library language features/extensions...

[flynx]

This is just a suggestion of a possible direction for coffee-script extension.

Make language extensions (like iced) live in a library instead of parallel forks/branches of the compiler.

benefits:

• will make extending the language and experimenting simpler
• will eventually make the core clean and more modular
• let people experiment more with different ideas
• keep the ecosystem united (people wanting to experiment will not move away from the upstream and most changes will make it upstream faster and in a cleaner manner)

the considerations that need to be made to make this worth while / convenient:

• standardize a set of stable or official extensions that will be available by default
• auto-install on first use (optional -- can be an extension in itself)
• clear context rules (to avoid conflicts) -- I'd make this affect only the file containing the declaration
• clear style/syntax guide-lines (to avoid conflicts)
• clear syntax (IMO this has to be syntax), and I'd make it verbose-ish to be more noticeable by the person reading the code:

// beginning of file...
use CoffeeScript extension ICED

// user code...
...

X-posted: https://github.com/jashkenas/coffee-script/issues/2080

[flosse]

+1