Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!ccicpg!nick
From: nick@ccicpg.UUCP (Nick Crossley)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Readable names (was Re: case sensitivity)
Message-ID: <15377@ccicpg.UUCP>
Date: 20 Mar 88 18:45:40 GMT
References: <2318@bsu-cs.UUCP> <2835@enea.se> <1810@sics.se> <3156@fluke.COM>
Reply-To: nick@ccicpg.UUCP (Nick Crossley)
Organization: CCI CPG, Irvine CA
Lines: 32
Summary: Algol68 also allows spaces in names

In article <3156@fluke.COM> mce@tc.fluke.COM (Brian McElhinney) writes:
>The only language I am aware of that allows embedded blanks is CORAL.
>It has the mis-feature of allowing any number of blanks ("the horror...
>the horror...").
>
>Are there languages other than CORAL that allow blanks in symbol names?
>
>
>Brian McElhinney
>mce@tc.fluke.com	

Yes, Algol68 allows spaces in identifiers.  It can do this because there
are two different alphabets used, one for keywords, operators and type names,
and another for identifiers, etc.  These are normally upper and lower
case, respectively.  Thus, one can say without ambiguity, but obviously
poor style :-
	BEGIN
		INT int := begin;
		REAL this is a real identifier, and here is another;

		this is a real identifier := begin + int * 2.0;
		...etc...
	END

The spaces in identifiers are not significant.  Used correctly, this feature
does make code very readable.

-- 

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Nick Crossley, CCI, 9801 Muirlands, Irvine, CA 92718-2521, USA
Tel. (714) 458-7282,  uucp: ...!uunet!ccicpg!nick