My Meeting C++ Keynote video is now available
Paul Backus
snarwin at gmail.com
Mon Jan 14 05:31:27 UTC 2019
On Monday, 14 January 2019 at 03:58:37 UTC, Mike Franklin wrote:
> What I wonder is, with design by introspection and the right
> mix of other language features (e.g. `alias`, `alias this`,
> mixins, etc...), what traditional language features can be
> removed from the compiler and delegated to library facilities?
> For example,
> https://theartofmachinery.com/2018/08/13/inheritance_and_polymorphism_2.html
>
> Because design by introspection allows us to "assemble programs
> atomically", perhaps high-level language features like classes
> and interfaces can become obsolete, and the language itself can
> be reduced simpler primitives that don't require the overhead
> of a runtime.
>
> Mike
Scheme is probably the language that takes this idea of a minimal
"core language" with powerful metaprogramming facilities the
furthest, and the result is a fragmented ecosystem that makes
writing portable, non-trivial programs close to impossible. (See
"The Lisp Curse" [1].)
When something like an object system is made part of the language
(or at the very least, the standard library), it becomes a focal
point [2] that the community can coordinate around. Due to the
diverse, distributed nature of any programming-language
community, trying to coordinate through explicit communication is
not really a viable option, so having these kinds of focal points
is very important if we want to be able to work together on
anything.
[1] http://winestockwebdesign.com/Essays/Lisp_Curse.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_point_(game_theory)
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