From: joel de guzman (isis-tech_at_[hidden])
Date: 2001-05-31 11:03:38
> > Hello Dale Gerdemann,
> >
> > Would you like to explain why?
> >
> > I can never understand why someone who can comprehend
> > complex abstractions, build intricate applications and frameworks,
> > communicate on such a high technical level, absorb all the syntax
> > rules of c++, find *a versus a* "confusing", while, on the other
> > hand, a 'newbie' find it to be not confusing at all.
> >
> > I argue that it is *not* about clarity of syntax at all. It is,
> plain
> > and simply, about personal preference. Nothing more.
> >
>
> It's a bit like writing fractions with the denominator on top. Nothing
> really wrong with the idea, but it goes strongly against convention,
> and I guarantee it would confuse intelligent people. Or try learning
> German numbers, where you have to say drei und zwanzig instead of 23.
> Why do otherwise intelligent learners of German sometimes get their
> numbers backwards?
I beg to disagree. It is not like fractions at all. It is more akin to
a volkswagen with the engine at the back :-) Experienced
automobile folks get a mild shock with the first encounter,
say, ahhh, and that's it. No paradigm shift, no big deal.
Joel de Guzman