From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 107f24,6f568a2e6507575 X-Google-Attributes: gid107f24,public X-Google-Thread: f891f,6f568a2e6507575 X-Google-Attributes: gidf891f,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,6f568a2e6507575 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-04-25 05:53:30 PST Path: newsfeed.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news.tele.dk!213.56.195.71!fr.usenet-edu.net!usenet-edu.net!ciril.fr!univ-lille1.fr!bijude.unicaen.fr!not-for-mail From: Jerzy Karczmarczuk Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,comp.lang.functional,comp.lang.misc Subject: Re: Thoughts and Opinions or something like that Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 14:51:38 +0100 Organization: University of Caen, France Message-ID: <3AE6D66A.7A3E09F8@info.unicaen.fr> References: <3AE67F57.722A78D8@andrewcooke.free-online.co.uk> <3AE69665.63E362CD@info.unicaen.fr> NNTP-Posting-Host: hypatia.info.unicaen.fr Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (X11; I; SunOS 5.8 sun4u) X-Accept-Language: fr-FR, en Xref: newsfeed.google.com comp.lang.ada:6920 comp.lang.functional:5290 comp.lang.misc:1129 Date: 2001-04-25T14:51:38+01:00 List-Id: "chris.danx" wrote: > > Hi, [posting to others //nsgroups Ada & misc// re-instated] (As you wish, but it has NOTHING to do with Ada, etc... And, anyway, I don't read those newsgroups, so if somebody is kind enough to comment, it won't reach me) I remarked, concerning the "problems" with VMs > > Scheme VMs have GC and tail-call optimization. Java VM has threads. > > Icon VM has coroutines (rather: co-expressions). No problems, and > > I would add that it is MUCH easier to provide for a more complicated > > semantics of a language using an interpreter than compiling to > > a native code... > Do you mean just rip out an interpreter and forget the VM idea > until later? That sounds like a good idea. I think that there is a small misunderstanding here. An interpreter IS a Virtual Machine. I just said that in general the idea of building a language with interesting semantic layer is easier if one has some higher-level executable code, not the assembly stuff, that's all. So, if I wanted to construct a language, I would build an interpreter first. A virtual machine, if you prefer. My own, not the Java stuff... Alain Fisher proposes to look at the Smalltalk machine. Yes, it is quite powerful, and nice. However, the object-orientation is build at a low level, and if you don't need it, there will be a cost. There is plenty of small VMachines around. From Forth/Postscript, through the SECD models (including lazy or persistent), the CAMLish kernel used e.g. to implement Moscow SML, logical machines such as variants of WAM, etc. One can learn a lot from them, even if there is not much sense in "ripping" them, and adapting to a novel language. In particular one may learn how to implement tail-recursion and something about GC. > > > - Lists [] > > > - Arrays <> > > > > Don't neglect reasonable arrays, please, otherwise one day, sooner > > or later you will regret it... > > What do you mean by reasonable arrays? What's unreasonable about them? > > Chris Not about THEM. There are unreasonable arrays simulated by lists. Reasonable mean: real arrays, secure (index checking), true random access, working well with garbage collector (in some Lisps lists were dynamic, but arrays static...), and fast iterators. Jerzy Karczmarczuk Caen, France