In this case, it was important for await and error handling with the ? operator to be readable together.
The order of operations in `await foo()?` is ambiguous, but `foo()?.await` and `foo().await?` have an obvious and clearly visible order. As a bonus, the syntax supports chaining multiple async operations without parenthesis. `fetch().await.body().await` is much nicer to write than `await (await fetch()).body()`.
Since `await` is a reserved keyword, `.await` can't be a field access. Editors with syntax highlighting can easily color it like a keyword.
The problem looking like a field has proven to be total a non-issue in practice. OTOH the syntax avoided major pitfall of visually unclear operator precedence, inconvenience of mixing of prefix and postfix operators, and ended up being clear and concise. It's been such a success, that users have since asked to have more keywords and macros usable in a postfix form.
alt Hacker News
Designs have trade-offs.
In this case, it was important for await and error handling with the ? operator to be readable together.
The order of operations in `await foo()?` is ambiguous, but `foo()?.await` and `foo().await?` have an obvious and clearly visible order. As a bonus, the syntax supports chaining multiple async operations without parenthesis. `fetch().await.body().await` is much nicer to write than `await (await fetch()).body()`.
Since `await` is a reserved keyword, `.await` can't be a field access. Editors with syntax highlighting can easily color it like a keyword.
The problem looking like a field has proven to be total a non-issue in practice. OTOH the syntax avoided major pitfall of visually unclear operator precedence, inconvenience of mixing of prefix and postfix operators, and ended up being clear and concise. It's been such a success, that users have since asked to have more keywords and macros usable in a postfix form.