[ANSI-Smalltalk] Re: A list of interesting methods, ifNotNil:

[Peter van Rooijen]

I agree completely with Paulo (an another non-native speaker)

On Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:21:15 +0200, Paolo Bonzini <bonzini at gnu.org> wrote:

<snip>
>>
>> ( Curiousity strikes.  Is it a collision
>>   of multiples, or no discernable meaning
>>   at all, when you read those (my) selectors?
>> )
>
> #orIfNil: is clear: return this object or, if it is nil, the block.
> (See the English compared with the keyword?  That's the number-1 feature
> of the Smalltalk grammar for me.  As a non-native speaker, it is a
> perfect balance between human and machine parsability).
>
> The others seem either grammatically incorrect (#isNil: because the
> sentence is terminated after "X is Y") or indistinguishable
> (#notNil:/nonNil: which is another point in favor of variable-arity
> blocks...).
>
> Actually are #isNil: and #orIfNil: meant to be exactly the same?
>
> Thanks for the interesting answer (though I snipped most of it).
>
> Paolo
>
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-- 
Peter van Rooijen
Esstede 19
1112 EP Diemen
m: 06-2854 2048