From: Brad Cox <bcox@...>
Date: 2002-07-18T01:39:38+09:00
Subject: Re: Syntax "surprise"

Still, its a shame ruby adopts the same shortcoming as java.

Its not a language's business to prevent users from writing "smelly" code.

Long argument lists are common in data initialization contexts, and 
misplaced commas a extremely common problem, that's actively 
manufactured by this rule.

	@@instance = SomeClass.new(
		"127.0.0.1",
		8083,
		"hostname.com",
		blah,
		blah,
		whoops,
	);

At 12:44 AM +0900 7/18/02, Yukihiro Matsumoto wrote:
>Hi,
>
>In message "Re: Syntax "surprise""
>     on 02/07/18, Kent Dahl <kentda@stud.ntnu.no> writes:
>
>|Ugly workaround using array expansion:
>|  opts = GetoptLong.new(*[
>|    [ "--verbose", "-v",  GetoptLong::NO_ARGUMENT ],
>|    [ "--yesterday", "-y", GetoptLong::NO_ARGUMENT ],
>|  ])
>
>Wow, I was just writing the same workaround.  You're a mind reader.
>
>|But I'd have to argue against allowing trailing commas in method calls
>|(and definitions), on the basis that it could make it easier to write
>|methods that take a lot of parameters. IIRC, a large number of
>|parameters to a method is a "code smell", and allowing the trailing
>|comma would be like spraying some fresh pine scent on it to cover it...
>
>Wow, in fact, it used to accept trailing comma in argument list, but I
>removed that syntax rule for the reason you described here.
>
>							matz.


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