From @zoffixznet

Not sure if something easy can be done to make this code work or at least improve the error message​:

  say try { 42 }
  // 42;

Right now it fails with​:

  ===SORRY!=== Error while compiling /home/zoffix/CPANPRC/Terminal-Width/examples/term-width.p6
  Null regex not allowed
  at /home/zoffix/CPANPRC/Terminal-Width/examples/term-width.p6​:3
  ------> //⏏ 42;

Avoiding the curlies or using unspace on the previous line makes it work.

From @smls

The fact that this fails to compile is not a bug, and has nothing to do with the `//` operator.
It's because of the following Perl 6 syntax rule​:

  If the closing curly brace of a block occurs as the last thing
  in a line (not counting whitespace), then it also terminates
  its parent statement (i.e. a semicolon is implicitly assumed
  after it).

Some examples​:

  for @​foo {
  ...
  }

  @​foo.map​: {
  ...
  } # Without the rule, this would need a semicolon

  try {
  ...
  }

  custom-function {
  ...
  } # Without the rule, this would need a semicolon

In other words, the rule makes sure that you don't have to worry about what counts as a special block statement, and what is merely a normal function/method call ending with a block. You can safely skip the semicolon for *all* of them.

make this code work

Not gonna happen - or at least I'm pretty sure it won't. People have already suggested adding exceptions to the aforementioned rule for other cases where it gets in the way (e.g. in `==>` feed operator chains), but were always rejected by the powers that be.

or at
least improve the error message

I suppose it might be possible to make it so that if an invalid token is encountered in term position, the error handler checks if it immediately follows an end-of-line closing brace, and if so whether the token could match in operator position instead. This would allow it to offer a helpful suggestion in the error message.

(I'm changing the title of the RT accordingly.)

The RT System itself - Status changed from 'new' to 'open'

@zoffixznet - Status changed from 'open' to 'rejected'