Proposal: Array syntax View as Markdown

Ford, Mike [LSS] wrote:

On 05 November 2003 17:06, Marco Tabini contributed these pearls of
wisdom:

Christian Schneider wrote:

Marco Tabini wrote:

$a = [[1,2,3],[1=>[1,3,2,2], "a"=>[[1,2,3,4],4,[1,2]]];

$a = array(array(1,2,3),array(1=>array(1,3,2,2),
"a"=>array(array(1,2,3,4),4,array(1,2)));

Besides my previous points, something even more abominable:

$a = [1,2,$b[11]];

Is that confusing enough for you? ;-)

What's confusing about it?

The fact that $b[11] references an item of an array, while
[1,2,$b[11]] assigns values to the array $a.

That's not confusing -- at least no more so than the different meanings of -
in $b = -$a and $b = $c - $a.

The fact that you (and,
probably, most of us) can't tell right off the bat

Bzzt! Wrong! It was because I could tell right off the bat exactly what
it meant that I asked why it was confusing.

is a clear sign
that this is a bad idea, because it's ambiguous and confusing.

And again, wrong assumption -- I asked what's confusing because to me it
looks completely unambiguous and totally clear.

The same line using the current syntax, btw, would have looked like
this:

$a = array (1,3,$b[11]);

Well, I can see true enough that that has the same meaning, but for me it's
harder to read and interpret. I see the () first and start assuming it's a
function, before my eyes and brain have time to digest that the name of the
"function" is array -- result: a moment's confusion whilst I deal with the
ambiguity of using function syntax for a language construct. With the []
syntax, I see the square brackets and they immediately shout ARRAY
CONSTRUCTOR at me -- result: instant understanding and I'm on to the next
line of code in a flash.

Cheers!

Mike

Mike Ford, Electronic Information Services Adviser,
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