3 ms·

A flexible syntax introduces ambiguity, which forces me to think even more. Consider this simple example (which may be wrong for all I know): x = foo bar, baz

• jeremymcanally 17y ago
  Well, sure. You can write code like that, but that doesn't mean you should. I'm not arguing for so-called "poetic mode" code (I hate it actually), but I think languages like Ruby and Python strike a really solid balance between lack of line noise and clarity if you follow what one might call normal coding conventions established by the community. Of course, these aren't canonized for the most part, so it's hard to know exactly what they mean, but I think everyone can agree that "x = foo bar, baz" should be clarified to "x = foo(bar, baz)," if nothing else because it will eliminate any parser confusion if you add a predicate conditional or something like that. Anyhow, my point is that I can write C or Java or whatever else that's just as unreadable due to its lack of clarity, but that doesn't mean I will. It's a skill issue more than a language issue. ;)