Optional arguments at the beginning Michael Sperber 09 Jun 2005 06:04 UTC

The spec has:

procedure:  (=? [ compare ] [ x y ])
procedure:  (<? [ compare ] [ x y ])
procedure:  (>? [ compare ] [ x y ])
procedure:  (<=? [ compare ] [ x y ])
procedure:  (>=? [ compare ] [ x y ])
procedure:  (not=? [ compare ] [ x y ])

I dislike having the compare optional argument at the beginning: There
seems to be almost no precedent for it in Scheme libraries, and it
means that the parameter positions change their meaning depending on
the total number of arguments, which I find confusing.

Is there a rationale for having it at the beginning rather than at the
end?  Alternatively, one could always require it to be present, which
I personally would prefer.

(Great SRFI in most other respects, BTW!)

--
Cheers =8-} Mike
Friede, Völkerverständigung und überhaupt blabla