new syntax - a provocation

Vlad Dumitrescu vlad_dumitrescu@REDACTED
Tue Sep 23 10:00:10 CEST 2003


> So please, if we want Erlang to spread, let's keep the language stable
> and have a moratorium on new constructs, new bif's etc.

Yes, of course. Anything new should be well thought. There is a list with
several proposals at http://www.bluetail.com/~rv/Erlang-spec/index.shtml, is
that being used?

The problem is to find the right balance: not too many new things, not too much
old stuff kept for the sake of compatibility. I think records (even if now they
show up being not so well specified), list comprehensions and the binary syntax
are good things to have been added to the language. There may be more where
those came from.

Perhaps a way to keep the balance is to have an experimental area to play in,
without danger of compromising comercial users. Some things need to be seen and
'felt' to be able to judge their useability.

/Vlad



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