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[REBOL] Re: The big idea of Rebol

From: greggirwin:mindspring at: 3-Jun-2002 9:58

Gabriele, et al << PH> I am a total REBOL newbie, maybe there are already ways to deal PH> with combinators in REBOL like what offered in 'Joy'. I didn't go in depth enough to understand what they really mean by combinators, anyway, it's not difficult to manipulate REBOL code from REBOL itself, so I think it can easily be done.
>>
I just read up on it quickly and can see there is some common ground between JOY and REBOL, in what some of their goals are, and what their inspirations might have been. One big difference, just reading some sample JOY code, is that JOY is probably not as easily understood, or read, by less technically minded people as REBOL (not counting for good vs. bad coding and naming styles). Not to disparage JOY; I just don't think that was one of its goals, but I could certainly be wrong from what little I have investigated. Combinators appear to be, generally, higher order functions, which we can certainly create in REBOL. MAP is an example they use and there are at least a few implementations of MAP in REBOL out there. As far as dialects for other languages, I think they can be a good thing. Whether they are true dialects, or just function libraries, they can help newcomers to REBOL feel more comfortable. In either case, you can see how a REBOL implementation works and, over time I think, people become acclimatized and then there is only REBOL. People need common ground; a universe of discourse, whether linguistic or conceptual, so they can discuss (communication is the big idea for me :) ideas and issues. With REBOL, as it is today Carl has given us a foundation to build on. He has also given us a number of concrete pieces to help us get acclimated. Eventually, we will lose the "need" for those and will really begin to <insert your favorite Star Wars/Matrix/Zen/??? view here>. :) Personally, I like a quote from Richard Bach's 'Illusions' - "Everything you know is wrong." --Gregg