Gosi wrote:
> On Mar 4, 10:26 am, "Stephen Taylor <edi...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>"
> <StephenTaylorF...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> Dyalog has released Version 12 of its APL, which now supports Unicode
>> for all character arrays.
> <snip, snip>
>
> It is interesting that there are two versions.
> One Classic and one with Unicode.
think about the alternative: supporting both string types within the one
interpreter -- that would be a nightmare for design and implementation
of the interpreter, and it would take forever to wean ASCII-only users
onto Unicode
Dyalog have taken the right decision, but instead of simply releasing
enhanced Unicode versions without enhanced "classic" versions, it might
be better received by their customer base if Dyalog were to announce an
end-date for ASCII-only enhancements first
Python 3 has taken a similar route, making all strings Unicode only, but
with support for "byte streams", which is handy when you don't yet know
what encoding the incoming stream uses
Perl 6 was headed down a similar route, but development seemed to be
mired in an over-ambitious design, and I haven't kept up with the story
> Companies with operations in countries outside the english speaking
> countries it will probably be quicker to embrace the Unicode version.
companies with operations entirely within the English-speaking world may
also find Unicode useful when they need to use a mathematical or
technical symbol or two, or even a quotation in Foreign (it adds so much
_style_, don't you think?)
regads . . . /phil
P.S: Python 3 also unifies the concepts of "type" and "object" -- that
is such a *right* thing to do, I expect we shall similar developments in
other languages
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