On Mon, 2009-08-24 at 19:37 -0400, Lynn Winebarger wrote: > On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 4:33 PM, Thomas Lord<[email protected]> wrote: > > Scheme is interesting for more than just its math properties, > > though. It's also interesting because of how its math > > properties harmonize so nicely with various implementation > > techniques. In any real implementation - one that minimally > > is capable of some degree of hosting a meta-circular interpreter, > > say - we need primitive types for symbols, numbers, characters, > > strings, pairs, and vectors. How else can you explain > > tag bits to the kids? :-) > > > > Does not a meta-circular compiler deserve as much attention > as a meta-circular interpreter? When you evaluate it, will its > meaning not be as ungrounded?
I am unclear what the referent of "it" is in your second question and unclear as to what you mean by "ungrounded". So, that whistling noise I hear could well be your point sailing cleanly over my head. Whoosh. Look at it go. That said, making a guess about your meaning: I think interpreters are primary and compilers secondary. I think Scheme "wants to be" an interpreted language with first class environments and no chance at all of optimizing compilation in the general case. I think Scheme "wants to have" various subsets (in combination with libraries) that an optimizing compiler can go to town on. The default compilation output for arbitrary form X should be something like (eval 'X appropriate-environment) but if static analysis of X indicates that optimization is possible, then by all means, optimize. As for the grounding of meaning, I thought that was what least fixed points were for. Informally: it's a dynamic language all the way down so it should be a dynamic language all the way up. The "compiler bias" of the past couple of Rn's never sat well with me. I thought that when R5 and R6 happened we ought to have been adding first class environments and separately writing about compilable subsets. -t _______________________________________________ r6rs-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.r6rs.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/r6rs-discuss
