Riobard Zhan writes:
> It is pretty clear that colon-supporters do not pay attention to the
> inconsistency of semicolons being optional and colons being mandatory
> that I mentioned
So what? Commas are also mandatory. They look like semicolons so we should make them optional too. Am I joking? Sure but look at this syntax:
f(1 2 3 a=4 b=5 c=6)
I can figure out where each parameter ends easily enough without the commas [because my implicit multiplication proposal was rejected :-(]. Sure some people will quibble that
f(1 -2)
is a problem and so on but that can be fixed just as C distinguishes between x =- y and x = -y.** That's not the real problem. The real problem is that we *want* those commas to break up the flow of text. In English, a comma is a pause in the reading. If you, stick extra, commas in, your sentences you will, confuse people. Colons, semicolons, dashes, etc. all server similar purposes to cue the reader in on what the sentences is about? Hah, tricked you there with that question mark.
Enough of this for me. Consistency for consistency's sake is overrated. Let's get on to important stuff like whether we number the bits from the right end or left end of the number and whether array indexes should start at 1 or 0.
--- Bruce
P.S. Colons are redundant by their very nature that they use two dots when one is all you need (or love is all you need (or something like that)).
** For the historically challenged, original C used =- instead of -=.