[REBOL] Re: Language Popularity & Network Effects; Ruby & Mongrel
From: ale870:gma:il at: 21-Nov-2007 22:43
Ed, I think you centered the problem!
Rebol is great for communication, so maybe, it could increase its power just
in this way:
1) implement more protocols (e.g.: ldap, snmp, protocol for M$ Outlook, XML,
SOAP, JSON, etc...)
2) increment quality of client and GUI
A lot of "standard" scripting languages exist, but when I use Rebol it is a
joy for http handling, html parsing (but maybe, it is still too much
complex. I think we need something like DOM navigation, but using Rebol
power like native datatypes, blocks, etc...).
Rebol has a good area where it can grow: communication, console piping,
applications piping, etc...
This area has almost no competitor, infact every other scripting language
has not so much flexibility that Rebol has!
On Nov 21, 2007 9:53 PM, Ed O'Connor <edoconnor-gmail.com> wrote:
> Interesting discussion. I like the notion of PHP finding its niche
> with serving web pages.
>
> I'm not sure what REBOL's niche would be. REBOL was designed as a
> messaging language. I think I'd be struck down to hear someone say,
> "Boy, you need to get your hands on a good, solid messaging language!"
> Or, likewise, "Where can I find a dynamic, highly-reflective
> metaprogramming language when I need one." :^)
>
> I think that REBOL's strong point is it's convenience. I like the fact
> that I can fire up the interpreter on Windows or OS X and use it to
> manage my local data files with minimal fuss. Or that I can parse &
> extract content from web pages quickly. In this personal
> productivity/end-user programming space, I'd like to see stronger ways
> of managing/launching automated scripts, like a cron-job on the *nix
> platforms.
>
> The areas where I find REBOL is not so simple is in managing errors,
> networking, encryption, xml and building DSLs. I'm not saying the
> power isn't there, just that you need to have a good deal of expertise
> in these areas to leverage these features. Oddly, many of the
> aforementioned features might be considered central to the idea of
> "messaging". If REBOL could make these things much more accessible and
> simple, and co-opt more of the SOA terminology, I think RT could enjoy
> more acceptance as a quick & dirty scripting language for plumbing
> enterprise architectures (as well as public ones, amazon S3, etc.).
>
> REBOL needs to enable the type of programming experience and end-user
> apps that people are not getting from current scripting languages and
> tool-sets. See "We have lost control of the apparatus" for more on
> anticipating the needs of future users:
> http://weblog.raganwald.com/2007/09/we-have-lost-control-of-apparatus.html
>
> Regards
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--
//Alessandro
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