Re: Command Languages Versus Programming Languages

In comp.unix.programmer Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

On Tue, 6 Aug 2024 08:04:35 -0000 (UTC), Sebastian wrote:
 

Better:
 
  a = b ? (c ? d : e) :
      f ? (g ? h : i) :
      j;

 
Better still (fewer confusing parentheses):
 
    a =
        b ?
            c ? d : e
        : f ?
            g ? h : i
        : j;

I find this more confusing than the parentheses.

Equivalent Lisp, for comparison:
 
  (setf a (cond (b (if c d e))
                (f (if g h i))
                (t j)))

 
You can?t avoid the parentheses, but this, too, can be improved:
 
    (setf a
        (cond
            (b
                (if c d e)
            )
            (f
                (if g h i)
            )
            (t
                j
            )
        ) ; cond
    )

If you insist on writing Lisp like that, you might as well do
this:

(ql:quickload :with-c-syntax)
(named-readtables:in-readtable with-c-syntax:with-c-syntax-readtable)

#{
   a = b ? (c ? d : e) :
       f ? (g ? h : i) :
       j;
#}