Question about feasibility: option to use JS function syntax for nested functions, especially inside dicts/object-literals

I would like to be able to ~mix function syntaxes a bit~ try allowing JavaScript function syntax for [nested] anonymous functions. Has that been explored before? Any warnings before I explore it?

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Context:

In the RapydScript code in the README, I find the nested/inlined anonymous functions difficult to read. I understand the reasoning, and I “get” the ; workaround/idiom. I would just be very curious how RapydScript looks/feels if it allows for optional curly brackets on anonymous functions. If needed, maybe those could be with function as the keyword instead of def? That would feel like a good compromise to me.

(Alternatively, the braces version of function syntax could be arrow-function style like (foo) => { return ... } … which might be good for certain libraries’ APIs.)

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I can take a stab at prototyping this, to see what we think. I just figured I would ask about it before I start throwing code around 😸

[valq7711]

For object-literal’s functions defined using indentation comma is optional, so you can:

obj = {
    foo: 1,
    bar: 2,
    one: def():
        return 1  # semicolon and comma are not needed
    two: def():
        return 2
    three: 3,
    four: 4
}

or even:

params = {
    width: 50,
    height: 30,
    def onclick(self, event):  # note that `self` is required as first arg
        alert("you clicked me")
    def onmouseover(self, event):
        $(self).css('background', 'red')
    def onmouseout(self, event):
        # reset the background
        $(self).css('background', '')
}

if you still need extra begin/end tokens you can always use parentheses:

params = {
    width: 50,
    height: 30,
    onclick: (def(event):
        alert("you clicked me")
    ),
    onmouseover: (def(event):
        $(this).css('background', 'red')
    ),
    onmouseout: (def(event):
        # reset the background
        $(this).css('background', '')
    )
}


factorial = (def(n):
    if n == 0:
        return 1
    return n * factorial(n-1)
)

---

…to have clear open/close, whereas ;-or-newline can’t provide that as well in a nested context.

I totally agree about ;, but what’s the problem with newline+de-indentation? This is almost the same as in the class definition, no?

[atsepkov]

Sorry, there should be a comma between the 2 arguments I missed:

takesTwoCallbacks(def(): return 2 + 2;, def(): return 3 ^ 2;)

On Wed, Jan 5, 2022 at 11:02 PM Alexander Tsepkov @.***> wrote:

I tend to err on the side of minimalism in language design, and not a fan of multiple syntaxes that do the same thing.

What would be the use case that can’t be accomplished with the current syntax?

There is already a way to inline an anonymous function with more logic after it by using a semicolon, if that’s what you’re looking for:

takesTwoCallbacks(def(): return 2 + 2; def(): return 3 ^ 2;)

On Wed, Jan 5, 2022 at 10:32 PM Michael Floering @.***> wrote:

I would like to be able to mix function syntaxes a bit, at least, using braces on inline/nested functions. Has that been explored before? Any warnings before I explore it?

Context:

In the RapydScript code in the README, I find the nested/inlined anonymous functions difficult to read. I understand the reasoning, and I “get” the ; workaround/idiom. I would just be very curious how RapydScript looks/feels if it allows for optional curly brackets on anonymous functions. If needed, maybe those could be with function as the keyword instead of def? That would feel like a good compromise to me.

(Alternatively, the braces version of function syntax could be arrow-function style like (foo) => { return … } … which might be good for certain libraries’ APIs.)

I can take a stab at prototyping this, to see what we think. I just figured I would ask about it before I start throwing code around 😸

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