Should collection/sequence/array indices start with zero or one? Most current languages choose zero. For flux, I am choosing one. This choice is orthogonal, meaning that I can easily change it if it turns out to be wrong. The reason to discuss such a trivial issue is that it is an example of how choices that made sense in the early days of programming need to be reexamined. It also frames some principles of language design: Abstract Datatypes, and Conservatism.
Continue reading “Why numbering should start at one”
Still Alive
Hey, long time. Having a snow day here, which is a good day to catch up. My son got sick this summer, which knocked me out of commission for a while, but I am back to work now. As promised last June, I have defined the formal semantics of a core language that captures the key ideas of side-effects in a tree-structured heap without sequential programming. I have formulated confluence and soundness theorems that seem plausible (though I haven’t tried to prove them). So I don’t think it will collapse under me like Coherence did. One of the next steps is to build a reasonably usable textual syntax that can be compiled into the core language. By reasonably usable, I mean usable for expressing small examples up to a hundred lines of code, which is the minimum I need to communicate the idea to others. The working title of the language is flux.
Continue reading “Still Alive”
Pay no attention to that strange old man on Channel 9
Here. I actually haven’t watched it yet because it is just too freaky to see myself on video. I’ll wait till Edward Norton plays me in the movie version.
Emerging Languages Camp Wrapup
I meant to write this earlier, but I have been occupied with a family medical emergency. The EL camp was a great experience, and I hope they do it again. I met more interesting people, and heard more interesting ideas, than at any other conference I have attended. Naturally there were ups and downs. There were some me-too languages with no purpose other than to entertain and glorify the author. But there were also quite a few serious efforts to try out new ideas and advance the state of the art. I would like to thank the organizers, Alex Payne and Brady Forrest, for perceiving the need and making this event happen. Continue reading “Emerging Languages Camp Wrapup”