J2 decorator grammar

[Robert Brewer]

Michael Sparks wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Aug 2004, Robert Brewer wrote:
> ...
> > Did you ever fix the scope issue?
> 
> I've fixed the scoping issue.

HOO-FREAKIN-RAY! :) Way to go! Now I feel we're a solid "go" for this
alternate proposal. I'm about 60% done writing and should have something
on c.l.p. by Monday morning. I'll send you an early draft tonight or
tomorrow, if you like (Paul McGuire, do you want one as well?). I expect
to have a couple of days of feedback and revisions from c.l.p., then
probably a "call for signatories/detractors"--Guido asked for an
assessment of the *whole* community's support for it, as opposed to just
those who don't like A1. Not another poll--I'd rather have consensus.

> The current patch uses "decorate" as the keyword. Changing 
> that of course
> is utterly trivial - it's also something I think *should* be changed.

A good-sized section of the proposal will address this, most likely
recommending a keyword or two but not demanding them over others Guido
may prefer. That's the one area that I think will remain mostly
subjective, although I plan to lay out some boundaries.

> The reason for suggesting this change is for one simple 
> reason - python
> makes often use of the idiom "decorate-dosomething-undecorate" - eg in
> sorting. Using decorate would probably clash heavily with 
> people's code.

For that reason (and others), I plan not to promote any form of the word
"decorate". We can start having that conversation now if you want. ;)

> > Might it have something to do with:
> > static void
> > symtable_node(struct symtable *st, node *n)
> > {
> 
> It certainly did! Your suggested change was necessary, however it was
> incomplete - the child to traverse also needed changing. (I really
> should've thought of that sooner - of course it's no longer zero! :)

Bah. I actually started typing a sentence mentioning that, but didn't,
since I wasn't familiar enough with the compiler to say "it needs this,
as well". Grr.

THANK YOU for moving us from 80% to 100! Excellent timing.


Robert Brewer
MIS
Amor Ministries
fumanchu at amor.org

P.S. And I just watched the newly-released 'director's cut' of "The
Gathering" today. No Zathras yet, but at least I'm in the right
universe. ;)