GNU bug report logs - #19208
replace-match unhelpful error message

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From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Cc: Phillip Lord <phillip.lord <at> newcastle.ac.uk>, 19208 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#19208: replace-match unhelpful error message
Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2019 13:50:55 -0700

Lars Ingebrigtsen wrote:
> they are
> demonstrably confusing for people not used to seeing conditionals
> written that way, which is I think pretty much everybody, except four
> people working on Emacs.  :-)

Just four?  :-)  (Actually the style is also used in other GNU projects.)

In this particular case the Leibniz style caught a potentially-serious bug. 
Although I understand that it can be a minor irritation for newcomers, it is 
quite useful for range checking and in practice I find that its reliability 
outweighs any irritation. (I didn't like Val Schorre's advice either, when I 
first heard it - but he was right.)

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