Syntax refers to the set of rules that define how to write a correctly structured program in a language. It explicitly does not deal with the program's meaning or interpretation.
38
votes
7answers
2k views
Why are semicolons and commas interchanged in for loops?
In many languages (a wide list, from C to JavaScript):
commas , separate arguments (e.g. func(a, b, c)), while
semicolons ; separate sequential instructions (e.g. instruction1; instruction2; ...
29
votes
2answers
921 views
Why do bitwise operators have lower priority than comparisons?
Could someone explain the rationale, why in a bunch of most popular languages (see note below) comparison operators (==, !=, <, >, <=, >=) have higher priority than bitwise operators (&, |, ...
26
votes
9answers
1k views
What is the difference between “Syntax” and “Syntactic Sugar”
Background
The Wikipedia page on Syntactic Sugar states:
In computer science, syntactic sugar is syntax within a programming language that is designed to make things easier to read or to express. ...
2
votes
2answers
119 views
When to (enforce) linting in a software project
I'm heading a new team of developers working on a software project that makes use of continuous integration (circleci) w/ a pretty fleshed out suite of busterjs unit/integration/acceptance tests. Our ...
0
votes
0answers
10 views
Is there other syntax for this pointer operation? [migrated]
This is a really basic question, but I'm not sure how to google it.
I have a pointer to a vector (or array of pointers), say
vector<int *> *p;
Is there an alternative syntax for indexing ...
42
votes
4answers
15k views
Why do programming languages, especially C, use curly braces and not square ones? [closed]
The definition of "C-Style language" can practically be simplified down to "uses curly braces ({})." Why do we use that particular character (and why not something more reasonable, like [], which ...
2
votes
3answers
431 views
Checking “instanceof” rather than value using a switch statement
Is there some syntax (other than a series of if statements) that allows for the use of a switch statement in Java to check if an object is an instanceof a class? I.e., something like this:
switch ...
2
votes
1answer
162 views
Are there studies about foo/bar/baz and how they inhibit or facilitate comprehension?
Preface
foo,bar,baz are instantly recognizable signifiers of example or pseudo code. Their popularity seems to be a strong indication that the programming community accepts them as a good way to ...
11
votes
4answers
503 views
Why store a function inside a python dictionary?
I'm a python beginner, and I just learned a technique involving dictionaries and functions. The syntax is easy and it seems like a trivial thing, but my python senses are tingling. Something tells me ...
2
votes
1answer
138 views
How are “Json.org”-like specs graphs called and how can I generate them?
In http://www.json.org Douglas Crockford shows the specs of the JSON format in two interesting ways:
In the right side column he lists a text spec that looks like a YACC or LEX listing.
In the main ...
7
votes
3answers
411 views
Why can't we write nested shorthand functions in Clojure?
I tried to evaluate a Clojure expression with nested shorthand functions today, and it wouldn't let me.
The expression was:
(#(+ % (#(+ % (* % %)) %)) 5) ; sorry for the eye bleed
The output was:
...
2
votes
2answers
103 views
How to programmatically construct textual query
Here is a query language, more specifically, it's JQL, you can use it in Jira, to search for issues, it's something like SQL, but quite simpler.
My case is that, I need to construct such queries ...
2
votes
5answers
340 views
Why do node packages put a comma on a newline?
I'm learning node.js and am trying out Express. My first app had this code:
var express = require('express')
, routes = require('./routes')
, user = require('./routes/user')
, http = ...
1
vote
3answers
183 views
Syntax Memorization [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Programmers forgetting syntax
Do programmers need a good memory?
I'm a new web developer. I began learning HTML/CSS around June of this year. I picked them up ...
2
votes
2answers
243 views
Why do different languages have different syntaxes? [closed]
It seems like if every language had the same core syntax but different semantics and features, new programmers or those learning a new language could focus on the theory and more abstract concepts of ...