[Tfug] Language choices

[Tim Ottinger]

Then I would definitely look at Python instead.  There are plenty of docs on
embedding and extending, so you can stick it in your app and you can
customize it.  It is simple, easy to read, doesn't have a cryptic syntax,
can be quite easy to read over the phone.   It's got all the math stuff you
want, is dynamically (strongly) typed, and is entirely open sourced.

On 10/27/06, Bexley Hall <bexley401 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> --- Tim Ottinger <tottinge at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Wow. That's fairly obscure.  I remember when REXX
> > was supposed to be the next big thing back in the
> > early early 90s, but then I haven't heard the
> > name since then.  ML I heard of a few times.  Is
> > somebody considering building new systems in these,
> > or did you just inherit a turd?
>
> I'm looking for ideas for a lightweight scripting
> language to build into a couple of things.  But,
> I am unsure of the exact criteria I want to
> impose on my selection  :<
>
> I am averse to punctuation-obsessive languages
> (e.g., Java, C++, etc.) as the punctuation just
> muddies up the code syntactically (try reading a
> Java program to someone over the telephone -- this
> is how I was taught to evaluate language syntax
> and coding style -- vs. a program written in
> something as "vanilla" as BASIC).
>
> I like the lack of strong typing that REXX seems
> to embrace (sure, strong typing is great if
> you're working in an Ada-like environment where
> you want the compiler to shepherd you away from
> careless/sematic errors -- but, it just gets in
> the way if you are trying to do something simple!).
> And, variable precision arithmetic is a mandatory
> criteria for me -- ideally, in a way that isn't
> as syntactically cluttered as would be writing a
> bunch of C functions like:
>
> add(*addend, *addend, precision)
>
> ML is different enough in its approach to be worth
> time exploring -- though I think the implementation
> would be heavy.  It seems like it would require a
> run-time garbage collector (which means its resource
> requirements are not well bounded).
>
> But, I would like to avoid the *time* required to
> get enough first-hand experience with these to be
> able to make an "informed" decision.  I was hoping
> people who *had* worked with them "in depth" over
> a period of time would have stumbled on enough
> of their assets and liabilities to be able to
> point them out to me.  E.g., the ability to
> embed spaces in a filename *sounds* like a great
> idea -- "I can call this 'XMAS Shopping List'
> instead of 'XMASShoppingList'" -- until you
> actually *use* filenames of that sort routinely!
>
> --don
>
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