I know this thread is a bit stale now, but didn't see what the likely conclusion of this issue is meant to be
I see that 3.9 (7055) displays underscores - I installed the Shout package (to get syntax highlighting back) and see that there is a preference for underscore vs :=. Is it the idea that the appearance of the left arrow will eventually be built into the code editor, and for the interim those who prefer left-arrow should use bear with the underscore actually appearing in code?
Would like to vote that that the the elegance, and combined millennia's worth of neural wiring among smalltalkers who've become accustomed to the left-assignment key far outweighs the danger of off-putting newbies.
If it's too difficult to work it into 3.9 for technical reasons, then no complaints there (especially since I'm not volunteering to make it happen) - just don't think that purported "confusion" is a good reason to deny use of left-arrow as an option. I strongly disagree with the idea that having Paragraph editor "magically" display one or the other is somehow a bad thing. Just my $0.02.
Jay
On 6/7/06, Todd Blanchard <tblanchard@...> wrote:
I would also suggest that the left arrow is off-putting to
newbies. There's
no obvious key for it, and it causes a lot of confusion for the
user trying
to figure out how to make one. So it ends up being a barrier to
entry.
Making ParagraphEditor "magically" replace things (or render them
specially)
isn't really better.
Even worse, the tranditional assignment operator looks an aweful lot like the figure that is silk screened on my "Backspace" key (at least on my keyboard). ;-)
I think it's time to let this convention go - it's more trouble
than its
worth.
With that said, I really *love* the single left arrow for assignment. I am saddened by the trend to eject it, but I understand it might not be the best for the long run.
I guess I can get used to := instead, but it just feels so "programmery".
Regards,
John
-- The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. -- George Bernard Shaw