An awkward, complex sentence in the Go spec

[Ben Hoyt]

This sentence in the Go spec under https://golang.org/ref/spec#Constant_expressions took me several attempts to parse:

"Except for shift operations, if the operands of a binary operation are different kinds of untyped constants, the operation and, for non-boolean operations, the result use the kind that appears later in this list: integer, rune, floating-point, complex."

It was the two comma'd clauses "the operation and, for non-boolean operations" in the middle that caused me to do a double and triple-take. Partly because there are so many clauses piled up, but partly because I first read "the operation and" as "the operation &".

Seems like this sentence could be refactored for simplicity. I think setting off "for non-boolean operations" in parens instead of commas would help a little. Or, probably better, breaking up into a couple of sentences. There are three types of operations here with different behavior: shift operations, boolean operations, and normal/other operations.

-Ben

[Bryan Mills]

I find it kind of difficult to parse too. I'll send a change.

[Bryan C. Mills]

https://golang.org/cl/106855

[peterGo]

Bryan,

What is the open issue for this change?

https://github.com/golang/go/issues

Peter

[Bryan Mills]

There isn't an issue filed: the change is a minor clarification without any semantic effect.