Question about extensible HLL syntax
Michael Conrad
conradme@email.uc.edu
Tue Feb 4 21:17:02 2003
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
------=_NextPart_000_0024_01C2CCAB.D7CF82D0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
I had some questions about the HLL. On the HLL Principles page =
(tunes.org/HLL/principles.html) you mention that the language syntax =
that the programmer is typing will be extensible to possibly encompass =
all other programming syntaxes, and automatically rewritten to work with =
the system, or something like that.
For reflection, would you be able to reflectively look all the way up to =
the syntax, or only examine as far as the HLL representation? I guess =
the real question is whether the syntax extensions are really *added* to =
the HLL, or whether you would just have a syntax interpreter that would =
convert your code into accepted HLL that could be used by the system.
Also, when the code is being automatically transported from system to =
system, what format will it be transmitted in? If the original language =
were used, then the recipient would need the same syntax extensions to =
interpret it. If the auto-written official HLL were sent, then what if =
someone wanted to modify the source code? Wouldn't some of the =
ideas/intentions of the original programmer be lost after the rewrite? =
This might be a moot point, since if the second user were interested in =
modifying the code they could just ask the first person for the original =
source code and then install the syntax extensions themselves. Mostly I =
am wondering if there would be any incompatibility between systems with =
different syntax extensions.
I'm just trying to get a handle on how the whole system would function. =
Sorry if the questions sound silly.
-Michael Conrad
------=_NextPart_000_0024_01C2CCAB.D7CF82D0
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1126" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#f0f0f0>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I had some questions about the =
HLL. On the=20
HLL Principles page (<A=20
href=3D"http://tunes.org/HLL/principles.html">tunes.org/HLL/principles.ht=
ml</A>)=20
you mention that the language syntax that the programmer is typing will =
be=20
extensible to possibly encompass all other programming syntaxes, and=20
automatically rewritten to work with the system, or something like=20
that.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV><FONT face=3DArial =
size=3D2>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>For reflection, would you be able to =
reflectively=20
look all the way up to the syntax, or only examine as far as the HLL=20
representation? I guess the real question is whether the syntax =
extensions=20
are really *added* to the HLL, or whether you would just have a =
syntax=20
interpreter that would convert your code into accepted HLL that could be =
used by=20
the system.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Also, when the code is being automatically transported from system =
to=20
system, what format will it be transmitted in? If the</FONT><FONT=20
face=3DArial size=3D2> original language were used, then the recipient =
would need=20
the same syntax extensions to interpret it. If the =
auto-written=20
official HLL were sent, then what if someone wanted to modify the source =
code? Wouldn't some of the ideas/intentions of the original =
programmer be=20
lost after the rewrite? This might be a moot point, since if the =
second=20
user were interested in modifying the code they could just ask the first =
person=20
for the original source code and then install the syntax extensions=20
themselves. Mostly I am wondering if there would be any =
incompatibility=20
between systems with different syntax extensions.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I'm just trying to get a handle on how =
the=20
whole system would function. Sorry if the questions sound=20
silly.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>-Michael =
Conrad</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
------=_NextPart_000_0024_01C2CCAB.D7CF82D0--