Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

There is a real drawback to stacking more than three or four closing parens like this, without spacing them out: it's hard and in fact impossible to count them at a glance. Not an issue if you have a code editor with auto paren matching, but it can be an annoyance when reading LISP-like code on the web or elsewhere.


> it can be an annoyance when reading LISP-like code

Just mentally collapse any number of consecutive close parens into a thing that reads like "END."


In Interlisp one would write a super parenthesis, which closes all open parentheses, upto an opening [ or the top ( :

  (a (b c (d ]
and also

  (z (a [b c (d]
        [e f (g]]




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: