Re: Ambiguity (what else!?) question

On Wednesday 29 January 2025 17:39:35 (+01:00), Norm Tovey-Walsh wrote:

> Steven Pemberton <steven.pemberton@cwi.nl> writes:
> > ; is not or! A rule is a list of alternatives, separated by semicolons; like CSS. I suppose you could read it as 'or' if you wanted, but nowhere is it defined as an 'or'.
> 
> That seems like splitting hairs.

I seriously think there is a conceptual difference. "Or" sounds like an operator, but ";" is not an operator, just a separator in a list.
 "**" or "++" are real operators, and show up in the abstract document; ";" ".", ":", and "," on the other hand are just syntax, and don't show up there.

> I think lots of users would look at
> 
>   S: a ; b ; c .
> 
> and say that an “S” is an “a” or a “b” or a “c”. (That *is* what it means.)

But it isn't! It also means "and" from that point of view. That's where ambiguity comes from.

> > And by the way, '|' is an option for people who have trouble with semicolons.
> 
> Are you having a bad day? Saying “people who have trouble with” sounds awfully patronizing.

Oh sorry if it does. I have trouble with "=" instead of ":", because it isn't defining an equality, but is a definition, and I dislike the misuse of symbols like that.
I blame FORTRAN.

Steven

Received on Thursday, 30 January 2025 15:25:37 UTC