C Y <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > --- Stephen Wilson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Greetings All, > > > > I participated in this community for a while in 2004-2005. Simply > > put, I became discouraged due to my own lack of decisiveness, and in > > part due to a lack of `direction' I sensed in the community as a > > whole. I have followed this list virtually every day since that > > time. > > > > I am compelled to rejoin and contribute once again. > > Welcome back :-).
Thank-you, Cliff. > > I realize that the goal of a Lisp translation runs contrary to many > > opinions on this list. My hope is that having more Boot code > > documented will be seen as beneficial. As for the Lisp rewrite, I > > would love to hear from anyone who shares an interest in this > > direction. > > I also share that interest, although not the needed expertise (as yet, > anyway - that's what learning is all about :-) > > I have two concentrations at this stage that look achievable - one is > to provide the primary web functionality in Lisp (this one is fairly > close to working, and can handle at least basic files) and teach the > Lisp asdf system to load pamphlet files directly using the lisp based > web package. I have looked at your work and must say I am impressed and optimistic. The potential benefits are enormous. > Once those components are in working order, I hope we can begin to > provide logical asdf packages of components of Axiom, and load them > like normal lisp libraries. I see ASDF as the right target. The problem is getting the system into a state which is `Lispy' enough for the full benefits to be realized. > At the moment, I'm focusing on asdf.lisp itself - converting it into a > pamphlet file looks like the best way to understand it well enough to > map pamphlet ideas to asdf ideas. Oh yes. Absolutely. A large portion of my time will be devoted to documenting the existing Axiom system for the sole purpose of improving my understanding. > I know less about the mechanics of converting boot to lisp and what > good ideas would be, although I would be curious about using existing > work in Lisp to make life easier. Existing libraries are always an option. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective :), there is a lot of code we must write. My main focus is on the core of Axiom. My hope is to engineer a system which is extensible, and thus amenable to the incorporation of well established libraries. > Making linedit work on the targeted Lisp platforms might let us > avoid the need for clef, for example. Yep. The new axiom.el might fulfill that role too for a large number of users. > The SPAD compiler itself I would like to see at least separated out, > although I suspect any substantial improvements to it would be a major > task. Yes, it is a major task. But not impossible. As I mentioned before, I see a two stage process. A simple Boot->Lisp which yields as byproduct documentation for both representations. Then a Lisp->Lisp which is much more involved and requires a global view of the system as it stands (aquired via step 1), and a global view of where we would like it to go. For example, it would be in this latter stage that the mechanics be implemented to support Aldor-style dependent types. > I am very much interested in Gaby's work on the definition of the > SPAD language and what can be done using that as a foundation. I am too. I have spent a lot of time privately thinking about SPAD and Aldor semantics over the past year or two and do not doubt that it is a hard problem. Gaby's results will no doubt be of great value. > Perhaps work like META http://www.cliki.net/meta could be used to > advantage, although I don't know enough about this type of > programming to properly evaluate it. I am partial to hand written parsers myself, but am not in a position to evaluate META. > Anyway, this is a direction I at least find interesting. I am glad to hear this! > > Cheers, > CY Thanks, Steve _______________________________________________ Axiom-developer mailing list [email protected] http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/axiom-developer
