[squeak-dev] A Bootstrap Compiler
Yoshiki Ohshima
yoshiki at vpri.org
Thu Dec 30 04:15:33 UTC 2010
At Tue, 28 Dec 2010 12:58:22 -0300,
Alejandro F. Reimondo wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> >P.S. i think i know the answer to question why "computer revolution
> >didn't happened yet", because every time people inventing something
> > new, they implementing it in C.
>
> Can be more of one reason, e.g. ... because people are still thinking
> in bootstraping... a new genesis... something irrelevant in terms
> of open systems (ambience), like Smalltalk.
> Under the point of view of systems where semantics can change,
> the genesis is only anegdotic. It is more important the sustainability
> of the system itself (the persistence of the self... when contents
> change through time), the survival in case of accidents (after
> sensing damage), and the preservation of identity (been known
> as the SAME systems after changes).
> Many syntax can coexists, and it is related with diversity of
> expression; not with ideals (a mother language/syntax
> to make the first spell).
>
> The change of semantics though actions "outside" the system
> itself make us continue writing programs. oops!
> the Program class is still missing! :-P
> IMHO, changes in core semantics and the effects of doing the
> changes in the system should be promoted, because
> are important evidence to recognize smalltalk as an open
> system and not as another OO language (the contrary has
> happened during last years, insisting in the importance
> of the "code").
>
> > Yes, of course, and C compiler is available anywhere!.. then for
> > bootstrapping the image you will just need sources in a text form..
>
> Image as the snapshot of a system, contains representation
> of objects.. in text or binary; it is only what has been
> stored from a system in the past.
> It is as important as a snapshot of a woman.
> I prefer to invest my time gaining experience with the living woman.
> People that write good poems (code) are forced to
> write another, tomorrow.
>
> Ah!....
> Another reason for "computer revolution didn't happened yet",
> can be because people still think in terms of computation,
> as systems are still made to compute something.
Good writing. I am (also) more concerned with finding a good
meta-language. C is convenience with its ubiquity and having a parser
generator so it is better than assembly.
"The new system" is along the line of "NotSqueak" in
http://www.vpri.org/pdf/tr2010004_steps10.pdf, which will be quite
different and will have its own evolution path. But the malleability
is drawn upon from Smalltalk and will be more dynamic in its nature.
-- Yoshiki
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