mndrix
notation to mark function inputs?
Should there be syntax for describing the input to a function? Perhaps ^:
?- Q = queue_cons(^,item) $ queue_new.
Q = [item].
This suggests that length $ X is sugar for length(^,~) $ X. Is that the way to go?
This would allow us to compose (and apply) functions with greater flexibility since the argument order no longer matters:
SillyAtomCodes = atom_string(~,^) of string_codes(~,^).
It may be too hard to decipher. This could be a circumstance in which too much sugar rots our teeth.
Wouldn't look fancier the symbol '@' rather than '$'? It also sounds more like function 'at' some point in the input space, or in the case of list indexing:
N = 2, format('The number word is ~w~n', [zero,one,two,three] @ N).
Update: Certainly, the '@' symbol is way overused, it would be hard to correctly generate the appropriate transformations. It might be a rather bad idea to use it.
Wouldn't look fancier the symbol '@' rather than '$'?
I decided to use $ because that is the math operator for function application. It's also the operator that Haskell uses. It seemed better to follow those precedents than try another symbol.