From: Daniel Brockman <daniel@...>
Date: 2005-09-01T01:32:52+09:00
Subject: Re: Aesthetics of while ... do ... end versus while ...: ... end

Nikolai Weibull <mailing-lists.ruby-talk@rawuncut.elitemail.org> writes:

>> I disagree, and I don't see why everyone hates
>> the semicolon.
>>
>> I think it is more consistent to write
>> 
>>   while foo; bar; baz; quux; end
>>
>> [...]
>
> Yes, but you can write it as
>
>   while foo: bar; baz; quux end
>
> Which, in my opinion, clearly separates the foo from the
> bar and the baz.

Since we're already discussing mitutiae, I'll chime in and
say that I too prefer the colon here, simply because it
makes for more readable code.  I'd write it as follows:

   while foo: bar ; baz ; quux end

I always put spaces around semicolons in Ruby code ---
perhaps to reflect their rather symmetrical nature...

Actually, I'd probably use `do' rather than the colon.

I'd like to see `do' and `:' allowed after `def'.

   def delta: last - first end

   def request_foo do send "NEED FOO" end

In re while modifiers, I have defined a high-precedence
statement separator operator called `and then', which I
occasionally use when writing two-statement while loops:

   lather and then rinse while dirty?

Apart from the higher precedence, the semantics of `foo and
then bar' is the same as `foo ; bar'.  The preprocessor
translates `foo and then bar' into `foo or true and bar'.

No punchline, just some random thoughts.

-- 
Daniel Brockman <daniel@brockman.se>