Andrew Clarke wrote: > What is the latest status of SNOBOL operators in Unicon? Did I see > recently a release note or forum message stating that the newest builds > have now integrated it as a beta feature? ... > Also I'd like to comment on the syntax, although I'm sure I won't be > saying anything that's not already known. The syntax is inconsistent and > clunky the way it stands. Sure, there's some conflict with existing > Unicon operators, but I'm a bit puzzled by the inconsistency between > some of the chosen operator symbols. However until I actually try to use > it, I can't pretend to offer better!
I was impressed with the performance but not the syntax. My major complaint about S4 pattern-matching was that it was a separate language embedded in SNOBOL. Fortunately, SNOBOL's syntax is so ridiculously simple that adding the PM language doesn't leave you with a language that is too complex overall. I argued against adding the S4 PM operators to Unicon for the same reason. It didn't feel as though it would be an integrated part of Unicon, but more of a distinctly different add-on. I felt (and feel) that more work was needed to understand how to fit PM into Unicon more seamlessly - one suggestion was to look at re-implementing string scanning using PM as the implementation mechanism. That might give the performance benefits without visibly affecting the language itself. It would not be an easy task, however, and might not work. I used to do (long ago and far away) a fair amount of programming in S4 (nothing near to what the long-time S4 advocates have done, of course!) My experience comparing what I did in S4 with what I do in Icon/Unicon is that while S4 PM let me succinctly describe the matching process, by the time I added in the code to actually do things with the results, it wasn't that much more terse than Icon/Unicon, and a lot harder for me to understand. (Then again, I know Icon/Unicon very well - I'm *sure* someone whose knowledge of the two languages is reversed from mine would have a different point-of-view!) -- Steve Wampler -- [email protected] The gods that smiled on your birth are now laughing out loud. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Palm PDK Hot Apps Program offers developers who use the Plug-In Development Kit to bring their C/C++ apps to Palm for a share of $1 Million in cash or HP Products. Visit us here for more details: http://p.sf.net/sfu/dev2dev-palm _______________________________________________ Unicon-group mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/unicon-group
