Oxford comma

Written 2024-09-18, a minute read

While writing other post I realized something: Oxford comma (aka serial comma) is my preffered option when it comes to punctiuation due to programming habbits. In Python I would list fruits in this way:

FRUITS = [
  "apple",
  "banana",
  "strawberry",
]

In Go I'm forced to write it this way, since it requires trailing commas for parsing reasons.

fruits := []string{
  "apple",
  "banana",
  "strawberry"
}

With code above I will get following error: syntax error: unexpected newline in composite literal; possibly missing comma or }

So when I'm doing short list in HTML I would write it like this:

I like
  apples,
  bananas,
  and strawberries.

To ensure that when I sort entries using sort command, I don't have to look for the comma that is missing from the reordering of elements. Sure I have to prefix the last element with and but that is much easier to spot and remember.

Addendum: short lists with list element

If you are crazy enough, you can restyle this:

Into this:

By adding class short to your list with this CSS:

Do not use this unironically since text inside before and after cannot be selected.