Newsgroups: comp.lang.scheme,comp.lang.misc,gnu.misc.discuss,comp.lang.perl
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!news.cerf.net!netlabs!lwall
From: lwall@netlabs.com (Larry Wall)
Subject: Re: Scheme requires '() to be a true value (was Re: GNU Extension
Message-ID: <1994Nov12.013919.21133@netlabs.com>
Organization: NetLabs, Inc.
References: <1994Nov1.231028.6677@rosevax.rosemount.com> <MEISSNER.94Nov1224018@pasta.osf.org> <39j9f2$8h3@csnews.cs.Colorado.EDU>
Date: Sat, 12 Nov 1994 01:39:19 GMT
Lines: 48
Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.lang.scheme:11189 comp.lang.misc:19071 gnu.misc.discuss:19586 comp.lang.perl:38728

In article <39j9f2$8h3@csnews.cs.Colorado.EDU> tchrist@mox.perl.com (Tom Christiansen) writes:
: :-> In comp.lang.misc, meissner@osf.org (Michael Meissner) writes:
: :In article <1994Nov1.231028.6677@rosevax.rosemount.com>
: :grante@reddwarf.rosemount.com (Grant Edwards) writes:
: :
: :| I would hope so.  We'll give the authors the benefit of the doubt and
: :| assume that it was accidental.  Are there people who actually think
: :| having two different objects with the same name is a good thing?  If
: :| so, Why?
: :
: :Two different objects yes, two related objects it depends.
: :
: :In perl, I sometimes write:
: :
: :	foreach $foo (@foo) {
: :	}
: 
: 
: It's probably overboard, however to say :-)
: 
:     %foo = foo($foo, $$foo, @foo) if defined &foo and fileno(*foo);

You can go overboard in a lot of different directions in Perl.  This is
intentional.  It means you have a lot of ocean around you.

But regarding $ and @, this is just the ordinary singular vs. plural
distinction that every speaker of English makes on almost every noun.
Ordinary people don't get confused when you use a phrase like "the set
of all sets", though of course this confuses mathematicians greatly.  :-)

Referentiality in natural language is a fascinating topic.  These are
the sort of sentences that make linguists and semiologists wander
around muttering:

    That woman is a man.
    There's no there there.
    The ham sandwich in the corner asked for another cup of coffee.
    Boys will be boys.
    Just look at you.
    I now pronounce you man and wife.
    There's no such thing as ghosts.
    If you play with yourself you'll fall off.
    I don't like your I-can-use-anything-as-an-adjective attitude.
    If I were you, I wouldn't be you for the world.
    I thought it was on, so I turned it on, but it was off, so I turned it off.
    May we come in?

Larry
