Re: [Gnu-arch-users] Re: Tla spork

[Miles Bader]

On Sat, Aug 28, 2004 at 01:07:55PM +1000, Zenaan Harkness wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 27, 2004 at 07:20:33PM -0400, Miles Bader wrote:
> > This is not clear.  I'd guess that a majority of people actually fall into
> > two camps: those who have never heard of sexps (and thus have no existing
> > prejudice against them), and those who both know of and can deal with them
> > (after all it's hardly the case that what Tom is doing is from the esoteric
> > fringe, it comes from a long and well respected tradition in CS).
> 
> I think you missed James' point - those in the first camp, who've never
> heard of sexps (as this assumption goes), have a reaction when they
> first see prefix-notated mathematical expressions. This reaction is not
> what I'd call positive :)

If the task were typing in mathematical equations, you'd have a point -- but
it's not.  For specifying control-structures, simple definitions, etc., it's
simply not clear (see my previously-posted anecdote about
intro-to-programming courses for a counter-example).

Now one could think that the audience of arch is programmers, not total
beginners, and the great unwashed masses of those would all want visual-basic
syntax or something.

-Miles
-- 
`Suppose Korea goes to the World Cup final against Japan and wins,' Moon said.
`All the past could be forgiven.'   [NYT]