Re: [PATCH] Feature: parameters declared in body

[Neil R. Ormos]

Manuel Collado wrote:
> Kaz Kylheku escribio:

>> The idea is that there is a new kind of attribute syntax
>> whereby, inside a function, if we put the @param: prefix
>> before a variable, that variable is added as a parameter
>> to the surrounding function, which has the effect of making
>> it a local variable.

>> This effectively extends the Awk language with a nice way
>> of defining locals, that is easy to use from code generators
>> and macro preprocessors, and is based in the existing model
>> of Awk local variables being parameters.

I agree with Ed Morton's request not to "introduce a construct that lets you 
declare a variable as a parameter without it appearing in the function 
declaration" for the reasons he mentions.

> Perhaps a simpler approach is to introduce a
> @local directive. [...]

Voluntary, Algol-style lexical scoping, where @local marks a variable as local 
to the enclosing {} pair, could be extremely valuable in making Gawk programs 
easier to write, understand, and maintain.