Gregory wrote:
>--- Jim Self <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>> I am not quite sure what you are trying to say here, but I don't
>> think that what you said
>> is quite correct. There is no hard and fast line between what can be
>> done via
>> non-procedural specification (query) and what can not. The difference
>> is in the
>> implementation of an abstraction of the low level process of "walking
>> the tree" so that it
>> can be carried out from a simple specification ("query").
>
>There's an interesting footnote on p. 7 of the 3rd Manifesto:
>
>"We have recently observed a distressing tendency to confuse imperative
>with procedural. While it is true that all procedural languages are
>imperative, it is important to understqnd the converse (i.e., that all
>imperative languages are procedural) is false. In particular, D [the
>data language discussed in the 3rd Manifesto] -- or its relational
>portion, at any rate -- is imperative, but not procedural."
>
>I'm still trying to digest that one. I think I know what Date and
>Darwen are saying here, but I'm not entirely convinced.Non-procedural simply refers to a command or specification given to a computer that does not specify a sequence of steps to be performed to obtain the intended result. A non-procedural language would not allow or provide for sequencing of steps in its specifications. You can define or implement non-procedural languages within a procedural language like MUMPS by restricting allowable constructs to a single command, such as WRITE @expr or DO query^SQL(queryString). >In fact, one >idea (as far fetched as it may seem) that I've been toying with is >*functional* data language. I have yet to convince myself that such a >thing is practically realizable, but I think therre are good reasons to >think it could be. What practical benefits do you see from this? What might it look like if implemented around MUMPS data objects? You should take a look at RDF datasources and templates as implemented in Mozilla and XUL. As I recall, it borrows some ideas from Prolog. --------------------------------------- Jim Self Systems Architect, Lead Developer VMTH Computer Services, UC Davis (http://www.vmth.ucdavis.edu/us/jaself) ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.Net email is sponsored by xPML, a groundbreaking scripting language that extends applications into web and mobile media. Attend the live webcast and join the prime developer group breaking into this new coding territory! http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=110944&bid=241720&dat=121642 _______________________________________________ Hardhats-members mailing list Hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members
