Re: Understanding herd of curly braces

[Michael Ellis]

Hi Seth,

It sounds as though you've not had previous exposure to programming
languages where nested braces (curly and otherwise) are common.  The
short answer to your question is that the braces identify which pieces
of text go with which command.   The indentation levels are only
significant in the sense that they make the file easier for humans to
read.  The computer doesn't care as long as the opening and closing
braces are matched.

Most programmers use special text editors with features that help you
see which opening and closing braces belong with each other, e.g.  if
you put the cursor on a particular brace, the editor will highlight
its mate.  I won't presume to recommend a particular editor to you --
better to find a friend who's a programmer and get him/her to help you
choose one and get started using it.

I know this probably isn't much help, but at least it may point you in
the right direction.

Cheers,
Mike


On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 4:07 PM, Seth Williamson <address@hidden> wrote:
>
> I have turned out a few simple jobs with LilyPond, mainly simple copying jobs 
> just for practice and -- as a practical matter -- a few pieces that I needed 
> to transpose into another key.
> However, as I look at LilyPond code generated by others, it's not obvious to 
> me (usually near the end of a document) what each closing curly brace refers 
> to.
> Am I even SUPPOSED to be able to figure that out by looking at all the closed 
> curly braces, usually at different indentations on different lines?  Are you 
> supposed to see these things and know to what they apply in the code above?  
> Is there a logic here that I'm missing?
> I am trying to figure out the logic of why the close braces (in particular) 
> appear where they are and at a given indentation.  So far there's nothing 
> intuitive about it.
> Such documentation as I've been able to find at the LilyPond site and 
> elsewhere has been of limited utility in this regard.
> Is this something you just learn by doing?  Or can anybody help me out?
> Seth Williamson
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