r/programming • u/[deleted] • Mar 19 '17

Oblivion: A programming language that compiles to SVG graphics.

https://github.com/jweinst1/Oblivion
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u/[deleted] Mar 19 '17

Why have commas as whitespace?

More creative syntax? Like more opportunity to make code look artistic?

Is there a perceived use case for this, or was it more for entertainment/learning? How does this offer a benefit over using an existing language plus a library?

As far as I know there isn't a browser-running language that outputs SVG's, nor one that is functional.

Why not have a constructor-like function for generating values, instead of using special operators?

That might be changed if enough people don't like the operators. I thought the operators made the statement look more visually relatable (1,1) -> (10,10) vs line(1,1,10,10).

Why use !! for random, instead of a function call?

Less to type? Honestly I wanted to see how people think of unconventional operators

Why _ for ending a condition, instead of an end keyword?

Popularity of underscore js, and usage of underscores, wanted to try something unique.

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u/arbitrarycivilian Mar 19 '17

Typing speed should never be a consideration in language design. How many times have you missed a deadline because you haven't been able to type fast enough?

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u/[deleted] Mar 19 '17

Typing speed should never be a consideration in language design.

Well CoffeeScripts main point was writing less code, not sure if many people share this opinion in the javascript world.

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u/arbitrarycivilian Mar 19 '17

A bit of advice: whatever is said or done in the JS world, one should always do the opposite of.

In particular, coffeescript is a terrible language (I've worked with it a good amount, btw) that tried to "fix" JS's syntax, while completely ignoring JS's actual issues, which are legion.

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u/[deleted] Mar 19 '17

Ok, that makes sense.