As someone who spent a fair chunk of time as a TA for comp-sci classes...
If you're in my room asking me how to change the keyword for "if"...
"why would you want to do that?" is entirely the appropriate answer.
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Not because the concept of modifying the language itself is necessarily bad, but because the structure of the relationship here isn't neutral. The students in the class are here asking me questions that almost always relate to homework, exams, projects, or tasks.
From experience - You usually see this type of question when the student is actually trying to accomplish some other goal, and can't figure out how to do it.
So "Why would you want to do that?" is not dismissive... it's goal seeking.
help me understand the goal you have in the context of the current work that you are seeking to accomplish by modifying the "if" keyword. Until I understand what you're working towards, it's hard for me to appropriately scope my answer.
Further... I'm not really paid to spitball conceptual language design with you (fun though it may be!). I'm here because a large chunk of the students in the class are genuinely struggling and need basic assistance understanding the existing class concepts.
