1.2: adda/cstr/case/
similar to goto labels not function points list:
[1.5: intro:
. the case stmt was seen to share the same structure as
that of the param'list, record'literal,
and the function points list:
( domain-elements,,,: codomain-element
, d,d,d,d: cod
) -- if a domain element is followed by a comma,
then it's part of a list of domain elements
all sharing the same codomain element .
. however,
the colon character is also used for identifying address labels:
( label,,,: ; ;;;
label:
...)
-- the c lang's fall-through case stmt has similar syntax
in that it's reusing label syntax * .
. the case doesn't need commas like the function points list;
because, it can work like other labels; [1.31:
(the case stmt does still use commas for the domain lists;
ie, for when multiple cases having the same target ).]
. the usual (;) vs (,) priority is exemplified by the matrix, eg:
( el, el, el,
; el, el, el,
; el, el, el ),
[1.31: this is contrast to the list of statement's
in which declaration stmt's use commas in the domain list:
( v1, v2, v3: shared-type
; v1, v2, v3: shared-type
; stmt; stmt; stmt
);]
. a case list (the list of control paths being offered)
has elements that include sequences (of stmt's);
so, we have to make sure that the context always tells us
which situation you're going into:
a list of lists, (as seen in a matrix) versus
a list of sequences .
. if a sequence of stmts is an element in matrix
it creates ambiguity if unparenthesized:
(,,,
; ,,, ;;; ,
; ,,,
) .
*: [1.31:
. actually, a key feature of c's case syntax,
is the case-prefixing used within the body-container of
switch ( expression ) body-container:
switch ( expression )
{ declaration stmts ;;; -- adda instead has inline decl's .
case a: -- the case label is like a stmt but terminated by (:);
case b: stmt; stmt; -- a's and b's target stmts .
default: stmt .
} .
. the adda case stmt differs from c's in that
it is like its other conditional stmt (the if):
truth ? stmt else stmt; -- the if-else;
truth ? #true: stmt; #false: stmt; #; -- the case .
. like c, however, adda tries to minimize syntax;
and, towards that end,
notice the cases wouldn't need paren's around them if
the final case keyword was followed by the (;);
conversely, the (#.) is not needed if
the case stmt or its body are in paren's;
however, always having a case-terminal at the end of case
might help syntax errors involving enclosures;
or else it could be thought of as a type of enclosure:
( ,,, ; ,,, ; ,,, . ,,, ; ,,, ; ,,, ) -- for the data
#a: s;s;s; #b: s;s;s; #; -- for the cases .
. if preferring english over symbols, (case) = (#):
truth ?
case true: stmt;
case false: stmt;
case; ]-1.31
1.2: adda/cstr/case/
supporting c's fall-through style:
. should the case like c's be called fallthru?
how could it be called jmp or goto?
it should include the usual syntax shared by
all conditional stmt's .
[... but that syntax is about to change:]
[@] adda/cstr/case/similar to goto labels not function points list
fallthru e ? (e, ,,, : s; s; s; e,,,: s;;; );
--
. the inside of a case stmt looks just like a stmt block .
. fallthru is a control function of 1 arg:
fallthru(case.stmt).stmt;
it expects its arg to be a case stmt .
1.5: inverting the default:
. a more intuitive use of the fallthru keyword
would be to have it used for
meaning just the opposite of the c lang's break stmt:
. when you wanted to fall-through,
then the fallthru stmt would be used to override
the default behavior .
1.5: minimize reserved words:
. instead of fallthru as a keyword
it might be better to reuse what we have,
such as (enter next),
-- "(next) doesn't have to be a reserved word,
because it's still local to the arg of function"enter --
or generalize it like this: [1.8:
enter case [some label within the case stmt] ].
adda/cstr/case/
only fallthru's need an exit stmt:
1.2:
. in a fallthru, the break is called exit,
just as in the loops,
when loops and case stmts are nested
you can specify where you want to exit to:
ie, "(exit loop) vs "(exit fallthru) .
. if it's a normal (non-fallthru) case stmt,
then there is no need for an exit stmt
so mentioning exit
would apply to a surrounding loop or fallthru .
1.5: not true:
. that's actually debatable;
because, a case could want to bail out early?;
conversely,
while an exit may be useful for some,
it could be inconvenient for many,
as it is very common have a case within a loop,
so if the case's use of exit could apply to itself
instead of the surrounding loop,
then that use of the exit stmt would have to specify
whether it referred to the {case stmt, loop stmt},
and the default target for an exit from a case stmt
would intuitively be exit case,
whereas in most cases the exit loop was desired;
then again,
it would be simpler, and more readable,
to have no default,
and then you could let coders have maximal freedom,
exiting anything from anywhere .
. furthermore,
even fall-through case stmts rarely do a fall-through;
they usually have more break stmt's than not;
so, the default behavior at the end of a case (case.stmt`branch)
should be (exit case) rather than (fallthru)
and if you mean otherwise, use an (enter next case).stmt
only at the end of the particular case
that needs to fall through .
1.2: adda/cstr/case/
supporting c's fall-through style:
. should the case like c's be called fallthru?
how could it be called jmp or goto?
it should include the usual syntax shared by
all conditional stmt's .
[... but that syntax is about to change:]
[@] adda/cstr/case/similar to goto labels not function points list
fallthru e ? (e, ,,, : s; s; s; e,,,: s;;; );
--
. the inside of a case stmt looks just like a stmt block .
. fallthru is a control function of 1 arg:
fallthru(case.stmt).stmt;
it expects its arg to be a case stmt .
1.5: inverting the default:
. a more intuitive use of the fallthru keyword
would be to have it used for
meaning just the opposite of the c lang's break stmt:
. when you wanted to fall-through,
then the fallthru stmt would be used to override
the default behavior .
1.5: minimize reserved words:
. instead of fallthru as a keyword
it might be better to reuse what we have,
such as (enter next),
-- "(next) doesn't have to be a reserved word,
because it's still local to the arg of function"enter --
or generalize it like this: [1.8:
enter case [some label within the case stmt] ].
adda/cstr/case/
the cases need not be literals:
1.2:
. whether the labels need to be const's,
being enums they eval to self,
so generally the case guard can always be eval'd;
you can also use expressions as literal cases
by quoting them, which supresses eval;
in that case,
the expr being cased should eval to etree;
because, a quoted expression is always an etree .
