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> Sometimes I feel like the fixed visual pattern of whitespace punctuated code gives strong contextual messaging about flow and structure, speeding up interpret
by feoren 3y ago
> Sometimes I feel like the fixed visual pattern of whitespace punctuated code gives strong contextual messaging about flow and structure, speeding up interpretation and understanding.
Realize that you can still do this with punctuated languages. In fact, the parser being whitespace agnostic means you have full power to use it however you deem best improves clarity, whereas whitespace-as-punctuation languages do not have nearly the same flexibility here. However much you liked fixed visual patterns of whitespace, that's an argument against whitespace-as-punctuation languages for that reason.
- K0balt 3y agoOh, yes, you absolutely can use character punctuated languages to express flow and intention , even more so than whitespace punctuation. And the people that do that well are artists of their craft. The problem is that many people seem to be unaware of code morphology as expressive documentation. To a degree, whitespace punctuation enforces expressive morphology and encourages thought in that direction. It’s like the syntax we deserve, not the syntax we want lol.