jsr341-experts@el-spec.java.net

[jsr341-experts] Re: concat and assign operators

From: Mark Thomas <markt_at_apache.org>
Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:33:54 +0100

On 27/08/2011 16:10, Pete Muir wrote:
>
> On 27 Aug 2011, at 00:51, Kin-man Chung wrote:
>
>> On 08/26/11 16:24, Mark Thomas wrote:
>>> On 26/08/2011 23:53, Kin-man Chung wrote:
>>>
>>>> I've written something for the concatenation and assignment operators in
>>>> the wiki
>>>>
>>>> http://java.net/projects/el-spec/pages/Operators.
>>>>
>>>> These two are important operators that were somehow omitted in the
>>>> current EL. I'd like to include them in this JSR, since they are
>>>> obviously needed, especially in a stand-alone environment.
>>>>
>>>> It is hard to imagine an expression language without a concatenation
>>>> operator. The current EL gets by with composite expressions. But
>>>> composite expressions are restricted to the root level expressions (for
>>>> instance, it cannot be used as method arguments). Moreover, with
>>>> automatic bracketing of expressions, concatenation operator is a must.
>>>>
>>>> I've pick # as the concatenation operator. I wish I can use +, but I
>>>> can't, because it is an arithmetic add, even for string operands.
>>>>
>>> That is a pain. Is # used as the concatenation operator in any other
>>> languages? Might there be an operator that we could reuse that looks
>>> more natural? Possibilities that come to mind:
>>> +=
>>> || (already used in EL - can't use it)
>>> &
>>>
>>>
>> I like &. How about
>> ++
>> !
>
> & is good. Reminds me of my ASP days ;-)

Of the suggestions so far I like
&
+=

Looks like & is the consensus preference.

Mark