From: Drew Mills <drewmills@...>
Date: 2003-08-21T20:53:29+09:00
Subject: Re: Punctuation as noise

Hal E. Fulton wrote:
> 
> I agree again. I'm not using "noise" in a formal sense.
> 
> However, I do maintain that this:
> 
>   if (x > y)
> 
> is no more clear than this:
> 
>   if x > y
> 
> I prefer the latter. Many people prefer the former, but I believe
> that is only a matter of habit. I don't see how parentheses
> decrease ambiguity here.
> 

My point was that

    If (x > y)

communicates more information than

    If x > y

if the human reader of your code (and, sometimes, the compiler) 
comprehends better, then you have disambiguated successfully.  I think 
what you call habit, I might call experience.  Or more precisely, a more 
well-developed context in the mind of the reader.

Maybe we should all write for our target audience.  In that case I 
appreciate all the extra fluff.

Drew