The logic of making "function application as easy as possible" in Haskell is compelling, yet I can't help but wonder if an alternate context dependent syntax would be desribable? Specifically, when inside a pair of brackets make construction of lists as easy as possible as opposed giving priority to functions. There was an earlier reply also about mapping of a "$" construct, but I don't quite understand that issue yet. I appreciate the answers by Haskell experts to my somewhat unusual question. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tillmann Rendel" <rendel@daimi.au.dk> To: "cm" <cm@raytheon.com> Cc: <beginners@haskell.org> Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 3:10 AM Subject: Re: [Haskell-beginners] Possible to update Haskell syntax
cm wrote:
In this ideal world, another example would be that [(fun1 3 4) 7] would be a valid expression and be a two-element list equivalent to [fun1 3 4, 7].
But [(fun1 1 3 4) 7] already is a valid expression, equivalent to [(fun1 1 3 4 7)] and [fun1 1 3 4 7]. The "whitespace operator" can have only one meaning.
Haskell, being a functional language, makes function application as easy as possible. Lisp, being a list processing language, makes construction of lists as easy as possible.
Tillmann