On Wed, 13 Mar 2002, Brent Dax wrote:
> Shlomi Fish:
> # Question: why can't we link against GNU's GMP to provide us
> # with those big
> # number facilities? Is there any reason we need to re-invent the wheel?
> # (except to make Parrot self-contained and non dependent on
> # anything else,
> # which, IMO, is not a very good cause)
>
> When asking why we don't use external tool or library X, first answer
> three questions:
>
> 1. Does X meet our speed, size and flexibility requirements? (It
> probably has to be fast, small and flexible enough to work on a Palm or
> PocketPC. Parrot's core is currently between 250 and 700K, depending on
> your OS and compiler--and 700K is pushing our realistic limit before
> Palm users can't use Parrot very well.)
>
> 2. Does X work on all the platforms Parrot has to support? (Unix,
> Windows, Mac OS Classic, VMS, Crays, Palm OS, etc. on the OS side, x86,
> IA-64, SPARC, Alpha, ARM, PowerPC, 68x00 (Some Mac Classic machines and
> the DragonBall processors used in Palms), etc. on the processor side.)
>
> 3. Does X have a license compatible with Parrot's? (This can usually be
> translated to "Does X have the same license as Perl 5?", although there
> are exceptions, such as the BSD and X licenses.)
>
> *After* you've answered those three questions, proceed to ask why we're
> doing it ourselves instead.
>
Fine, let me ask this: why we're doing it ourselves instead of using gmp?
> # He who re-invents the wheel, understands much better how a
> # wheel works.
>
> Then why do you complain about reinventing the wheel above? ;^)
>
Actually, the question is whether you want to learn how a wheel works, or
whether you want to get a vehicle on the road ASAP. In our case, I believe
the second option is relevant so I'd like to advocate code re-use.
Regards,
Shlomi Fish
> --Brent Dax <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> @roles=map {"Parrot $_"} qw(embedding regexen Configure)
>
> #define private public
> --Spotted in a C++ program just before a #include
>
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Shlomi Fish [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Home Page: http://t2.technion.ac.il/~shlomif/
Home E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
He who re-invents the wheel, understands much better how a wheel works.
