REBOL ARTICLE: Please review
[1/9] from: tim::johnsons-web::com at: 29-Oct-2001 7:16
Hello:
My partners and I publish a small webzine. I am including
a brief article on rebol. I would appreciate it if any of you
so inclined would take a look at my rough draft and review it
for mistakes.
I need to keep it brief - please don't suggest any hyperbole
and I reserve the only right to be silly.
FYI: this webzine is published as part of
a Linux User's group. I'm not into OS wars, but that is
the overriding context of the webzine.
Let me know if I have said anything incorrect.
--
Tim Johnson <[tim--johnsons-web--com]>
http://www.johnsons-web.com
[2/9] from: greggirwin:mindspring at: 29-Oct-2001 10:58
Hi Tim,
Are you sending it to the ML, by request, or is it on your site?
--Gregg
[3/9] from: tim:johnsons-web at: 29-Oct-2001 8:56
On Mon, Oct 29, 2001 at 10:58:51AM -0700, Gregg Irwin wrote:
> Hi Tim,
> Are you sending it to the ML, by request, or is it on your site?
<<quoted lines omitted: 3>>
> [rebol-request--rebol--com] with "unsubscribe" in the
> subject, without the quotes.
Hi Greg: <duh>I left out the link</duh>. Sorry!
http://www.johnsons-web.com/rebarticle.txt
--
Tim Johnson <[tim--johnsons-web--com]>
http://www.johnsons-web.com
[4/9] from: carl:cybercraft at: 30-Oct-2001 8:24
On 30-Oct-01, Tim Johnson wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 29, 2001 at 10:58:51AM -0700, Gregg Irwin wrote:
>> Hi Tim,
<<quoted lines omitted: 8>>
> Hi Greg: <duh>I left out the link</duh>. Sorry!
> http://www.johnsons-web.com/rebarticle.txt
Mixed up sentence in the first paragraph, Tim. (: ...
Available at www.rebol.com is the one of latest, and in this author's
opinion - on of the greatest scripting languages.
the one of latest ... on of the greatest
?
Also, I'm not quite sure what you mean here...
My production on rebol is probably half of what it is on C/C++.
Is is good or bad that your production is half of what it is on C/C++?
One assumes good, but halving productivity is not usually considered
good...
--
Carl Read
[5/9] from: tim:johnsons-web at: 29-Oct-2001 9:46
Hi Carl:
Thank you for catching those typos.... they have been
corrected.
Is my description of mezzanine functions correct, to your
knowledge? That is something I'm not sure about.
tj
On Tue, Oct 30, 2001 at 08:24:17AM +1200, Carl Read wrote:
> On 30-Oct-01, Tim Johnson wrote:
> > On Mon, Oct 29, 2001 at 10:58:51AM -0700, Gregg Irwin wrote:
<<quoted lines omitted: 24>>
> [rebol-request--rebol--com] with "unsubscribe" in the
> subject, without the quotes.
--
Tim Johnson <[tim--johnsons-web--com]>
http://www.johnsons-web.com
[6/9] from: greggirwin:mindspring at: 29-Oct-2001 13:18
Hi Tim,
<< 3)"Mezzanine functions" are creating when the binary
loads - this is part of rebol's approach to "on the
fly" self-composition of code. >>
creating
should be "created". You might also explain briefly what a
Mezzanine function is as it isn't a term in widespread use to my knowledge.
<< Rebol's developer is Carl Sassenrath, who also developed
the original Amiga OS. >>
I might say "designer" or "architect" rather than "developer", or maybe
designer and primary developer
. JMO.
--Gregg
[7/9] from: al:bri:xtra at: 30-Oct-2001 17:02
Tim wrote:
> http://www.johnsons-web.com/rebarticle.txt
I noticed that "rebol" is in lower case. I think it should be "Rebol"?
"because of rebols human-language approach to syntax"
Should be "rebol's" ?
"Code and data is merged into a single concept"
I'd name that "single concept" as "values"?
I hope that helps!
Andrew Martin
ICQ: 26227169 http://valley.150m.com/
[8/9] from: chaz:innocent at: 29-Oct-2001 23:58
At 08:56 AM 10/29/01 -0900, you wrote:
>On Mon, Oct 29, 2001 at 10:58:51AM -0700, Gregg Irwin wrote:
>> Hi Tim,
<<quoted lines omitted: 15>>
>[rebol-request--rebol--com] with "unsubscribe" in the
>subject, without the quotes.
According to Carl Sassenrath, REBOL is all uppercase
http://www.cucug.org/amiga/aminews/1997/970305-sassenrath.html
Good paragraphs. Experiment with different arrangement to put your ideas
closer together.
REBOL:
Available at www.REBOL.com is the one of latest - and
in this author's opinion - one of the greatest scripting
languages.
REBOL's developer is Carl Sassenrath, who also developed
the original Amiga OS.
The syntax is as close to human language as any
programming language that I have worked with.
It is arguable that a "newer" programming language is
restricted by a smaller body of source code. REBOL's
literature
is growing by leaps and bounds, and because
of REBOL's human-language approach to syntax, it is very
readable.
REBOL adds some elegantly simple concepts, among the
following:
1)Code and data are merged into a single concept - not
really a new approach for Assembler programmers.
2)Data structures can be translated directly to file,
a wonderful concept for working with small databases.
3)"Mezzanine functions" are creating when the binary
loads - this is part of REBOL's approach to "on the
fly" self-composition of code.
Included in the script librarys is now an interface to
MYSQL.
Although REBOL is quite new and quite advanced, it is
influenced somewhat by some of the oldest programming
languages - lisp and forth.
Unlike Perl and Python, internet protocols are compiled into the binary,
as is REBOL's wonderfully agile parsing functions.
In fact, it could be said that REBOL is to parsing what Perl
is to searching.
REBOL implements OOP with ease. Although I like Python a
lot, I found OOP concepts easier to implement in REBOL
than in Python.
The REBOL binary is compiled for 40+ platforms now and
there are virtually no compatibility problems.
Every once in a while, I sing to following tune to myself:
(to the tune of "I'm a Little Teacup")
Oh, I am a C programmer and I'm okay
I muck with indices and structs all day
And when it works, I shout hoo-ray
Oh, I am a C programmer and I'm okay
Unlike C/C++, I am able to work happily on my Linux Box to
do development, and send my code directly to a Windows client
with no changes whatsoever.
My production time on REBOL is probably half of what it is
for similar applications on C/C++.
And guess what - no pesky header files!
[9/9] from: nitsch-lists:netcologne at: 30-Oct-2001 16:59
RE: [REBOL] Re: REBOL ARTICLE: Please review
[Al--Bri--xtra--co--nz] wrote:
> Tim wrote:
> > http://www.johnsons-web.com/rebarticle.txt
<<quoted lines omitted: 3>>
> "Code and data is merged into a single concept"
> I'd name that "single concept" as "values"?
No. its, its, well its - puh.
everything is data, including the code.
then you apply an dialect (interpreter)
which evaluates parts of the code.
other parts can be left unchanged or direct evaluated in another
dialect.
like
view layout[a: field [print "bing"] do[focusa]
further important: nothing is data.
content of the %index.r like
%abcd.r "Wow! my file!" icon tool effect[invert]
are instructions to the special interpreter called dektop :-)
very important: binding.
that is, you can pass code to an interpreter, but it stays bound
to its old context(s). see
view layout[a: field [print "bing"] do[focusa]
where does the 'a belong?
if you would pass strings as source, things like setting 'a there
would be difficult.
because of this C++ replaced macros with templates,
complicated macros which are able to figure that out.
but somewhat more restricted in a way,
but more powerfull in another
(hyper-complicated compile-time -interpreter)
because of which state-of-the-art-c++-programmers have all
this holes in the foots from shooting themself in.
rebol solves this lots more clever. By parsing source as far as
needed for binding.
Then giving the rest back to the dialect-programmers.
now one can change the source free.
like i do a lot with composing my sources.
pre-parsed source allows also interpretation based on datatypes,
like saying in layouts 1.2.3 is a color and as version it
is a special number. which makes entering data into programms a lot
more easy.
not only because of code-size, but because of
plow.addBlurbX(toYEp("123"));
You remember, it was Blurb and not Croxlox? Similar in Demo(n)language..
realworld problem with length, length() and size() in java.
where i need a docu-lookup for each word ;-)
giving a rebol-guy with a text-editor the power of a usual guy
with full blown data-creators like guy-builders.
so there is more with "Code and data is merged into a single concept"
than values ;-)
thanks for the audience
-Volker
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