Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!atexnet!cvbnet!aperez
From: aperez@cvbnet.UUCP (Arturo Perez x6739)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.nfs
Subject: Re: Writing Postscript code....
Message-ID: <506@cvbnetPrime.COM>
Date: 31 May 90 15:40:23 GMT
References: <53478@wlbr.IMSD.CONTEL.COM>
Sender: postnews@cvbnetPrime.COM
Lines: 46

From article <53478@wlbr.IMSD.CONTEL.COM>, by mh@awds26.imsd.contel.com (Mike Hoegeman):
> In article <1990May30.030703.462@Neon.Stanford.EDU> pallas@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Joe Pallas) writes:
>  >
>  >The NeWS Class system is best described as an example of an
>  >object-oriented language implemented in PostScript.  Granted, it is an
>  >embedded implementation, so all of PostScript is exposed to the
>  >programmer.  But its very existence is evidence of PostScript's
>  >inadequacy as a programming language.
>  >
> 
> Well... you can make this rather flippant comment about almost any programming
> language. For example:
> 
> 	"The very existence of the C standard library is evidence of C's
> 	inadequacy as a programming language."
> 
> Which is a pretty ridiculous statement. I've used PostScript quite a bit
> (probably more than most of the PostScript flamers in previous postings)
> and i find it similar to lisp in ease of use , maintainablilty, etc..
> 

I don't think this scans in quite the way that Joe Pallas' statement did.

A more appropriate statement would have been:

	"The very existence of the X toolkit and widgets is evidence of
	C's inadequacy as a graphical (or UI) programming language."

Anyway, all I know about Postscript is that it's ugly and proprietary (not 
necessarily the same thing :-).

What makes Postscript so hard (or easy) to program in?  And why should we even
want to write filesystems in a language designed for page description?

Why isn't someone proposing a language designed for something a little more
general?  For example, how about Smalltalk?

Hey, just 'cause Postscript is out there doesn't mean we have to use it.  We
could probably use any interpretable language, Lisp, Forth, or even Perl!

Again, why should we use a page description language for a filesystem?

Arturo Perez
ComputerVision, a division of Prime
aperez@cvbnet.prime.com
Too much information, like a bullet through my brain -- The Police