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Re: Reader option to permit brackets as parentheses
- To: Christian Lynbech <chl@tbit.dk>
- Subject: Re: Reader option to permit brackets as parentheses
- From: Greg Badros <gjb@cs.washington.edu>
- Date: 01 Jul 1999 08:32:45 -0700
- Cc: guile@cygnus.com
- References: <qrrr9mu4tw7.fsf@elwha.cs.washington.edu> <3779AC8E.A5A1BA79@ozemail.com.au> <qrraeth3c92.fsf@elwha.cs.washington.edu> <377AC053.F3E9A1BB@ozemail.com.au> <qrrzp1h2fvx.fsf@elwha.cs.washington.edu> <199907010401.VAA21885@arathorn> <qrroghx2eoe.fsf@elwha.cs.washington.edu> <oflnd0n48f.fsf@chl.tbit.dk>
Christian Lynbech <chl@tbit.dk> writes:
> IMHO, the guile reader is far too stupid as it is, so how about the
> following compromise: we extend the system with reader macros instead.
>
> For instance, we could have a reader option 'reader-dispatch-character-alist'
> (matching characters with functions) that would enable the reader to
> call out to a user defined function when encountering such a
> character.
>
> This way Greg could have his fancy parentheses, plus we could get all
> sorts of additional bonuses such as CL's #+.
>
> This would not conflict with future standards as such, because if
> someone wants to enable [ and ] to work as ( and ), it would be his
> own personal decision.
Seems reasonable to me; I'm of course a bit concerned about a
performance hit, but I trust that the dispatch can be implemented
efficiently enough.
Greg