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<H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] Language design</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: Re: [MUD-Dev] Language design</LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: <A HREF="mailto:cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA">cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</A> (Chris Gray)</LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Mon, 25 Aug 97 22:47:47 MST</LI>
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<PRE>
[Greg M:]
:I seem to remember that someone (Jeff Kesselman, I think) stated that when
:designing a language, they always went via one of two routes:
:
: 1. The language is tightly-bound to the task at hand
: 2. The language is very generic in nature
:
:What are the (dis)advantages of each? I suspect that a non-generic
:language would not be too extensible (and may cause problems if it went
:on to a public ftp-able release), what are your opinions on this? A
:generic language with libraries for specific purposes seems better than
:tying everything to the language itself, but this is pretty much 'the C/C++
:route'; I'm anxious to avoid making decisions solely on the basis of
:"It's all I know."
I have a hard time thinking of any disadvantages of using a more general
purpose language, combined with a number of built-in functions to
efficiently support the things that are used a lot by the expected code.
I don't think its any harder to make a general language - in fact it is
probably easier than having to add in a bunch of extra constructs for
the special stuff you want. It might be a slight bit less "convenient"
for users, if they have to use function call syntax instead of some
custom syntax, but its probably a lot easier to remember and get right!
I also don't think it is less efficient to use a general language. There
is more lost to things like unneccessary run-time checks than I can
imagine being gained by restricting the language in some way. The basic
implementation technique is far more important for speed concerns.
So, the only constructs I put in my language, other than fairly vanilla
generic stuff are things like the '@' operator to access attributes
on objects, and using subscripting to access list elements. Oh, and
the '--' operator for deleting attributes from objects (its all dynamic
in my system).
--
Chris Gray cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA
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<li><strong><A NAME="00804" HREF="msg00804.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Language design</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> clawrenc#cup,hp.com</li></ul>
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<STRONG><A HREF="msg00736.html">{rape] lets drop it</A></STRONG>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00743" HREF="msg00743.html">[MUD-Dev] Poisons (was Foods)</A></strong>,
Koster, Kristen <a href="mailto:kkoster#origin,ea.com">kkoster#origin,ea.com</a>, Tue 26 Aug 1997, 14:59 GMT
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00835" HREF="msg00835.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Poisons (was Foods)</A></strong>,
Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Fri 29 Aug 1997, 04:29 GMT
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<li><Possible follow-up(s)><br>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00745" HREF="msg00745.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Poisons (was Foods)</A></strong>,
Travis Casey <a href="mailto:efindel#io,com">efindel#io,com</a>, Tue 26 Aug 1997, 22:42 GMT
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00770" HREF="msg00770.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Poisons (was Foods)</A></strong>,
Matt Chatterley <a href="mailto:root#mpc,dyn.ml.org">root#mpc,dyn.ml.org</a>, Wed 27 Aug 1997, 16:36 GMT
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00737" HREF="msg00737.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Language design</A></strong>,
Chris Gray <a href="mailto:cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA">cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</a>, Tue 26 Aug 1997, 06:01 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00804" HREF="msg00804.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Language design</A></strong>,
clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Thu 28 Aug 1997, 17:21 GMT
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00736" HREF="msg00736.html">{rape] lets drop it</A></strong>,
Jeff Kesselman <a href="mailto:jeffk#tenetwork,com">jeffk#tenetwork,com</a>, Tue 26 Aug 1997, 05:53 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00763" HREF="msg00763.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] {rape] lets drop it</A></strong>,
Alex Oren <a href="mailto:alexo#bigfoot,com">alexo#bigfoot,com</a>, Wed 27 Aug 1997, 13:04 GMT
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00768" HREF="msg00768.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] {rape] lets drop it</A></strong>,
Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Wed 27 Aug 1997, 16:21 GMT
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