From: Stephen Kellett Date: 2005-08-06T00:36:07+09:00 Subject: Re: Yet Another useless Ruby 2 Idea In message <9e7db9110508032058703f5f84@mail.gmail.com>, Austin Ziegler writes >No one is suggesting to stop now. Layout-based syntax, however, is a >stupid idea that should have died with punch cards. Absolutely. >Yes, I hate Python's syntactically significant whitespace. Indeed. It is the most important 1 reason for me not using Python on a regular basis. Seeing Ruby and knowing that it does not have syntactically significant whitespace is excellent and one of the reasons that made me look more closely at Ruby. The number of times a visually correct Python script I've written doesn't work because I've mixed up tabs and spaces (and then have to go through finding out where the failure is) - you have no idea how much this irritates. Its like paddling through treacle. I don't think I have ever successfully written a Python script without falling foul of this ridiculous concept. Makefiles also mix up spaces and tabs and often fail if you put the wrong invisible character in the wrong place. Its a nightmare. People knew that Makefile syntax was daft before Python was born. Why anyone would want to put that into a computer language beggars belief. >you want X, use Y". But we should also discourage the importation of >the worst features of other languages. Well said. Stephen -- Stephen Kellett Object Media Limited http://www.objmedia.demon.co.uk/software.html Computer Consultancy, Software Development Windows C++, Java, Assembler, Performance Analysis, Troubleshooting