On Wed, Jul 31, 2002 at 09:32:19AM -0700, david carlton wrote:
So I think that, if this syntax is changed, the fact that expressions
could start with unary minus signs is going to cause much less
grumbling from users than the fact that, once the old p/x syntax gets
obsoleted, they'll have to convert over to typing p -x instead.
Don't forget that prefix `-' and `--' are valid C operators. You
can't tell the difference between the above and a valid C
expressions. I think that rules `-...' out.
It makes '-...' undesirable, but I don't think it rules it out. Yes,
there are situations where what had previously been a legitimate print
statement now becomes either a syntax error or, worse yet, remains
legitimate but with a different meaning. But I doubt they are all
_that_ common, and there is an easy workaround once you're aware of
this problem, namely enclosing your expression in parentheses.
There is an old rule ``KISS''. At some point there are too many
workarounds and edge cases and they are arising too frequently.