Tassilo Horn <tassilo@member.fsf.org> writes:
Richard Riley <rileyrgdev@gmail.com> writes:
Hi Richard,
[...] but Xah Lee is an excellent resource with carefully argued
points and practical approach to, amongst other things, eLisp usage.
This is a joke, isn't it?
Not in the slightest. I can only assume the bit you snipped about some
more established Emacs users disagreeing with him applies to you? Or the
tone suggests that.
When learning a language it's better to take a look at polished code
that uses this language's idioms. Xah's on a crusade against even the
most basic stuff like correct indentation...
By correct indentation I guess you mean the established custom? I cant
disagree that customs are good but personally I think the established
custom in elisp is rather awkward to the extreme. Not that i dont try to
adhere to it :-; But even looking around the C world we see various
indentation standards and everyone is entitled to their view. A constant
style is, of course, better for everyone although it does not
immediately mean that constant style is the best. As a programmer for
years I can not even begin to understand how and why eLisp bracketing
standards became as they did other than maybe to save screen real estate
in the VT100 type days. FWIW, I think saving space is better for the eye
too in some ways but I find "at a glance" analysis of most eLisp code
almost impossible because of the standard of grouping all closing
brackets.