remove-string-gaps.md

+# Proposal: remove string gaps
+
+
+String gaps are barely necessary, being only a small syntactic convenience. e.g.
+
+```wiki
+f = "abc\
+    \def"
+```
+
+
+can be written
+
+```wiki
+f = "abc" ++
+    "def"
+```
+
+
+GHC compiles the same code in both cases.
+
+## Pros
+
+- simplifies the lexical syntax (good for automatic syntax colouring tools, which often get string gaps wrong).
+
+- a better alternative is HereDocuments?
+
+- string gaps cause problems with CPP, which doesn't like the backslash at the end of the line.
+  (a minor consideration, since CPP is not part of the language, and in any case there is `cpphs`).
+
+## Cons
+
+- breaks some code
+
+- naive compilers won't implement the optimisation, and hence will perform an unnecessary append.