<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Language design --> <!--X-From-R13: pynjerapNphc.uc.pbz --> <!--X-Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 17:21:38 +0000 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 199708281719.KAA23087#xsvr3,cup.hp.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 9708260547.8cwv@ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, Re: [MUD-Dev] Language design</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00803.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00805.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00737.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00736.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00804">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00804">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00804">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] Language design</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <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:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</A></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Thu, 28 Aug 97 10:13:31 -0700</LI> <LI><em>Reply-to</em>: <A HREF="mailto:claw#null,net">claw#null,net</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> In <<A HREF="msg00737.html">9708260547.8cwv#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</A>>, on 08/25/97 at 11:03 PM, cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA (Chris Gray) said: >[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. Agreed. My general approach is to do a general purpose language, and to then add in data-specific features to customise it to the sorts of data I expect the language to be used for. Thus, my internal language has many simple ways to represent and process lists of various types, as I see that as a common data manipulation for a MUD. >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. Agreed. On the rare times I've attempted a specialise language I've found that I end up painting myself into a corner where previous features prevent me from adding the new feature I really want. This is of course a failure in design, not the case of special cased languages. -- J C Lawrence Internet: claw#null,net (Contractor) Internet: coder#ibm,net ---------------(*) Internet: clawrenc#cup,hp.com ...Honorary Member Clan McFUD -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith... </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00737" HREF="msg00737.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Language design</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA (Chris Gray)</LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00803.html">MUD universe</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00805.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Foods (was Character evolution)</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00737.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Language design</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00736.html">{rape] lets drop it</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00804"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00804"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><STRONG>Re: [MUD-Dev] Poisons (was Foods)</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <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 </LI> <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 <UL> <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 </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> </LI> <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 </LI> </UL> </LI> <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 <UL> <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 </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00732" HREF="msg00732.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Character evolution</A></strong>, Jeff Kesselman <a href="mailto:jeffk#tenetwork,com">jeffk#tenetwork,com</a>, Tue 26 Aug 1997, 05:20 GMT </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>