anaphoric

I wouldn't call the lack of anaphoric expression a problem, but I prefer that it be easier to add anaphoric expression to Ruby.

Although point-free style achieves (or surpasses) the brevity of anaphoric style, it does so in a manifestly different way.

How is the lack of an anaphoric expression in Ruby a wart or even a fundamental problem?

For example, the Python mailing list every once in awhile has an active debate if anaphoric `aif' should be allowed in the language [0].

The last time I wrote an anaphoric macro (let alone the scope-capturing one), the Clojure IRC channel had a heart-attack.

You can do cool stuff with unhygienic macros, however, like anaphoric macros.

Are there any anaphoric variable names in python, like cmd.exe?

There are definitely those types of people in the Clojure community (amalloy wrote a decent article on anaphoric macros in Clojure), but the depth isn't there.

You can still do anaphoric macros with hygienic macros.

(require '[clojure.walk:refer [postwalk]]) (defmacro filter [ds & anaphoric-pred] (let [row-name (gensym 'row) pred (postwalk (fn [form] (if (and (symbol?

Feel free to reply at mjm@anaphoric.com or mjm@cs.umu.se.

Take anaphoric-if for example, which is classically implemented as a macro; all you really need is the ability to manipulate the local variables of a closure from the outside.

If macros are used properly, i.e., for implementing nice, multi-staged, composable eDSLs, instead of just another anaphoric if or similarly useless "extension", then a Lisp codebase is much easier to read than anything that does not allow implementing macro-based eDSLs.

Anaphoric: Our consumer web search product is still some time away, but we have launched Powerlabs to a small group of users and we are inviting more every week.