From: Juan Zanos <juan_zanos@...>
Date: 2009-02-19T08:11:16+09:00
Subject: Re: What are your favorite Ruby features?


On 18 févr. 09, at 16:42, Robert Dober wrote:

> On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 8:52 PM, David A. Black  
> <dblack@rubypal.com> wrote:
>
>> I have no idea what they're talking about -- but I have to assume  
>> they
>> really do find it more readable, and that whatever is going on in
>> their brain when they look at the first version is similar to what
>> goes on in my brain when I look at the second.
> That seems quite likely to me and I even daresay that if you were
> exposed to the first style for a given time T your brain would adapt.
> And probably T is not even very long.
> And vice versa of course.
> Robert
> -- 
> There are some people who begin the Zoo at the beginning, called
> WAYIN, and walk as quickly as they can past every cage until they get
> to the one called WAYOUT, but the nicest people go straight to the
> animal they love the most, and stay there. ~ A.A. Milne (from
> Winnie-the-Pooh)
>

Relative to time spent learning a language I'd say the T might as  
well be zero.  Mostly the arguments for using parentheses when they  
aren't necessary seem to be arguments of taste.  There's no disputing  
taste, but simplicity is a powerful argument.   If someone can give  
me a convincing argument for why the way I do something is less  
simple than the way they do something I'm very likely to change.  I  
find myself swayed by the argument that unnecessary use of  
parentheses is more complicated.   It's more ink.   It's more  
syntax.   It's more overloading of the meaning of the parentheses  
character.

When it comes to pure taste I try to be ambivalent.   If everyone in  
the world decided it would be cool to switch parentheses around so  
the ends pointed outside I don't think I could raise a legitimate  
argument against it.  At least I can't think of a convincing argument  
off the top of my head and it would be mildly amusing.

Cheers,
Juan