TASK: Remove number literals and arithmetic operations from language core

[grebaldi]

Citing "The overall mission" from #26:

This language contains the bare minimum of constructs to allow for expression of rendered HTML code [...] and only the most simple calculations [...] to avoid the creation of components that attract logic

The existence of arithmetic operations will almost definitely lead to the attraction of logic in components. It is therefore better to remove them from the language core.

If legitimate use cases for arithmetic operations should arise in the future, it will still be possible to add them back. For now it'll be easier to develop the language without them.

[mhsdesign]

better this way, i also think we didnt had proper parsing for all valid arithmetic combinations:

-1 * 2 - 20 * -1

or did we?

[grebaldi]

export component Arithmetics {
    return -1 * 2 - 20 * -1;
}

leads to:

Unexpected token: OPERATOR_ARITHMETIC_MINUS at 2:12

So, apparently not 😄

But I could have sworn that this would pass 😅

[mhsdesign]

haha i thought so ^^ i noticed as this doesnt work with my parsica parser (the parsica parser is just not ripe for binary expressions ^^)

[grebaldi]

We must preserve NumberLiterals, because of Enum values. But I think it'd be fair to limit those to (signed) integers.

EDIT: And also, I think that within expressions, we still shouldn't allow number literals. This would force consumers to encapsule any number they might want to use inside an Enum, which would foster a sound presentation model.

[grebaldi]

Hmm...

We must preserve NumberLiterals, because of Enum values. But I think it'd be fair to limit those to (signed) integers.

The more I come to think of it, the more I'm convinced numbers should actually go entirely. With that, numeric comparators would become obsolete as well.

I think, it'd be worthwhile to remove both and see, if any use case comes up that forces us to add them back.

[mhsdesign]

Hmm maybe @nezaniel can think of a usecase for numbers in the presentation… I mean removing them would limit component APIs to string and bool as primitives.

[grebaldi]

Okay, I think I'll leave numbers for now, so the engine can move forward.

I'd like to finish #29 before moving on with #30.