On Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 4:25 PM, Javier Guerra
<javier@guerrag.com> wrote:
On Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 9:19 AM, Gé Weijers <
ge@weijers.org> wrote:
> Seriously, language syntax is mostly designed for the human reader. If
> it does not have to be readable we could keep our languages really
> simple.
Both are languages that, in the hands of experts, lead to eminently readable code; but in the hands of someone not familiar with the underlying philosophy (or just plain lazy), leads to obfuscated code in no time at all.
One thing to note from this, is that a heavy syntax language (like Java or C#) leads to an evironment where problems due to choosing poor names and structure can easily get hidden by the syntax.
Whereas in a "non-syntax" language (like Forth, Lisp or Smalltalk) using poor naming or structure makes this immediately obvious through the very apparent ugliness of the code.
Elegance in code is something to strive for.
Robby
