Clean up Glossary formatting and add table of Hoon/JavaScript analogies

[cxk280]

The formatting changes are very minor (consistency of italics, for example). The table of Hoon/JavaScript analogies is in response to a suggestion of a "rosetta stone section" by @galenwp in issue #137.

I chose JavaScript because it is so widely used and is the language with which I am most familiar. The table is preliminary, and I will update it on an ongoing basis as I dive deeper into Hoon. There is a possibility my analogies may be incorrect at times--anyone may feel free to make corrections.

[Fang-]

I'm not entirely sure how to feel about the JavaScript comparison table.
The core and arm definitions feel kind of incorrect, just "object" and "variable/function of the object" might be a bit closer.
I'd be inclined to call |- more of a GOTO, but JavaScript doesn't have those.

Perhaps a better approach might be to take general programming terminology, rather than saying "this is like x in y language". Language-agnostic terminology is broader, and thus less likely to miss the mark.

But then, I'm someone who has already learnt these things and (some of) their nuances, so I might not be the best judge for this. I can definitely see it being a good starting point though!

[cxk280]

Regarding the core and arm analogies, I based this off a specific characteristic of Map noted by MDN:

The keys of an Object are Strings and Symbols, whereas they can be any value for a Map, including functions, objects, and any primitive.

That is correct for Hoon, right? (I'm still learning.) If not, definitely happy to change it to simply Object.

As far as |- ('barhep') goes, I see your point but as you acknowledge GOTO doesn't exist in JavaScript. For what it's worth, note that the existing Hoon keyword for 'barhep' actually is :loop.

I also understand your suggestion for language-agnostic terminology. One could do a separate list with using pseudocode, of course. No one has to use this table. But as someone learning Hoon who knows JavaScript fairly well, I know that the process would be much easier if a comprehensive list like this already existed.

[Fang-]

This notation (reverse path, including extension) is actually a standard used by all official code. We'd like to keep that consistent, even across examples.

[cxk280]

Got it. Will revert. Please note that it may not be apparent to the naive user, so do we want to mention this convention somewhere?

[Fang-]

Another thing about using JavaScript-based examples, is that it restricts your audience to people who know JS intimately enough to understand the nuances of your comparisons.
A comparison table is something that will no doubt be useful in the official docs, but it'll need to be discussed a bit more. Don't want to give people any wrong ideas to build off!

That said, all your other changes (aside from the one I just commented on) seem fine, and I'd like to pull them in! Can you separate the comparison table into its own PR, so we may continue discussion there? Thanks!

[xykj61]

Thanks for the PR! At first glance, I think I agree with @Fang- here about the JS comparison; for some reason it doesn't feel right. I'll reply again soon with more detailed feedback. This is definitely something we need though in general, so keep toying around with stuff!

[cxk280]

@Fang-, I have made the changes you requested, so it should all good to merge. I'll create a separate pull request to continue discussing the Hoon/JavaScript table.

[Fang-]

Looks good. The hoon_javascript_analogies.md file is still there, once that's out I'll pull these in. Thanks! (:

[cxk280]

Oops! There you go.