From: list-bounce / example.com [mailto:list-bounce / example.com] On Behalf Of
Key Bern
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 11:03 AM
>
>core syntax     vs      syntactic sugar
>-----------             ---------------
>4.+(12)                 4 + 12
>array.[ ](13)          array[13]
>persoon1.==(persoon2)  persoon1 == persoon2
>if not                  unless
>Proc.new          lambda
>
>Aren't the things from to right column preprocessed into the left
>column?

My guess is NO.

But this makes your point more clear. If you want to define new "infix
operator" (like "a mycoolnewoperator b"), it's impossible.

And the most natural for Ruby way of defining new control structures is
usage of blocks. Suppose, the language has no "unless" keyword. We CAN'T
define something to look like:

unless A
  B
else
  C
end

All we CAN is define something to look like:

unless A do
  B
end.else do
  C
end

this may be enough or not, depends of your requirements.

hope this helps.

V.