Run Resyntax on manual-code.rkt

[jackfirth]

This pull request runs Resyntax on one of the files in the core of Scribble.

[mflatt]

The only reason I didn't merge this right away is that the change from null to '() gives me pause. Can you say more about that change? I tend to write null because it's easier for me to read (since there are typically lots of parentheses and quotes serving various roles in my code already), even though I don't particularly like the name null.

[jackfirth]

I think it's weird how many different ways there are to write the empty list - null, '(), empty, and (list). I think we ought to standardize on one of them and I assumed '() is the one most racketeers would prefer, for these reasons:

• It's what the docs use everywhere
• It's the default printed representation of the empty list
• It doesn't require importing racket/list

I'm open to tweaking or disabling that rule though.

[mflatt]

I'm in favor of disabling this rule. While I appreciate the benefits of a more canonical form for the empty list, '() or null seem better to me depending on the context, and the variation doesn't seem like either a source of confusion or something that makes code more difficult to read and modify. That's unlike converting let to define, where I think there's widespread agreement that define makes code easier to read and modify.

[jackfirth]

Sounds good to me, opened https://github.com/jackfirth/resyntax/issues/181.

Could we also just... move empty from racket/list to racket/base? It's incredibly bizarre that the nice readable name for this value is something you have to import.

[soegaard]

Could we also just... move empty from racket/list to racket/base? It's incredibly bizarre that the nice readable name for this value is something you have to import.

I am almost certain that will cause problems for modules that use empty for other purposes.

For example in the various modules of pfds.

[jackfirth]

Sigh. You're likely right.

[jackfirth]

@mflatt I've updated the pull request not to include the empty list changes. I also updated Resyntax not to make that suggestion, but it seems the package server hasn't caught up with that change yet, so the comments are still showing up on this pull request.

[mflatt]

Thanks!