On Wed, Jul 13, 2016 at 7:44 PM, Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> wrote:
- suppose that reading λ has a *tiny* benefit of 1% over "lambda" (for those who have learned what it means); - but typing it is (lets say) 50 times harder than typing "lambda"; - but we read code 50 times as often as we type it; - so the total benefit (50*1.01 - 50) is positive.
I actually *do* think λ is a little bit more readable. And I have no idea how to type it directly on my El Capitan system with the ABC Extended keyboard. But I still get 100% of the benefit in readability simply by using vim's conceal feature. If I used a different editor I'd have to hope for a similar feature (or program it myself), but this is purely a display question. Similarly, I think syntax highlighting makes my code much more readable, but I don't want colors for keywords built into the language. That is, and should remain, a matter of tooling not core language (I don't want https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ColorForth for Python). FWIW, my conceal configuration is at link I give in a moment. I've customized a bunch of special stuff besides lambda, take it or leave it: http://gnosis.cx/bin/.vim/after/syntax/python.vim -- Keeping medicines from the bloodstreams of the sick; food from the bellies of the hungry; books from the hands of the uneducated; technology from the underdeveloped; and putting advocates of freedom in prisons. Intellectual property is to the 21st century what the slave trade was to the 16th.