[Nmh-workers] mh-format

[norm]

I cannot say that mh-format is the worst language I've ever used. I've lived a
long time and have used some pretty horrible languages. But it is a contender.

Who designed it? If I ever knew, I've forgotten. I'm guessing that the answer
is that nobody designed it. It probably started out as a simple take-off of
printf and grew by small, imperceptible increments from there. I urge that
this generation of developers not add any more increments, but invent
something better from scratch, or perhaps use or adapt something that already
exists.

One of my favorite metaphors comes to mind. A man is grasping a rope, dangling
from a rising balloon. He starts a few feet from the ground, but he doesn't
want to let go because of the discomfort of falling a few feet. Later he
doesn't want to let go because he will break a limb or two if does. Still
later ... .



    Norman Shapiro