Parenthetical karma

by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2005/03/04 07:58 -08:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/michkap/archive/2005/03/04/385160.aspx


))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

# Michael Kaplan on Friday, March 04, 2005 8:03 AM:

I guess I should explain this post. :-)

You see, I write parenthetically (some people say I talk that way, too). Which would be okay but I tend to forget that I was in parentheses and every once in a while I need to even them out or I risk having everything I write be in the parentheses of prior posts....

# Steven on Friday, March 04, 2005 9:27 AM:

I do the same thing. Do you also use nested parentheses? (I do [and use different styles for deeper nesting])

# Michael Kaplan on Friday, March 04, 2005 9:29 AM:

Well, sometimes I nest them. I usually do not use other styles though. :-)

# Steve Betts on Friday, March 04, 2005 10:27 AM:

I think you should write an extension to your blogger, like I used to have in my Lisp environment in college. When you type a ], it will just close all your open parens :)

# Roger on Friday, March 04, 2005 10:40 AM:

Is there a way to escape them though? Or are they considered auto-escaped when used as a smile?

# CN on Friday, March 04, 2005 10:54 AM:

Have you tried LISP? (Not that it's anything wrong with a little parentheses (not much, at least))

# Eve M. on Friday, March 04, 2005 3:51 PM:

Am I the only one who's bothered by the paren at the end of a smiley (unless the smiley ends a parenthetical remark)? All those extra close-parens without their partners... So sad. Perhaps I should do a (((((((((((((((((((((( parenthetical karma post myself to even them out.

# Michael Kaplan on Friday, March 04, 2005 3:52 PM:

Ah, you can only even out your own parentheses -- so now you are very parenthetical, Eve! :-)

# Vorn on Monday, March 07, 2005 12:12 PM:

I don't mind the ")"s at the end of smileys... what gets me is when somebody ends a parenthetical statement with a smiley and use the smiley's ")" as the right parenthesis "(like this :-)". It just seems uneven to me. "(this :-))" seems right, and it's also easier to parse.

(I know a woman who often uses smileys in the same way some people use exclamation points. It can get silly.)

Did you go through your blog entries and count unclosed parentheses? If so, did you automate it? If so, did you remember to watch for smileys or quoted parentheses? If so, did you have to remember that smileys may be closing parentheses too?

Okay, I'm done nitpicking about string parsing at the guy who knows more about it than I do. :P

Vorn

# Michael Kaplan on Monday, March 07, 2005 12:16 PM:

I actually did no automation to count, I just did it PM-style and threw a bunch of them in there. :-)

I also hate those dual-use smiley/close parens cases. Same kind of imbalance as I was woried about, except the typist is doing it on purpose?

# Vorn on Monday, March 07, 2005 5:38 PM:

Yeah. Miffs me no end, I feel like I should ask perpetrators why his/her smiley has no mouth.

"PM-style"?

Vorn

# Michael Kaplan on Monday, March 07, 2005 5:42 PM:

PM-style == "Program Manager style"

:-)

# Scott on Tuesday, March 08, 2005 1:21 PM:

I need this kind of a post, but with "}" instead.

# Richard on Wednesday, March 09, 2005 4:26 AM:


So where's the sponsorship of the post... there must be plenty of less frequently utilised closing bracketing characters in Unicode that would like a chance for some publicity?

This comment sponsored by U+23B4 (⎴) TOP SQUARE BRACKET (to avoid assumptions about bracket orientation).

# Michael Kaplan on Wednesday, March 09, 2005 4:31 AM:

Generally only the "technical" posts get sponsorship, not the self-indulgent ones like this post was. :-)

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