[REBOL] Re: LDC goes Rugby!
From: brett:codeconscious at: 23-May-2001 11:31
> dialects some way. Dialect based protocols could be cool. Imagine some
> special purpose server - all you need is just domain based dialect ... but
> maybe my thoughts here are not practical or applicable in any sense, as
> noone replied to thoughts :-)
Hah. :) Your message in a bottle did get received and BTW Maarten's did
too - just going to take a little while to analyse it - boy he crammed a bit
into that bottle :)
Dialects are definitely practical and applicable but they represent a way of
looking at things that is different to the way many of us may have trained
our brains. Training one's brain is hard but as my first attempt the
following is how I look at dialects in general.
Dialect = Protocol
Dialect = API
Dialect = Instructions
Dialect = Linearised object model
In others words dialects abound already - but these are meant for
lower-level interpreters ;-) The new thing is that we have been given the
capability to make our own dialects in a simple fashion.
So the trick is to get people (me included) thinking how simple and
expressive a new dialect can be. A bit of training too in how to design the
the grammars and interpreters would be useful too. I realise there are
already examples but I reckon this topic is lead by the nose-ring stuff. In
other words the Library needs a Dialect folder too. Or if one wants to be
bold a whole new site - because dialects are a worthwhile even if one hasn't
got the tools (Rebol Parse) to make them easy to deal with.
Brett.
