The reason is obvious: to avoid adding a new keyword and breaking existing code ... | Hacker News

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		int_19h on March 1, 2023 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: Will Carbon Replace C++? The reason is obvious: to avoid adding a new keyword and breaking existing code that might use it as an identifier.

Koshkin on March 1, 2023 [–]

C++ had to add new keywords anyway.

int_19h on March 1, 2023 | [–]

It does, but N new keywords are always going to mean less breakage than N+1 new keywords.

On top of that, the best keywords - e.g. in this case "let" or "var" - are also the ones most likely to clash with identifiers in existing code.

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