Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand)

From	The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.php
Subject	Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand)
Date	2011-07-17 21:21 +0100
Organization	albasani.net
Message-ID	<ivvg7e$ijm$1@news.albasani.net> (permalink)
References	(4 earlier) <slrnj263jm.207.hellsop@nibelheim.ninehells.com> <ivv775$egh$1@dont-email.me> <timstreater-EA2F23.20233117072011@news.individual.net> <ivvee0$eqg$1@news.albasani.net> <76idnXX5CP7_3r7TnZ2dnUVZ_rGdnZ2d@posted.localnet>

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Robert Heller wrote:
> At Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:50:23 +0100 The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> Tim Streater wrote:
>>> In article <ivv775$egh$1@dont-email.me>,
>>> August Karlstrom <fusionfile@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 2011-07-17 18:31, Peter H. Coffin wrote:
>>>>> On Sun, 17 Jul 2011 16:50:28 +0200, August Karlstrom wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 2011-07-17 15:03, Jerry Stuckle wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> This isn't mathematics - it is programming, as people have told you
>>>>>>> before. If you want mathematics, get a chalkboard.
>>>>>> Don't be silly. There are several programming languages in which `='
>>>>>> denote (surprise) equality.
>>>>> Very few that use it alone.
>>>> Pascal, Modula-2, Eiffel and Ada all use `=' for equality and `:=' for 
>>>> assignment.
>>> A good enough reason not to use these languages.
>>>
>> The chief reason I gave up on Pascal after spending 4 hours trying to 
>> make a variable length bitfield containing potentially different sorts 
>> of entities depending on what was in the first few bits...into some form 
>> of syntax that made it usable, was that in the end rewriting the whole 
>> program in C was quicker than trying to make the existing Pascal work.
>>
>> And that's the problem with these academic languages. When you meet a 
>> situation never envisaged in the academics brain that created them, you 
>> are basically shafted.
>>
>> I don't care what the actual syntax is. AS long as its clear unambiguous 
>> and consistent.
>>
>>
>> Since I write assignment more often than comparisons, I slightly prefer 
>>   a=b as the assignment and a==b as the boolean comparison.
>>
>> Aso why I hate loosely typed languages.
>>
>> I want to know that '1.02' + '3.7' is reliably going to be either '4.72' 
>> or '1.023.7', not  implementation dependent, as I found in at least one 
>> Javascript example.
> 
> Javascript's main problem here is using a common numerical operator (+)
> as a string operator as will AND allowing numbers to promoted (or
> demoted) to strings.  Javascript *could* have picked a different
> operator for string concatenation, something less likely to cause
> ambigious interpretation.
> 
Or they could have defined the language carefully enough so that it was 
unambiguous, or allowed for explicit casting to make it so.


>>                                                                 
>

Thread

error message I don understand "liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com" <liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com> - 2011-07-15 14:38 +0000
  Re: error message I don understand Billy Mays <81282ed9a88799d21e77957df2d84bd6514d9af6@myhashismyemail.com> - 2011-07-15 10:44 -0400
    Re: error message I don understand "liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com" <liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com> - 2011-07-15 17:26 +0000
      Re: error message I don understand The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-15 18:45 +0100
        Re: error message I don understand "liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com" <liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com> - 2011-07-15 18:36 +0000
          Re: error message I don understand VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2011-07-15 14:25 -0500
            Re: error message I don understand The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-15 21:36 +0100
              Re: error message I don understand "liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com" <liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com> - 2011-07-16 09:17 +0000
                Re: error message I don understand The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-16 13:52 +0100
              Re: error message I don understand Heinrich Käsner <heinkasner@gmail.com> - 2011-08-02 07:02 -0700
          Re: error message I don understand The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-15 21:35 +0100
          Re: error message I don understand Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex@attglobal.net> - 2011-07-16 09:30 -0400
            Re: error message I don understand "liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com" <liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com> - 2011-07-16 19:14 +0000
              Re: error message I don understand The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-16 22:18 +0100
  Re: error message I don understand The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-15 17:49 +0100
    Re: error message I don understand "liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com" <liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com> - 2011-07-15 17:25 +0000
  Re: error message I don understand Denis McMahon <denis.m.f.mcmahon@gmail.com> - 2011-07-16 19:28 +0000
    Re: error message I don understand "liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com" <liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com> - 2011-07-17 08:21 +0000
      Re: error message I don understand Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2011-07-17 11:10 +0200
        Re: error message I don understand The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-17 10:20 +0100
          Re: error message I don understand Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex@attglobal.net> - 2011-07-17 09:01 -0400
        Re: error message I don understand Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex@attglobal.net> - 2011-07-17 09:00 -0400
          Re: error message I don understand Denis McMahon <denis.m.f.mcmahon@gmail.com> - 2011-07-17 14:53 +0000
            Re: error message I don understand dougatmilmacdotcom@example.com (Doug Miller) - 2011-07-17 16:26 +0000
            Re: error message I don understand "liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com" <liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com> - 2011-07-18 16:11 +0000
        Re: error message I don understand Denis McMahon <denis.m.f.mcmahon@gmail.com> - 2011-07-17 14:52 +0000
          Re: error message I don understand Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2011-07-18 17:19 +0200
            Re: error message I don understand The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-18 17:01 +0100
        Re: error message I don understand "liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com" <liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com> - 2011-07-18 16:07 +0000
          Re: error message I don understand Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2011-07-18 18:27 +0200
            Re: error message I don understand "liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com" <liebling.kreuzberg@gmail.com> - 2011-07-18 20:12 +0000
  Re: error message I don understand August Karlstrom <fusionfile@gmail.com> - 2011-07-17 14:55 +0200
    Re: error message I don understand Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex@attglobal.net> - 2011-07-17 09:03 -0400
      Re: error message I don understand August Karlstrom <fusionfile@gmail.com> - 2011-07-17 16:50 +0200
        Re: error message I don understand Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex@attglobal.net> - 2011-07-17 12:26 -0400
        Re: error message I don understand "Peter H. Coffin" <hellsop@ninehells.com> - 2011-07-17 11:31 -0500
          Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) August Karlstrom <fusionfile@gmail.com> - 2011-07-17 19:47 +0200
            Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex@attglobal.net> - 2011-07-17 14:12 -0400
            Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2011-07-17 13:26 -0500
            Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2011-07-17 20:23 +0100
              Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-17 20:50 +0100
                Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2011-07-17 15:17 -0500
                Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-17 21:21 +0100
                Re: Nasty language semantics Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2011-07-18 18:17 +0200
                Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2011-07-17 23:06 +0100
                Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) August Karlstrom <fusionfile@gmail.com> - 2011-07-18 00:48 +0200
                Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex@attglobal.net> - 2011-07-17 19:23 -0400
                Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) August Karlstrom <fusionfile@gmail.com> - 2011-07-18 01:51 +0200
                Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex@attglobal.net> - 2011-07-17 21:18 -0400
                Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2011-07-18 09:22 +0100
                Re: Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) "Peter H. Coffin" <hellsop@ninehells.com> - 2011-07-18 10:57 -0500
        Re: error message I don understand Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2011-07-18 17:55 +0200
          Nasty language semantics (Was: error message I don understand) August Karlstrom <fusionfile@gmail.com> - 2011-07-18 20:31 +0200
            Re: Nasty language semantics Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2011-07-18 21:29 +0200

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