just/notes

notes
-----

- assignment
  . can argument shadow variables?
    . yes, why not
    . no, it's confusing
  . static errors when variables are missing {{}}, even if recipe isn't run
  . use the same rules as rust: https://doc.rust-lang.org/reference.html#string-literals
  . \xHH, \u{HHHHHH}, \n, \r, \t, \0, \\, \{ no other escapes
  . '' strings with no escapes
  . run interpolated instead of lines
  . make quine use assignment and interpolation
  . make strings more than one character
   .re-order evaluate assignment
- disallow unused arguments and variables
- allow exporting environment variables
- write some tests to test the binary itself and all command line flags
- remove unhandled token stuff
- parse arguments on command line:
  . ugly but conservative: j build --set a=hello
  . by export:             A=HELLO j build
  . by export 2:           BUILD.A=HELLO j build
  . by name:               j build a=hello
  . by position:           j build hello
  . with marker:           j build hello : clean hello :
  . after --   :           j build -- foo baz
  . fast errors when arguments are missing
  . could also allow this to override variables
    although maybe only after a '--': j build -- a=hello
  . sub arguments into recipes
- change error messages to underline problem token
- allow calling recipes in a justfile in a different directory:
  - just ../foo  # ../justfile:foo
  - just xyz/foo # xyz/justfile:foo
  - just xyz/    # xyz/justfile:DEFAULT
  - this is going to be hard. should a single recipe with a slash
    require that all recipes have slashes?
    or should non-slash recipes still run in this directory?
    will need to change things a great deal
- indentation is line continuation
- add context to unexpected_token error
  "while parsing a recipe"
  "while parsing an expression"
- add post requirements:
  # do c then a then b
  a: c b~

- rewrite grammar.txt
- change name back to 'just'
  . suggest j as alias
- create some kind of group feedback forum:
  . email list, reddit
- change description to "a polyglot command runner"?
- update readme
- document all code, including private stuff
  (can this be enforced with a lint?)
  #![deny(missing_docs)]
- note that shell is invoked with -cu, explain -c and -u
- document all features with example justfiles
  (also make them runnable as tests)
  . update tarball dep
  . check version string
  . clean
  . update logs (repetitive git flow)
- full documentation
  . talk about why the syntax is so unforgiving
    easier to accept a program that you once rejected than to
    no longer accept a program or change its meaning
  . habit of using clever commands and writing little scripts
  . very low friction to write a script (no new file, chmod, add to rcs)
  . make list of contributors, include travis
  . alias .j='just --justfile ~/.justfile --working-directory ~'
  . lay out the structure of the code, mention tests, give tips
    for contributing
- vim and emacs syntax hilighting (use makefile syntax hilighting for now)
- split up code into modules for easier reading
  . parsing
  . tokenizing
  . executing
- make sure there isn't any unused code

- try to get some users
  . facebook friends
  . irc
  . r/rust