GNU bug report logs - #20385
Support curved quotes in doc strings

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Message #11 received at 20385 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>, 20385 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: RE: bug#20385: [PROPOSED PATCH] Support quoting 'like this' in doc
 strings
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2015 13:16:20 -0700 (PDT)

> Emacs's traditional doc string style has been to quote symbols
> `like this'.  This worked well on older terminals where ` and '
> were symmetric quotes,

And it has worked well in GUI Emacs as well.  And it still does.
And it supports simple highlighting, and simple searching, which
are very helpful to users.

This notation is not just some primitive, prehistoric way of setting
off symbols and other code.  It is a thoroughly modern way of doing
that.  Especially for a context that is plain text and that involves
simple (and complex) editing operations.

> but nowadays this quoting looks odd 

No, it doesn't.  It doesn't look more odd than it did pre-"nowadays".

> and it's better to use apostrophe for single-quoted ASCII text.

"It's better"?  That's all you can say in support of this change?
No reason given?

Or was your "nowdays this quoting looks odd" to you the reason?
If so, that's a feeble reason to lose helpful and simple
highlighting, and to change a longstanding convention.

> Add support for quoting either way, suggesting the newer style.
> ... Quote symbols 'like-this' as well as `like-this'.
> Recommend the former style.

Please don't.  Don't even add support for '...' quoting.  It will
just get in the way.  Of users.  Of tools.

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