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One easy to implement take-away: use named meta-functions instead of symbols. I think that would eliminate 80% of the notation I introduce.

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ACM SIGPLAN

@sigplan

· Sep 29, 2020

RESOLVED: PL Notation is a Barrier to Entry. blog.sigplan.org/2020/09/29/pl- by @mgrnbrg

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Brendan Zabarauskas

@brendanzab

Replying to

@wilbowma

Yeah, I often struggle with notation as a reader. This is one of the reasons I'm enjoying writing rules down in languages like Makam and Twelf - less symbols and single letter names that are hard to remember, and more deliberating over evocative names that work nicely together.

7:37 AM · Sep 30, 2020Twitter Web App

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and

I'd really appreciate better tooling though - like generating an explorable, type-set website from a language definition. That way you'd be able to explore it in a non-linear way, and remind yourself what different symbols mean as you go.