[gclist] Two meta-pence worth

[Francois-Rene Rideau]

   Firstly, thanks for this wonderful gclist:
I never found such a concentration of great people on the internet;
of course, due to the traffic, it's more than time for a newsgroup --
praise whoever will undertake moderating.

   Now for my pennyworth among so great discussions:
after the FAQ is done, perhaps it is time to think about a meta-GC,
a program that would compile a GC out of a specification of what
techniques will be used.
   All the point about such a program would be to tune GC implementations
with respect to particular (classes of) programs,
while providing easy maintenance
and a proof that the generated GC complies its formal specifications.
   As you see, to efficiently implement and use a fully generic meta-GC,
we need a programming language(s) more expressive than currently
are implemented or even designed;
all the more when co-fine-tuning the GC and actual program
means that there be a bridge between the two languages,
possibly/hopefully the same.
   But I'm convinced that even very specialized meta-GC can prove
infinitely useful; actually, the least #ifdef in a GC implementation
is a beginning of meta-GC, and there is already a lot of such stuff
lying around.
   So is anyone seriously thinking about less completely specialized
meta-GC than exists ?
I have no doubt about the great potential utility of such tool, if affordable.
Is it affordable ?
   Who will undertake the long and hard path toward the fully generic
meta-GC ? How long would/will that take ?
There might be a Turing prize at the end, isn't it ?
Sure I am a dreamer, but I have not left the real world, have I ?
How can I be more useful ?

   Help *dearly* sought having me land on earth (serious |-: SOS!)
   Your undersleeping dreamer (if you didn't killfile me yet)-8,

--    ,        	                                ,           _ v    ~  ^  --
-- Fare -- rideau@clipper.ens.fr -- Francois-Rene Rideau -- +)ang-Vu Ban --
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