Anton (Jul 04 2023 at 10:43): Anton (Jul 04 2023 at 10:43):In response to this topic.
For apps, instead of:
app [main] packages [Stdout from "https://…"]
main =
Stdout.line "Hello, World!"
I would prefer:
app
exposes [main]
imports [Stdout from "https://…"]
main =
Stdout.line "Hello, World!"
I was going to say something similar to this, when I read the word packages I read it as a verb, like "this app packages these things" instead of the noun like "these are the packages to import". Maybe that's because I was used to the current Roc syntax and expected it to read like a sentence, I could probably just get used to a noun like in most languages manifest files.
Hannes (Jul 05 2023 at 02:57):I'm not sure about the word exposes for an app, I know what you mean - that it's exposed to the platform - but I think that would be overloading the meaning of the word too much.
Brian Carroll (Jul 05 2023 at 10:36):Yeah especially when it's on a single line, it looks like it's supposed to be read aloud as an English sentence: "app 'main' packages standard out". And in that sentence, "packages" is a verb.
Richard Feldman (Jul 19 2023 at 04:02):combining some ideas from other threads: what if it was this?
Screen-Shot-2023-07-19-at-12.01.44-AM.png
Richard Feldman (Jul 19 2023 at 04:04):to expand that a bit:
app [main]
imports
[Stdout] from platform "https://…/basic-cli/…"
[JsonDecode] from "https://…/json/…"
[CodePt, Segment] from "https://…/unicode/…"
so from platform would be what denotes which one is the platform
Richard Feldman (Jul 19 2023 at 04:05):it could also have brackets around the imports:
app [main]
imports [
[Stdout] from platform "https://…/basic-cli/…",
[JsonDecode] from "https://…/json/…",
[CodePt, Segment] from "https://…/unicode/…",
]
but I really don't like the first impression that [[ makes on hello world:
app [main] imports [[Stdout] from platform "https://…/basic-cli/…"]
and it doesn't feel like the brackets are adding a lot of important clarity to the multiline version to me
Luke Boswell (Jul 19 2023 at 06:35):Do we need the indents for any particular reason?
Luke Boswell (Jul 19 2023 at 06:39):I think this also looks nice
app [main]
imports
[Stdout] from platform "https://…/basic-cli/…"
[JsonDecode] from "https://…/json/…"
[CodePt, Segment] from "https://…/unicode/…"
main = ...
I prefer with the indent and without the brackets around the imports
Richard Feldman (Jul 19 2023 at 13:04):I like the indentation because it's continuing the app declaration as opposed to starting a new standalone declaration
Last updated: Jun 16 2026 at 16:19 UTC