[racket] `def' ?

To combine what Neil and Luke said, maybe one new thing `def' could do
is include destructuring.

In other words it's really an alias for `match-define'.

And
  (match-define x 1)

is the same as
  (define x 1)

correct?


I'd also like to see a syntax if possible that lets you (as with
`let') do multiple defines in one shot:

(let ([x 1]
      [y 2])
  ...)

could perhaps be:

(def ([x 1]
      [y 2])
  ...)

or even just:

(def x 1
     y 2)

?

On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 12:58 PM, Luke Vilnis <lvilnis at gmail.com> wrote:
> +1000 to "def" idea
>
> I think the super verbose keywords can be an impediment to code readability.
> The increase in signal-to-noise, along with (imo) sexier looking code
> samples to show to prospective Racketeers is worth it. As silly as it might
> sound, when I started out, Scheme's notoriously long keywords gave it a
> superficial appearance of impracticality.
>
> ;; hot!
> (def x 12)
> (def y 15)
> (def z 12)
> (+ x y z)
>
> ;; not!
> (define x 12)
> (define y 15)
> (define z 12)
> (+ x y z)
>
> On a related note - if we're looking to shorten some offending keywords,
> making a nice alias for "match-define" would be fantastic. It is a shame to
> have to use a 12-letter keyword to get something that is accomplished with
> "let" in other languages, especially since Racket's pattern matching is too
> awesome not to use.  I sometimes define "val" or "mdef" as an alias for
> "match-define", but I'm always too embarassed to let such code escape my
> laptop.
>
> On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 12:29 PM, Neil Van Dyke <neil at neilvandyke.org>
> wrote:
>>
>> Making new names for key things is a good time to revisit what those
>> things look like and mean.
>>
>> I have no major requests for changes to "define", but perhaps someone else
>> does.  (I do, however, have a major request for the "let" family, but not a
>> lot of time at the moment to advocate it, unless someone is going to mess
>> with "let" now.)
>>
>> Neil V.
>>
>>
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