Contextualizing keywords

[Max Samukha]

On Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:41:53 -0500, Andrei Alexandrescu
<SeeWebsiteForEmail at erdani.org> wrote:

>Robert Fraser wrote:
>> Walter Bright wrote:
>>> Oliver Hoog wrote:
>>>> Robert Fraser schrieb:
>>>>> Chad J wrote:
>>>>>> This makes things more difficult for syntax highlighters.  A number of
>>>>>> them will just not work correctly because they don't actually parse 
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> code.
>>>>>> That's all I've got.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ehhh.... How often will you actually use the identifiers? The point 
>>>>> isn't to make them free for use, it's more to reduce the number of 
>>>>> people bitching about how many keywords there are.
>>>>
>>>> I guess they would still keep complaining since the number of 
>>>> available keywords to be remembered doesn't decrease.
>>>
>>> There are a million words in the English language, so it's not likely 
>>> that we'll run short of identifier space in the conceivable future :-)
>>>
>>> The real problem is remembering the keywords.
>> 
>> Eh? I disagree -- think about how many uses of "static" there are, or 
>> the wars about "enum". Overloading keywords is MUCH more confusing than 
>> reserving another word.
>
>Confession:
>
>I've never, ever been confused by the use of "static". Not even once, 
>and not even when I was a complete beginner. I have always taken in the 
>numerous jokes related to "static" with the politely faked, resigned 
>smile of someone who knows will never really "get" it. And deep in my 
>heart of hearts, whenever a "static" joke comes about, the belief that 
>I'm an outcast sinks in a bit deeper.
>
>Guess it's time for me to join the Static-Impaired Anonymous...
>
>
>Andrei

I dare say I don't believe you. What about static (aka fixed-size)
arrays that can be allocated non-statically on stack or statically in
the static data segment? So we have static static arrays and static
non-static arrays. If it's not a confusion, I don't know what it is.

The D specs at
http://www.digitalmars.com/d/2.0/arrays.html#static-arrays continue
the tradition. Please read "Static Initialization of Static Arrays".
The section confusingly claims that static arrays are not static when
they appear in a local context without 'static' modifier.