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. # He who re-invents the wheel, understands much better how a # wheel works. Then why do you complain about reinventing the wheel above? ;^) --Brent Dax <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> @roles=map {"Parrot $_"} qw(embedding regexen Configure) #define private public --Spotted in a C++ program just before a #include