Re: Ultimate Language feature list

[John McCabe <john@nospam.assen.demon.co.uk>]

>#1 Verbosity.  C++ and Java's cryptic syntax is cute and fun, but not
>useful.  Our Language (OL -- come up with a good name) should be verbose
>like Ada and Eiffel.  Semicolons optional like Eiffel (except where
>ambiguous).
>

I'm not convinced about semi-colons being optional (except where 
ambiguous), it just confuses things like Pascal where you don't need a 
semi-colon if the next statement is an "End", or is it that you can't 
have a semi-colon where the next statement is an "End"? Certainly got me 
confused - haven't used Pascal since April 1993 though.

How about:

1) functions that return multiple values like Occam2 e.g:

	x,y = func1(a,b)

2) Prioritised task entries like the PRI PAR construct in Occam2


3) Indentation levels as part of the language syntax as in Occam2.


Unfortunately I don't have an Occam2 manual to hand (and I haven't used 
it since around December 1992), but I believe it had some very nice, 
useful, easy to use constructs, and the Transputer Development System, 
with its folding editor, was something else (at the time). All it needed 
really was user defined types, timeouts on channel outputs and a better 
image!

Still, one way or another, Ada appears to have pretty much everything 
Occam had but in a much more flexible (and sometimes complicated) manner.

-- 
Best Regards
John McCabe

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