User talk:Alainmarty

From Rosetta Code

Hi, I see you've been adding task examples for Lambdatalk. I created a Category page for the language so it shows up in various indexing functions on the site, and stubbed it out with... well... not much. If you are familiar with the language, perhaps you could fill in some of the missing details? See the Lambdatalk page. You can compare with the Scheme page for templates and typical information listed. Thanks for your contributions! --Thundergnat (talk) 13:44, 20 September 2017 (UTC)

( Hi Thundergnat, you created this page on 2017/09/20 and sent me a mail about that, asking for some details on this Lambdatalk page. Is that what you expected? I can't send you back a mail via Special:EmailUser/Thundergnat. )
(Moved conversation to user talk page.) Hi Alain, Yes that is fine. My expectations were very low; really just looking for some broad overview info. Since you seem to be the most active (only?) Lambdatalk user on the site, I figured you would be able to give more useful information than I. By the way, It is useful if you add some small explanation for your edits in the summary line below. It shows up on the Special:RecentChanges page and makes it easier for others to reason about what is going on. Also, it is considered good etiquette to sign edits on discussion pages (like this one). Do that by adding four tildas together at the end of your message. Like this --> ~~~~ Thanks, again! --Thundergnat (talk) 13:56, 21 September 2017 (UTC)

Edit summary

Hi, could you please add summaries to your future edits? It is quite useful when looking at history, and when reading e-mail notifications (eg. when a page on my watchlist is changed). It doesn't take a lot of effort to write a short summary but saves a lot of time for other people (and perhaps even for yourself). --Dick de Bill (talk) 14:55, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

Hi Dick de Bill
I apologize for not respecting proper etiquette by not filling in the "edit summary" field. I didn't understand its importance. I : do now. It is the same for the field "Watch this page". I understand now.
Usually I carefully test my entries with a "preview" but sometimes I make careless mistakes that force me to save the page several : times.
I will be more careful in the future and in any case I will report it in the "summary" field.
Alain Marty
Hi again Alainmarty, reminding you of the edit summary again as you have been adding numerous contributions, all without summary. Please be so kind and take the time to write a summary! Thank you! --Dick de Bill (talk) 18:44, 21 May 2020 (UTC)


There is an option to let one know if there isn't an   edit summary   when doing a   Save page
click on (your)   Preferences     (top right of your screen)
click on   Editing     (3rd option under Preferences)
scroll down to the   Editor   section
check the   box       Prompt me when entering a blank edit summary
click on the button     Save       (near the bottom of the page)
-- Gerard Schildberger (talk) 20:13, 21 May 2020 (UTC)
Seeing as the "blank edit summary" prompt is on by default (AFAIK), it would seem that Alain has deliberately disabled it and wishes not to be reminded; but I might be wrong about that. --Dick de Bill (talk) 08:48, 22 May 2020 (UTC)
(The default for this Wiki is that the box is   unchecked   and most likely Alain didn't know about its existence.   I certainly didn't when I was new to Rosetta Code.   At least, the default was   unchecked when I first signed up many, many moons ago.)     -- Gerard Schildberger (talk) 15:24, 22 May 2020 (UTC)
Hi Dick de Bill and Gerard Schildberger: I just followed the procedure given by Gerard Schildberger. Maybe in the wrong way. I guess that the goal is to avoid useless and boring successive warning mails sent to people concerned by the page's content. But I'm not sure to really understand what happens. I would like to be clean concerning the rosetta.org "netiquette". Please, help me to be in the right way. Thank you in advance. Alain Marty
When I add a Phix entry, for instance by clicking the edit next to an existing PHP entry, I always make sure to replace "header|PHP" with "header|Phix", even if I cannot think of anything else to say. --Pete Lomax (talk) 12:51, 22 May 2020 (UTC)
When adding comments such as the above, it's customary to indent (further) entries/responses by indenting them by using colons (:),   and adding an additional colon   (which causes more indentation)   for each new response.     -- Gerard Schildberger (talk) 15:13, 22 May 2020 (UTC)
Of course, if it's a new subject, then one would normally add a new section header (talk topic) by entering on a new line:       == some new subject thingy ==         and then your text on the next line(s)   with no prefixing colon.     I normally also add a blank line before and after the section header to make it easier to peruse section headers.   After completing your response (or new entry),   sign your (Rosetta Code) name.   I normally use two minus signs, a blank, and then four tildes   (~).   The two minus signs just helps put an eyecatcher after your prose and before Wiki's signature thingy:   your (clickable) Rosetta Code userid followed by a time and date stamp   (expanded by Wiki from the four tildes).     -- Gerard Schildberger (talk) 15:13, 22 May 2020 (UTC)
Thank you for all these explanations. To conclude, when I add a new entry in a "task" page, what should I write in the "Summary" field? And what should I write in this field when I make a slight adjustment? -- AlainMarty (User talk:Alain Marty)
I usually enter:     added a new (draft) task, also added a REXX computer programming language entry.     -- Gerard Schildberger (talk) 17:53, 22 May 2020 (UTC)
As for slight adjustment and tweaks, use something like:
added/changed comments and whitespace
changed a variable name
fixed a typo
added/changed output
fixed a misspelling
made cosmetic changes
---------- or a best description of what was done, even a very gross description would help.     -- Gerard Schildberger (talk) 17:53, 22 May 2020 (UTC)


Thank you again. It's very clear. Just one question aside from this discussion: do you have an opinion on lambdatalk, as a minimalist language working in a web browser? -- AlainMarty (User talk:Alain Marty)
I would like to note that it is perfectly sufficient to add a single colon (:) for the indentation of your reply. There's no need to add four or seven extra colons. Using a single colon keeps the text of the conversation from becoming too narrow, as was the case here. I took the liberty of changing the indentation of this thread accordingly. --Dick de Bill (talk) 12:26, 29 May 2020 (UTC)
As per lambdatalk – I'm afraid it will never become popular enough to see any widespread usage. The reason is simple – the common programmer's aversion towards functional programming, and even more towards lambda calculus. People like programming languages which mimick natural language. As a side note, this is precisely the reason why object-oriented programming is so popular, and will be for a long time. --Dick de Bill (talk) 13:35, 29 May 2020‎ (UTC)
I understand the aversion one can have to functional programming when reading some codes in Haskell or even Javascript. I understand that one can run away from certain "academic and/or obscure" presentations of lambda-calculus. I understand that some Lisp codes cluttered with parentheses may look like a dish of spaghetti.
I thought I escaped that with lambdatalk. I guess not, or at least the first impression repulses the reader who fears to find an nth Lispian avatar with a functional and lambda-calculus sauce. This is probably the case.
I remember the Hypertalk language as a rather successful - and rather cumbersome - attempt at syntax close to natural language. I thought that lambdatalk was pretty close, with the brackets in the background. One can understand that writing such a sentence "replace :x and :y in hello :x :y world by brave new" displays "hello brave new world". One can understand that "{{lambda {:x :y} hello :x :y world} brave new} will display the same sentence and that this strange syntax will help composing much more convoluted expressions. It's lambda-calculus at level zero. I'm probably wrong.
Thank you for your attention. -- AlainMarty (User talk:Alain Marty)