Re: Syntax for generic parameter declaration

> Heres a rather lengthy example i pulled out of a c# project, to show
> what the syntax will look like when it gets unwieldy rather than the
> nice neat examples we've got here at the moment.
>
> Trailing:
>
> public static def CreateTransitions[of TState,TValue](
>     stateMap as IDictionary[of ISet[of TState],TState],
>     states as IDictionary[of ISet[of TState],IDictionary[of
> Predicate[of TValue],ISet[of TState]]],
>     stateComparer as IEqualityComparer[of TState]
>     ) as IDictionary[of TState,IList[of ITransition[of
> TState,TValue]]]
>     given TSTate isa IEquatable[of TState]
>     given TValue isa IComparable[of TValue]:
>     dict = TransitionDictionary[of TState,IList[of Transition[of
> TState,TValue]]](stateComparer)
>
> Inline:
>
> public static def CreateTransitions[of TState(IEquatable[of
> TState]),TValue(IComparable[of TValue])](
>     stateMap as IDictionary[of ISet[of TState],TState],
>     states as IDictionary[of ISet[of TState],IDictionary[of
> Predicate[of TValue],ISet[of TState]]],
>     stateComparer as IEqualityComparer[of TState]
>     ) as IDictionary[of TState,IList[of ITransition[of
> TState,TValue]]]:
>     dict = TransitionDictionary[of TState,IList[of Transition[of
> TState,TValue]]](stateComparer)
>
> Why the 'of'? is there some place where indexing, slicing or some
> other use or [] is available in type definitions? it's be cleaner
> without the keyword and [] is already containing the list.
>
> I still feel that the inline syntax is clearer, shorter too in the way
> i've laid it out but that is entirely personal preference. Is there a
> particular reason so many people seem to favour the trailing form?
> What is the rationale for it? to me it makes the division between
> definition and body less clear than it already is in the example, it
> takes more effort than it needs to for you to mentally parse the
> definition and find the point where the code you want to work with is.