So it's not so good idea. I AM lazy but you are right.

--
- Nicolas Alvarez
nicoalvar0 [at] hotmail [dot] com



news:411de774@news.povray.org...
> "Samuel Benge" <stb### [at] hotmailcom> wrote in message
> news:411### [at] hotmailcom...
> > Rafal 'Raf256' Maj wrote:
> > >
> > > Btw, how about adding some shorten forms for long and often used
> keywords,
> > > it could spedd up typing and comforable level of hand-typing .pov
code,
> > > like
> >
> > Better yet, why not have the ability to make new #aliases for keywords.
> > Something like this:
> >
> > #alias sphere=sph;
> >
> > sph{ <0,0,0>, 10 pigment{White} }
> >
> > -Sam
> >
>
> Hello all,
>
> Some cautionary words.
>
> Aliasing sounds really beguiling, because being IT/Comp/Sci/Tech types,
> we're all lazy when it comes to typing and repetition, and we tend to
like
> using the shortest sequence of keystrokes to create our code.   :-)
>
> But on reflection (argh a RT pun), I believe it could unleash a bad genie
on
> the PoV-Ray community.  The genie's curse will be reduced legibility and
> portability of the SDL.
>
> Human nature being what it is, what'll happen is that the single PoV-Ray
> language we have now will be replaced by a multitude of personal
dialects,
> as people make up whatever words they personally enjoy.  Instead of
> "sphere", some will use "sph"; or "sp"; and there will be those who
> particularly enjoy terse and dense code, who will condense it to a mere
"s".
> Authors from non-English origins might customise the SDL for their own
> convenience, and use, eg., "esfera" instead!
>
> This is perfectly fine if it is confined to one's own bedroom or study,
but
> there's an intensely active and diverse community around PoV-Ray and,
let's
> face it, this code will be shared on the Internet!
>
> When reading someone else's aliased code, to ensure you understand their
> typography, you must first seek and refer to their dictionary before you
can
> to understand the SDL body -eg. When this author writes "sp" on line 145
of
> "myscene.pov" or "includefile3.inc", does it mean a "sphere" or a
"spline"
> or a locally-declared object type?
>
> Also, consider portability:  Incorporating aliased segments of another
> author's code into your work, which is either not aliased or uses
different
> conventions, will no longer be a simple drop-in operation -- it will be
much
> harder to port.
>
> Imagine using code from three sources, created with three different
> conventions.  What will you have to do to get it to work in your designs?
> Especially if their "dictionary" is tucked away in a minor include file
> somewhere, or it's spread across multiple files of hundreds of lines.  If
> one of your sources aliased "sphere" with "sp" while another had aliased
> "spline" with "sp", and you are trying to merge the two into a new scene
or
> into your whole code library, you have a real mess to sort out!!!
>
> The end effect:  I think there are many people who would discard such
code
> rather then face the extra time and frustration of translating it.  Great
> ideas could be discarded or not even looked at, because the author used
> idiosyncratic language.  The free community exchange of ideas that
happens
> now would probably be reduced if aliasing were common, and I think that
> would be a great pity if it happened.
>
> Alternately, if you had aliased code and wanted to offer your creation
into
> the public community, you might have to convert it bact to standard
syntax
> first, nullifying any gains you originally got from it, either in
time-saved
> or visuals.
>
> My sense of it is that the disadvantages eventually outweigh the
advantages.
>
> $0.02
> Cheers,
>   Brian
>
>

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