Hey, I wasn't announcing a project to do that kind of thing. It is just a shiny object, yet another interesting thought grabbing at my attention, and I was only hoping to find like-minded individuals who would like to talk about it, maybe suggest some related resources/happenings etc.
I've got way too many interesting things on the go to take on this kind of TiddlyWIki project. On Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 12:14:16 PM UTC-4 [email protected] wrote: > (Hmmm, I thought I responded to this. Disappeared in the ether, I guess!) > > Charlie Veniot wrote: > > Scott Sauyet wrote: > > >> So while I wish you luck in this, I personally don't hold out much > >> hope for such an endeavor. > > > That's the kind of wish that leaves a foul odeur de je-ne-sais-quoi in my > > cornflakes. > > But I do mean it. I really wish you the best. I'll be on the sidelines > cheering you along, celebrating your victories, mourning your failures. > But > I've been heart-broken enough in trying this that I will never hold out > high > hopes. > > > Whatever I did to you to deserve that stick in my "what if" wheels of fun > > thinking, my apologies. > > I think you're likely to run into the same sort of insurmountable obstacles > that I have. But if you're determined to stick to this course, all I can > do is cross my fingers and hope you see something I never did. I don't > expect it; but if you manage it, I will gladly eat (some vegetarian > alternative to!) crow. > > I mostly answered because I did want you to know that there are others > who've held similar hopes, even if mine have mostly faded. I never tried > this with TiddlyWiki. I don't see that making a difference, but this tool > continually surprises me. > > > If it is possible to transpile from one language to another successfully. > > If it is possible to compile from one language to another successfully. > > > > It doesn't matter what the source language is. Pseudocode, models, etc. > > > They are just other languages. So transpile from anything to some > language > > ... why not? > > It is completely possible to store a model in TW that you could use to > generate code in some small set of languagues. As you say, that is what > compilers do, and basic compilers are relatively simple. (Optimizing > compilers can get arbitrarily complex.) What I don't think is likely > is being able to create a high-level model system that will let you > quickly spin up new languages that will convert such models to source > code for that language. > > Think of the differences between the models underlying COBOL and Prolog. > A single model that spans both idea-spaces would already be tricky > enough. Now add in Forth. Then Agda. I think very quickly you end up > with a model that either has no cohesion or is so abstract that the code > generators are impossible to get right. > > I understand that Turing completeness means that a very large class of > languages -- probably all we care about -- can solve the same problems. > But that does not mean that converting between them or from some high- > level model is a tractable problem. > > If you do try to pursue this, I would make one suggestion: don't try > to solve one language up front and move on to the next. Instead try > at least three languages, ones with very different models. If you > can do this for some very limited domains (say "Hello, World", > factorial, and basic arithmetic), then I think you might be onto > something useful. Then try expanding alternately in two directions: > adding some new feature you want your model to support, and adding > a new language, with a model as different from the existing ones > as you can. (Saying you can generate Java and C# isn't saying much, > but saying you can generate Java and Prolog is much more impressive.) > > Best of luck (and yes, I really mean that!) > > -- Scott > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TiddlyWiki" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tiddlywiki/73ee3b9e-9a57-4cec-a58a-b0dae73f4b2cn%40googlegroups.com.
