Ralf Hemmecke wrote:
Compile time evaluation in full
generality introduces a way make it really hard to find bugs.
But anyway, maybe Aldor should allow compile time evaluation.
Quick remark -- it has been shown that:
1) C++'s template language is a Turing Complete PL
2) Haskell's class types (with common extensions) is also a Turing
Complete PL
3) All meta-programming systems allow arbitrary compile time evaluation
Yes, it does make debugging harder. But the advantages seem to _far_
outweigh the problems. One just develops new debugging (and coding)
techniques to deal with the added power/complexity.
I could re-use Stephen's brilliant closing line from yesterday's email:
"These kinds of errors have to be seen as bugs in programs, just as
division by zero is a programming error and not an invalidation of
integer arithmetic." -- S.M. Watt
[where 'These kinds of errors' is now /Programs with infinite loops in
types/]
Jacques
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