>> Concerning reflection: reflection complicates semantics and >> it is easier to implement language without reflection. But >> reflection has some good uses and I would like to support >> them (as long as there is no conflict with compilation).
> Ok. This is a "permissive" approach to language design. From the point > of view of a general purpose language maybe it is ok to let the > programmer use certain constructs if it is more convenient even if it > does fit some preconceived model of how one's program "ought" to look. > But Spad was originally designed for a very specific purpose - as a > language in which to express mathematical algorithms for the Axiom > library. I think the restrictions that sometimes makes Spad a somewhat > difficult language to use also often contribute to the goal of making > it more precise and expressive when it comes to the mathematics. Bill, do you actually see a need for reflection? The only things that come to my mind are a debugger written in SPAD and perhaps some more convenience for unit testing (But for the latter I find reflection not terribly necessary.) I debugger is a rather low-level thing, so a special (not-exported) language feature to implement it is certainly helpful. Any other things that you have in mind when it comes to the implementation of a Mathematics library? Note... I don't speak about the interpreter. Runtime reflection in the interpreter may be wanted for several reasons. If I sit in front of my CAS, I'd like to be able to ask what functions a certain domain exports. A user cannot be expected to have the source code lying somewhere on his/her hard drive. However, I consider interpreter and library design as two different things. So what use cases in library design do you see? Ralf --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "FriCAS - computer algebra system" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/fricas-devel?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
