Re:GNU Shepherd
by cyphar on Saturday June 03, 2017 @10:03AM
(#14476432)
Rust's usage of single quotes comes from CS language theory (lifetimes are denoted using quotes) which I believe comes from the normal usage of quotes in possessive words (James', Amanda's). I don't think LISP's usage comes from the same place (it means something very different semantically).
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Re:GNU Shepherd
by steveklabnik on Saturday June 03, 2017 @10:47AM
(#14476606)
OCaml's usually what I see cited as the reason for Rust adopting the syntax.
... where it's a type variable.
I think we can blame the use for lifetimes entirely on the Rusties.
Re:GNU Shepherd
by steveklabnik on Saturday June 03, 2017 @11:58AM
(#14476960)
Lifetimes are also types, or more specifically, generic type parameters.
I believe the community name is Rustacean[1].
Lisp's quote (or ') comes from the word quote and the context:
(quote something)
Meaning: take whatever follows and leave it alone. Do not interpret it. If it's a list it stays a list (one of the main uses for this). The single quote ' is shorthand for that. It's meant to be an easier way to create a literal list (and other things) without escaping all the parts of a list that might be misinterpreted as symbols to evaluate (to values or functions).