[REBOL] Re: link to background on Rebol language design?
From: carl:cybercraft at: 24-Dec-2003 22:32
On 19-Aug-03, bryan wrote:
>> I think
>> Carl has said that his study of denotational semantics played a big
>> part as well.
> Yeah, that was specifically that I was thinking about, I seem to
> remember reading that in Dr. Dobbs, I was hoping there was a link to
> something deep on that as it applies to Rebol, as I recall what I
> read that one time had also some discussion of dialecting, and the
> reason for calling what might be called a variable in another
> language, a word in Rebol.
I've seen those from RT say that REBOL words are not variables, (as
apposed to calling variables "words" just to be different), and the
following perhaps helps to explain why...
>> blk: [a few words]
== [a few words]
>> blk/1
== a
>> type? blk/1
== word!
What is variable about 'a 'few and 'words in such an example? Okay,
they can be set, unset and so on, but that's not what people think
variable means in relation to programming. Thinking of them as the
datatypes they are is probably the best mental view to have of them
after you're past the beginner stage.
--
Carl Read
