From: Jim Weirich <jweirich@...>
Date: 2003-03-21T13:55:48+09:00
Subject: Re: Strong advantages over Python

On Thu, 2003-03-20 at 22:35, Lennon Day-Reynolds wrote:

> Finally, the flexibility of the syntax allows for some very interesting 
> domain-specific language work, like the make replacement and HDL 
> mentioned recently on this list. Python can easily be extended with 
> classes and functions for specific domains, but the inflexible syntax, 
> esp. with its required indentation and parenthesis, basically forces you 
> to make your DSL look just like Python, or do a full 
> lexing/parsing/evaluating cycle on a new syntax. 

I found this to be true in my recent experience with rake (Ruby Make). 
The Ruby syntax was flexible enough that a very natural syntax developed
to express tasks and actions.

-- 
-- Jim Weirich     jweirich@one.net    http://w3.one.net/~jweirich
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"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, 
not tried it." -- Donald Knuth (in a memo to Peter van Emde Boas)