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[REBOL] Re: On mutability and sameness

From: larry:ecotope at: 6-Jun-2001 16:46

Hi Colin
> 1. From the User Guide: > > Series > Series values hold a sequential collection of elements whether characters > (string!, email!, url!, etc.), integers (tuple!), bits (binary!), or
elements
> (block!, list!, hash!, etc.). > > > That makes Tuple a Series by Definition 1.
I would say that the description of series you quote is over-simplified and misleading in a couple of respects: 1) It conflicts with the built-in definition, namely that which returns true for series? x which shows that a tuple is not a series. 2) A binary is an ordered collection of bytes, not bits, because it's length in bits must be a multiple of 8. The access functions index and return bytes. It is of the pseudotype any-string! and can be converted directly to a string of 8 bit bytes with TO-STRING. Unfortunately there is no built-in conversion function to do the reverse (irregular). Personally, at the present time, I find it easier to maintain my sanity by using the built-in type system and REBOLS reflective capabilities to get working answers to questions when possible. The docs (although invaluable) are sometimes misleading, often incomplete or outdated, and rarely just flat out wrong. I certainly agree that some further explanation from RT on the implementation of datatypes would be extremely useful. I also agree that there are "irregularities" in the implementation of some REBOL datatypes and their associated manipulation functions, which are impediments to a clear and quick understanding of the language. I heartily support your (and Joels) efforts to coax some more information from RT about language details. I am cautiously optimistic that this will happen (but probably not any time soon). Regards -Larry BTW is the quote above from the REBOL/Core users guide? If so, we should send feedback a msg to fix it.