not operator operator..

[Derek Parnell]

On Wed, 05 Apr 2006 07:37:44 +1000, Regan Heath <regan at netwin.co.nz> wrote:

> On Tue, 4 Apr 2006 06:03:39 -0700, S. Chancellor  
> <dnewsgr at mephit.kicks-ass.org> wrote:

>> !is is ugly and hard to read
>
> I disagree on both points.

I disagree with Regan and agree with S.

>> code is supposed to be beautiful.
>
> code is not supposed to be english, it's supposed to be code.
> code _is_ beautiful, english is not.

While that may be true, code is also meant to be easy to read by humans.  
My opinion is that keywords that are a combination of letters and symbols  
are contrary to human reading expectations and thus these decrease  
legibility. To overcome this, people need time to become accustomed to  
them before reading code for them becomes easier.

My guess is that most people who first come to read D code that contains  
"!is" will have a momentary pause, but after a few repetitions will see it  
as no more 'confusing' than seeing "e.g." in standard English text.

-- 
Derek Parnell
Melbourne, Australia