Re: Shootout Stuff

[davidw@dedasys.com (David N. Welton)]

MJ Ray <markj@cloaked.freeserve.co.uk> writes:

> David N. Welton <davidw@dedasys.com> wrote:
> > ((((
> >   ((
> 
> That doesn't happen in reality.  You normally get something like:

well, not that bad, but it does happen some.

> ((((func
>      ((
> 
> I just piped that through scmindent to check.  Vertical lineup over
> distance is always a bit tricky, even for things with a clear
> vertical, but that's why editors have cursor keys.
 
> Anyway, tastes differ, but presenting personal taste as global can
> be dangerous.  I'd prefer to have just ()s to deal with, rather than
> trying to remember which brackets to use where, and there must be
> brackets to easily select code blocks.

My point was more with regards visual aesthetics and the 'look' of a
scheme program (hint - squint your eyes and stare at it).  Of course
it's possible to adapt to reading parentheses, but I think that a
visually more distinct symbol might have been better.

It would be an interesting survey to take different pieces of code,
written in different languages, and run them by graphic design
students (or professionals), who have, preferably, not been exposed
much to programming, and see what they have to say about the visual
style and effect of the code.  Hopefully using a 'double blind'.

Anyway, it's just a thought of mine that cropped up, I'm sorry if it's
of little interest or relevance (it's not like scheme is likely to
change).

-- 
David N. Welton
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