4 ms·

I think that issacs is missing the part where other people try to read his code. We put semicolons at the end of each statement, even though it's shorter to lea

I think that issacs is missing the part where other people try to read his code. We put semicolons at the end of each statement, even though it's shorter to leave them out, because it's how JavaScript is written, and how others are comfortable reading it. We spell English correctly, even though it's full of meddlesome "ou"s and "gh"s, because that's the way English is spelled. In fact, issacs' proposed semicolon-less, comma-first style reminds me of Mark Twain's "Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling": For example, in Year 1 that useless letter c would be dropped to be replased either by k or s, and likewise x would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which c would be retained would be the ch formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform w spelling, so that which and one would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish y replasing it with i and Iear 4 might fiks the g/j anomali wonse and for all. Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants. Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez c, y and x — bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez — tu riplais ch, sh, and th rispektivli. Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
woodall 16y ago
Sorry, had to try: For example, in Year 1 that useless letter c would be dropped to be replased either by k or s, and likewise x would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only case in which c would be retained would be the ch formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform w spelling, so that which and one would take the same consonant, while Year 3 might well abolish y replacing it with i and Year 4 might fix the g/j anomaly wronse and for all. Generally, then, the improvement would continue year by year with Year 5 doing away with useless double consonants, and Years 6-12 or so modifying vowels and the remaining voiced and unvoiced consonants. By Year 15 or so, it would finally be possible to make ius of thi redundant letters c, y and x — by now just a memory in the minds of ould doderez — to replace ch, sh, and th respectively. Finally, then, after some 20 years of orxogrefcl reform, we would have a logical, cohernt spelling in ius xrewawt the English-speaking world.
- treeface 16y ago
  ould doderez = old dodders orxogrefcl = orthographical ius xrewawt = use throughout
  - woodall 16y ago
    Thank you! I tried googling the answer before pasting it all over HN but to no avail.
- chc 16y ago
  Oddly, I found that mostly readable, though there were a few implicit changes that he failed to spell out, so you need to infer those.
  - IsaacSchlueter 16y ago
    I have a friend who is dysgraphic. His writing is basically 100% phonetic. To read it, I find it easiest to read it out loud, and listen to myself talk. This reminds me of that.
  - jerf 16y ago
    Of all the satire I have ever read, that may very well be the best, because to this day I am still not sure of the exact proportion of joke vs. seriousness. And I've read my Twain, so it's not unfamiliarity with the author. That's the mark of a truly masterful satire.
IsaacSchlueter 16y ago
npm is a hobby project designed to bring me joy. As a side-effect, a lot of node users find it helpful. That's great, and I'm proud, but honestly, if everyone stopped using it, I'd keep hacking on it. A little boy may grow up to be the doctor who cures cancer. But that's not why you have children.
- jashkenas 16y ago
  Yessir -- I'll vigorously defend your right to code in a style that floats your boat, but that's not what your blog post is: it's an evangelization of semicolon-free, paren-first style (hereafter known as SchlueterScript). You're asking the JS thought leaders to stop slandering your chosen syntax, and this comment thread contains a hundred reasons why most folks would rather not. I can dig the groovy art project also known as npm, and at the same time also rather not come across more SchlueterScript in the wild. A bit hypocritical, sure, but also heartfelt.
  - IsaacSchlueter 16y ago
    Read it again. I spent significant chunk of the post explaining that a) I don't care how you code, and b) there are some good reasons to choose a different style than mine. I'm asking JS thought leaders to stop encouraging falsehood. That's all. "Don't code like Isaac because it's ugly." Fine. I can dig that. Maybe you won't date me because you think my face is ugly. You wouldn't be the first one, and thankfully for my social life, it's not a universally held opinion. But "don't code like Isaac because ASI is unreliable and no one understands it"? Patently false, and OMG PEOPLE ARE WRONG ON THE INTERNET. This is so far beyond goofy. Don't we have jobs or something? Who posted this? Jeez. Get that guy something better to do.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

woodall 16y ago

Sorry, had to try: For example, in Year 1 that useless letter c would be dropped to be replased either by k or s, and likewise x would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only case in which c would be retained would be the ch formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform w spelling, so that which and one would take the same consonant, while Year 3 might well abolish y replacing it with i and Year 4 might fix the g/j anomaly wronse and for all. Generally, then, the improvement would continue year by year with Year 5 doing away with useless double consonants, and Years 6-12 or so modifying vowels and the remaining voiced and unvoiced consonants. By Year 15 or so, it would finally be possible to make ius of thi redundant letters c, y and x — by now just a memory in the minds of ould doderez — to replace ch, sh, and th respectively. Finally, then, after some 20 years of orxogrefcl reform, we would have a logical, cohernt spelling in ius xrewawt the English-speaking world.

treeface 16y ago
ould doderez = old dodders orxogrefcl = orthographical ius xrewawt = use throughout
- woodall 16y ago
  Thank you! I tried googling the answer before pasting it all over HN but to no avail.
chc 16y ago
Oddly, I found that mostly readable, though there were a few implicit changes that he failed to spell out, so you need to infer those.
- IsaacSchlueter 16y ago
  I have a friend who is dysgraphic. His writing is basically 100% phonetic. To read it, I find it easiest to read it out loud, and listen to myself talk. This reminds me of that.
- jerf 16y ago
  Of all the satire I have ever read, that may very well be the best, because to this day I am still not sure of the exact proportion of joke vs. seriousness. And I've read my Twain, so it's not unfamiliarity with the author. That's the mark of a truly masterful satire.

IsaacSchlueter 16y ago

npm is a hobby project designed to bring me joy. As a side-effect, a lot of node users find it helpful. That's great, and I'm proud, but honestly, if everyone stopped using it, I'd keep hacking on it. A little boy may grow up to be the doctor who cures cancer. But that's not why you have children.

jashkenas 16y ago
Yessir -- I'll vigorously defend your right to code in a style that floats your boat, but that's not what your blog post is: it's an evangelization of semicolon-free, paren-first style (hereafter known as SchlueterScript). You're asking the JS thought leaders to stop slandering your chosen syntax, and this comment thread contains a hundred reasons why most folks would rather not. I can dig the groovy art project also known as npm, and at the same time also rather not come across more SchlueterScript in the wild. A bit hypocritical, sure, but also heartfelt.
- IsaacSchlueter 16y ago
  Read it again. I spent significant chunk of the post explaining that a) I don't care how you code, and b) there are some good reasons to choose a different style than mine. I'm asking JS thought leaders to stop encouraging falsehood. That's all. "Don't code like Isaac because it's ugly." Fine. I can dig that. Maybe you won't date me because you think my face is ugly. You wouldn't be the first one, and thankfully for my social life, it's not a universally held opinion. But "don't code like Isaac because ASI is unreliable and no one understands it"? Patently false, and OMG PEOPLE ARE WRONG ON THE INTERNET. This is so far beyond goofy. Don't we have jobs or something? Who posted this? Jeez. Get that guy something better to do.