Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
> Darren New wrote:
>> Well.... I think it's one of the few languages where you can't tell
>> whether something's invoking a function or adding a name to the namespace
>> at compile
>> time.  It would seem to make writing parsers and such harder than it needs
>> to be.
>>
>> I'll grant that there are a number of languages where (say) writing "F(5)"
>> doesn't tell you whether F is a function, a pointer to a function, or a
>> function that returns another function, say.
> 
> In Python, f(5) could be a normal function call if f is a function, a method
> call if f is a bound method object, a method call if f is an instance of a
> class with a __call__ method, or an object instantiation (passing 5 to the
> __init__ method) if f is a class name.

That's the language I was thinking of, primarily, yes. :-) But in all those 
cases, it's a call. It's not changing the structure of the program.

In C++, you can write
   alpha beta(gamma);
and not know whether that's a declaration or executable code. Most languages 
you can tell what's a declaration and what's executable code without reading 
all previous declarations.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   My fortune cookie said, "You will soon be
   unable to read this, even at arm's length."

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