Re:Dreaming of a Parser Generator for Language Design
by andrewla on Friday March 08, 2019 @09:19AM
(#19337643)
Agreed. And the cost is higher than that even; most people who look at code are not the authors of the code, and presenting people with a snippet that looks like `a + (b + c)` seems like it would always be a stumbling block -- "why not `(a + b) + c`? Is there a reason, or did they just type it that way because that's their style?"
Careful there. We're not talking about one compiler writer and one user. There will be potentially many users. That little benefit of using parentheses will be multiplied across users (and across uses).
Paying a large cost upfront to enjoy small but lasting benefits could very well be worth the cost. (Assuming the benefits are real of course. That would be a separate issue.)