From: Thomas <notpublic@...>
Date: 2006-08-18T20:30:09+09:00
Subject: Re: Syntax checker wtf?

That raises an interesting question (at least for a noob like me). Is
there any (good) lint available for Ruby (and for RoR as a second question)?

/Thomas

David Vallner wrote:
> On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 09:58:31 +0200, Firstname Surname
> <rubyforum@wendlink.com> wrote:
>> the checker could easily check
>> based on 'standard' expected syntax and be more helpful about error
>> location 99% of the time.
> 
> That's what a lint style program would do, not the compiler. Compilers
> are there to check correctness against the formal language definition,
> not to make opinions about your code, and quoting James Britt: Ruby
> assumes the developer is a grown-up. If you're newbly enough to make
> trivial syntax errors, noone's forcing you to use the language.
> 
> If you think the syntax checking in the compiler could be made better,
> go ahead and hack the parser to do it. But I don't recall this topic
> being present on the list and complained about any often or so vocally,
> so I doubt it's critical that effort be spent from the core Ruby
> developer team in that direction.
> 
> Oh, before I forget: Whining gets you nowhere, and trolling belongs to
> slashdot. Cut that out.
> 
> David Vallner
>