while the other syntaxes conflict with it.

Maybe this is not really a big deal for PLT, I don't know.  But
it is a purely technical reason for why one syntax is preferable
over the others.  [I'll reserve my opinion to myself]

Aziz,,,



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