I moved my Neovim config to fennel and haven't look back. https://github.com/Grazfather/dotfiles/blob/master/nvim/fnl/...
I have a goal to move my Neovim config to LunarML one of these days. I too would love better ergonomics over Lua.
Why Fennel?
81–90 of 106 posts
Re: Why Fennel?
#82Because it's delicious.
Re: Why Fennel?
#83So I don't think I have a strong stance on the merits or drawbacks of whitespace-significant languages versus those that use parentheses (or any other syntax choices). But, I'm curious if there are any compelling arguments that objectively demonstrate why one approach might be superior to the other or if there are at least some persuasive reasons to favor one over the other. Genuinely curious!
Re: Why Fennel?
#84At some point, every noun and verb in existence will also be the name of a language, framework, or piece of software.
not to detract attention from this cool project in the least.
Re: Why Fennel?
#85So I don't think I have a strong stance on the merits or drawbacks of whitespace-significant languages versus those that use parentheses (or any other syntax choices). But, I'm curious if there are any compelling arguments that objectively demonstrate why one approach might be superior to the other or if there are at least some persuasive reasons to favor one over the other. Genuinely curious!
I think (and am not alone) that indentation based languages are easier for beginners to learn.
The fact that indentation (whether significant to syntax or not)helps readability is something I hope I need not demonstrate since indenting is near universal in languages that use explicit delimiters.
So beginners learning a language with delimiters need to learn both delimiters and indentation, and then learn that while the latter helps them more, it's actually just the former that is required.
For beginners, mental load is death by a thousand cuts, so it may make more of a difference then an experienced programmer thinks.
[Edit]
My first reaction was just the benefits for beginners of indentation e syntax. I personally have a subjective feeling of advantages for non beginners to delimiter based syntax (I use common lisp regularly), but I have fairly low confidence in that, while I'm pretty sure of the advantages to beginners for indentation.
Re: Why Fennel?
#86So I don't think I have a strong stance on the merits or drawbacks of whitespace-significant languages versus those that use parentheses (or any other syntax choices). But, I'm curious if there are any compelling arguments that objectively demonstrate why one approach might be superior to the other or if there are at least some persuasive reasons to favor one over the other. Genuinely curious!
Nobody ever heard of python oneliners, for a start.
Re: Why Fennel?
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
You don't need to transpile it if you use https://github.com/Olical/nfnl
If you want a sample nvim setup using nfnl you can check this out: https://github.com/rafaeldelboni/cajus-nfnl
This nerdsniped me. I've finally taken plunge and started converting my aniseed config to nfnl. It's pretty painful, not even sure if I will keep the changes, but I want to see.
Re: Why Fennel?
#88So I don't think I have a strong stance on the merits or drawbacks of whitespace-significant languages versus those that use parentheses (or any other syntax choices). But, I'm curious if there are any compelling arguments that objectively demonstrate why one approach might be superior to the other or if there are at least some persuasive reasons to favor one over the other. Genuinely curious!
I think (and am not alone) that indentation based languages are easier for beginners to learn. The fact that indentation (whether significant to syntax or not)helps readability is something I hope I need not demonstrate since indenting is near universal in languages that use explicit delimiters. So beginners learning a language with delimiters need to learn both delimiters and indentation, and then learn that while t…
That does make some sense. It's so hard to go back to the beginner's mind (though undoubtedly valuable to try!), but I think you're right that this has to be easier for a beginner. There's just less syntax overall if there aren't parentheses or curly braces.
Re: Why Fennel?
#89Refreshing pragmatism re: macros >This feature is intentionally listed last because while lisp programmers have historically made a big deal about how powerful it is, it is relatively rare to encounter situations where such a powerful construct is justified.
You can hardly write anything in any mainstream Lisp without using macros.
Re: Why Fennel?
#90So I don't think I have a strong stance on the merits or drawbacks of whitespace-significant languages versus those that use parentheses (or any other syntax choices). But, I'm curious if there are any compelling arguments that objectively demonstrate why one approach might be superior to the other or if there are at least some persuasive reasons to favor one over the other. Genuinely curious!
Structural editing, macros, homoiconicity.