2009/9/11 Matthias Felleisen <[email protected]>:
> On Sep 11, 2009, at 10:12 AM, [email protected] wrote:
>
>> Thing0-Family
>
> [The word 'types' in serious PL society refers to a purely
> syntactic concept,

I'm aware of that sense. There are others as well that might deserve
to be called serious. I'll admit that I am thinking in a more
category-theoretic sense than a syntactic one.

> Interestingly enough this description includes
>
>  Typed Scheme
>  Lazy Scheme

Intentionally so. I think it is important to have a sense of
perspective about what constitutes Scheme before we get all
language-lawyerly about it.

> while the next few bullet points
>
>> Thing0-Strict:

> exclude only Lazy Scheme.

And some (older) flavors of  Stalin. And I'm not 100% sure that the
safe-for-space is commonly implemented. I recall reading about it in
the SML world and I recall it being a little bit more subtle than
plain TCO.

> The problem with this entire conversation is not that the
> lack of seriousness, it is the lack of an acknowledgement
> of the fundamental thesis of the Steering Committee that
> languages are like sharks. Remain still and die, or move.

That is a very interesting sociological point. And, to some degree it
was also my point in providing this list, although you phrased it
rather better. R4RS is a very good language. I don't see it dying just
because we move to a R99 (or whatever)

> So now we have a nice 10-bullet commandment list for the
> small thing, how do you actually program in it?

I see you like the Strict version :) But Thing0 is intentionally so
vague as to be just a statement of principles. Thing1 appears to be
the SC's instantiation of a Thing0-Strict family member. So does
Thing2 for that matter, but it's "bigger".

> The other problem is that the discussion focuses on only
> one of the two essential things, ignoring again that the
> Steering Committee established an intimate link between
> the two of them.

Yes. I am trying to establish a least-upper-bound on the "size"
(whatever that means) of Thing1 since there appears to be a rush to
pile features into it very quickly. Your Shark analogy is I think the
most telling point here. R4RS is a perfectly good realization of
Thing0-Strict and would make an excellent Thing1.

david rush
-- 
Self-proclaimed PL dilettante

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