Comments for Ola Bini: Programming Language Synchronicity http://olabini.com/blog Ruby, Java, Lisp, Io, JRuby. Programming language archeology, creation and discovery. Wed, 16 May 2012 22:48:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 Comment on Announcing JesCov - JavaScript code coverage by JavaScript | Pearltrees http://olabini.com/blog/2011/11/announcing-jescov-javascript-code-coverage/#comment-102228 JavaScript | Pearltrees Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:28:48 +0000 http://olabini.com/blog/?p=774#comment-102228 [...] It seems the JavaScript tool space is not completely saturated yet. As I mentioned in my previous post I’ve had particular trouble finding a good solution to code coverage. So I decided to build my own version of it. The specific feature to notice is transparent translation of source code and support for branch coverage. It also has some limitations at the moment, of course. This is release 0.0.1 and as such is definitely a first release. Announcing JesCov - JavaScript code coverage | Ola Bini: Programming Language Synchronicity [...] [...] It seems the JavaScript tool space is not completely saturated yet. As I mentioned in my previous post I’ve had particular trouble finding a good solution to code coverage. So I decided to build my own version of it. The specific feature to notice is transparent translation of source code and support for branch coverage. It also has some limitations at the moment, of course. This is release 0.0.1 and as such is definitely a first release. Announcing JesCov - JavaScript code coverage | Ola Bini: Programming Language Synchronicity [...]

]]> Comment on Destructuring extravaganza by Idran http://olabini.com/blog/2010/03/destructuring-extravaganza/#comment-97466 Idran Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:08:02 +0000 http://olabini.com/blog/?p=697#comment-97466 As far as I could tell there's not support for "variadic destructing" or what you'd might call it. I'm thinking along the lines of e.g. Perl's wantarray (only useful for single vs many) or Perl's Want modules that can tell you the number of wanted return values. Matlab makes heavy use of variables number of return values, and Perl's wantarray can be pretty useful at times. I'm thinking maybe it can be useful in a more general case applying to any destructable data structure. Are there any plans/ideas for this in Ioke/Seph? As far as I could tell there’s not support for “variadic destructing” or what you’d might call it. I’m thinking along the lines of e.g. Perl’s wantarray (only useful for single vs many) or Perl’s Want modules that can tell you the number of wanted return values. Matlab makes heavy use of variables number of return values, and Perl’s wantarray can be pretty useful at times. I’m thinking maybe it can be useful in a more general case applying to any destructable data structure. Are there any plans/ideas for this in Ioke/Seph?

]]> Comment on Notes on syntax by Learning new languages and their expressiveness « Open sauce code http://olabini.com/blog/2012/02/notes-on-syntax/#comment-96786 Learning new languages and their expressiveness « Open sauce code Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:09:46 +0000 http://olabini.com/blog/?p=776#comment-96786 [...] for us to write code. By easier I don’t mean we are writing simpler code. As Ola Bini points out in his blog programmers are wanting a higher level of expressiveness. To do this, we have to make some [...] [...] for us to write code. By easier I don’t mean we are writing simpler code. As Ola Bini points out in his blog programmers are wanting a higher level of expressiveness. To do this, we have to make some [...]

]]> Comment on Notes on syntax by It’s the familiarity model! « Affiliates-test.BlogNotions - Thoughts from Industry Experts http://olabini.com/blog/2012/02/notes-on-syntax/#comment-95896 It’s the familiarity model! « Affiliates-test.BlogNotions - Thoughts from Industry Experts Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:25:25 +0000 http://olabini.com/blog/?p=776#comment-95896 [...] during the same time Ola Bini blogged about expressiveness in programming language syntax. He mentions that a well designed syntax should [...] [...] during the same time Ola Bini blogged about expressiveness in programming language syntax. He mentions that a well designed syntax should [...]

]]> Comment on Notes on syntax by Tom Novelli http://olabini.com/blog/2012/02/notes-on-syntax/#comment-95884 Tom Novelli Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:43:39 +0000 http://olabini.com/blog/?p=776#comment-95884 I don't know if APL has much of a chance. Popular C-family languages (Javascript, Python, Ruby, etc) also have concise visual symbols. I guess the APL family's advantage is having symbols for functional operations. Classic APL lacks modern control structuers and isn't suitable for things like imperative loops. I had an idea to embed APL expressions in Lisp to provide control structures... actually started a little prototype implementation; should put it on Github... I don’t know if APL has much of a chance. Popular C-family languages (Javascript, Python, Ruby, etc) also have concise visual symbols. I guess the APL family’s advantage is having symbols for functional operations.

Classic APL lacks modern control structuers and isn’t suitable for things like imperative loops. I had an idea to embed APL expressions in Lisp to provide control structures… actually started a little prototype implementation; should put it on Github…

]]> Comment on Notes on syntax by Optimising for typing at Mark Needham http://olabini.com/blog/2012/02/notes-on-syntax/#comment-95571 Optimising for typing at Mark Needham Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:25:02 +0000 http://olabini.com/blog/?p=776#comment-95571 [...] colleague Ola Bini recently wrote a post describing his thoughts on the syntax of programming languages and while the post in general is interesting the bit that most resonates with me at the moment is [...] [...] colleague Ola Bini recently wrote a post describing his thoughts on the syntax of programming languages and while the post in general is interesting the bit that most resonates with me at the moment is [...]

]]> Comment on Notes on syntax by Syntax Matters in Slang « Villane http://olabini.com/blog/2012/02/notes-on-syntax/#comment-94867 Syntax Matters in Slang « Villane Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:47:30 +0000 http://olabini.com/blog/?p=776#comment-94867 [...] post was inspired by Ola Bini’s notes on syntax. I agree with most of Ola’s thoughts. I’m not convinced that repetition aids reading or [...] [...] post was inspired by Ola Bini’s notes on syntax. I agree with most of Ola’s thoughts. I’m not convinced that repetition aids reading or [...]

]]> Comment on Notes on syntax by Michael Feathers http://olabini.com/blog/2012/02/notes-on-syntax/#comment-94843 Michael Feathers Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:25:37 +0000 http://olabini.com/blog/?p=776#comment-94843 I generally agree with your blog, but thing that I'm not sure about is whether languages should be optimized for readability over writability. I think that when things are going well in a language, it's a false dichotomy. There's research out there that indicates that "conciseness is better" when it comes to syntactic elements: http://www.scala-lang.org/node/3069 It seems to me that if we believe that concise is better, ease in reading and writing and aren't at odds except in the case where very concise constructs can be mistaken for each other. I don't know enough J or K to know if experienced readers have that problem with them, but it does to me that if that problem is tractable, we're headed toward the APL-ish, J-ish, K-ish languages. I generally agree with your blog, but thing that I’m not sure about is whether languages should be optimized for readability over writability. I think that when things are going well in a language, it’s a false dichotomy.

There’s research out there that indicates that “conciseness is better” when it comes to syntactic elements: http://www.scala-lang.org/node/3069

It seems to me that if we believe that concise is better, ease in reading and writing and aren’t at odds except in the case where very concise constructs can be mistaken for each other. I don’t know enough J or K to know if experienced readers have that problem with them, but it does to me that if that problem is tractable, we’re headed toward the APL-ish, J-ish, K-ish languages.

]]> Comment on Notes on syntax by The old problem « Polyglot Posturings http://olabini.com/blog/2012/02/notes-on-syntax/#comment-94521 The old problem « Polyglot Posturings Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:03:40 +0000 http://olabini.com/blog/?p=776#comment-94521 [...] Notes on syntax (olabini.com) [...] [...] Notes on syntax (olabini.com) [...]

]]> Comment on Notes on syntax by J. B. Rainsberger http://olabini.com/blog/2012/02/notes-on-syntax/#comment-94424 J. B. Rainsberger Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:55:23 +0000 http://olabini.com/blog/?p=776#comment-94424 All notation comes from removing duplication: I write something often, so I want a shorthand for it. All notation comes from removing duplication: I write something often, so I want a shorthand for it.

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