I love Bertrand Meyers comments on semicolons. In the chapter on style in OOSC2, he defines Separists (those who use semicolons as statement separators), Terminists (those who use semi-colons as statement terminators) and Discardists (those who discard semi-colons entirely, except where ambiguious). Eiffel started life as a Separtist language, but now supports any of the three styles. In reference to the examples in OOSC2, he writes ...

"As to this book: for a while I stuck to the original Separatist style, more out of habit than of real commitment; then, hearing the approach of the third millenium and its call to start a new life free of antique superstitions, I removed all the semicolons over a single night of utter debauchery."