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From: rh@smds.UUCP (Richard Harter)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: improve language by dropping ;
Summary: Makes life easier for the parser
Message-ID: <329@smds.UUCP>
Date: 18 Feb 91 06:46:45 GMT
References: <8507.27b91f9e@jetson.uh.edu>
Organization: SMDS Inc., Concord, MA
Lines: 23

In article <8507.27b91f9e@jetson.uh.edu>, cosc13gb@jetson.uh.edu writes:
> discussion not flame invite
>   why does language has separator ; ? Is it for the benefit of the compiler
>   can compiler now smart enough to drop the ;
>   ; will always slow down programmer(human) who will forget them
>   If compiler must have ; how about a tool that include with every compiler
>   that will insert ; semi-automatic

It is possible to design languages without separators; however it is
almost universally agreed that the hair isn't worth it.  There is, however,
a real split between languages which use end-of-line as a statement
separator and those which use semicolon.  (Fortran vs Algol.)  Since it
is normal practice to put one statement per line it is natural to use
end-of-line as a separator.  However the semicolon does let you put more
than one statement per line or to use more than one line for a statement.
One can get into some very heated arguments about which is better --
it's mostly a religious matter.  It all goes back to the days when some
people used cards and others used paper tapes.
-- 
Richard Harter, Software Maintenance and Development Systems, Inc.
Net address: jjmhome!smds!rh Phone: 508-369-7398 
US Mail: SMDS Inc., PO Box 555, Concord MA 01742
This sentence no verb.  This sentence short.  This signature done.