Re: Language Challenge 2000 - Update

[Brian Rogoff <bpr@shell5.ba.best.com>]

On 3 Feb 2000, David Starner wrote:
> On Thu, 03 Feb 2000 01:14:35 -0600, Bobby D. Bryant <bdbryant@mail.utexas.edu> wrote:
> >bvoh@sdynamix.com wrote:
> >
> >> as a special recognition for demonstrated skills in crafting the fastest
> >> solution with a smallest footprint.
> >
> >You are, IMO, propagating the wrong value system.  Why don't you sponsor a
> >contest that subordinates speed and footprint to the *really* important
> >stuff like fault-freeness and maintainability?
> 
> I get the feeling that they aren't reading these lists, so this isn't 
> going to do anything.
> 
> One interesting language contest, though, is the International Functional 
> Programming Contest. The main values for the last one were correctness,
> and rapid development with a touch of speed. I think Ada would be a poor
> language for it though, as the winners (or just those who were correct)
> all ran nice high level languages. (All the C entries failed to be
> correct, IIRC.)

Unless I misread the results, some C and C++ teams (as well as Perl and
Python teams) were correct, they just weren't in the top six. 

> I didn't want to worry about not having garbage collecting 
> or hetrogenous lists, so I went with Icon.

If you had a library, you could have heterogeneous lists and more in 
Ada. For GC, I suppose you'd have to use AppletMagic. 

Another choice might be to use a language with GC, built in lists, a
powerful module system with signatures, strong static typing (which Icon
lacks), higher order functions, and an implementation with a rich tool set 
for constructing compilers. I wonder if there is such a beast? ;-)

> I would be deeply impressed
> with anyone who got Ada into the victory circle.

I think its tougher to write code quickly in Ada or C++ than in a good FP, 
like OCaml, and these contests favor speed of writing.

I think "fastest running solution with smallest footprint" would favor 
low level languages like Ada or C++. Writing a BDD library or a numerical 
linear algebra library which has to run fast is tougher in an FP, though 
you can always use the LLL as output, like FFTW does.

-- Brian