Xref: utzoo comp.realtime:1256 comp.ai:9024 comp.lang.lisp:4762 comp.lang.c++:12851 comp.robotics:787 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!pacbell.com!ucsd!telesoft!rlk From: rlk@telesoft.com (Bob Kitzberger @sation) Newsgroups: comp.realtime,comp.ai,comp.lang.lisp,comp.lang.c++,comp.robotics Subject: Re: "Easy" way to put "AI" in realtime embedded systems? Summary: because Keywords: realtime, ai, c++, lisp, embedded Message-ID: <1234@telesoft.com> Date: 13 Apr 91 09:22:04 GMT References: <1991Mar26.163917.14641@unhd.unh.edu> <4471@skye.ed.ac.uk> Organization: TeleSoft, San Diego, CA. Lines: 32 In article <4471@skye.ed.ac.uk>, jeff@aiai.ed.ac.uk (Jeff Dalton) writes: > > Why not? Some people like Lisp. Since we don't insist that you use > the language we like, why give us a hard time for not using the > language you like? It doesn't seem to me like it's a quiestion of 'liking' a language or not. Jeez, we're supposed to be _engineers_ with the wisdom to select the correct tool for its merits, not because of our subjective preferences. I missed the original post, but if the poster wants to embed LISP in a hard real-time application, there are valid engineering questions that need to be asked. I don't prefess to be anything near a LISP expert, but I'll toss out a few questions you need to ask yourself. Can you calculate guaranteed worst-case times for LISP routines in the presence of interrupts? How about the dynamic memory allocation algorithms used in LISP -- are they non-deterministic? How can you protect LISP data structures in the presence of concurrency? Is reclamation of stale heap space performed? I don't mean to imply that LISP fails in these areas. Worst-case analysis is necessary for hard real-time applications. You're charting new territory if you use LISP in hard real-time, IMHO. .Bob. -- Bob Kitzberger Internet : rlk@telesoft.com TeleSoft uucp : ...!ucsd.ucsd.edu!telesoft!rlk 5959 Cornerstone Court West, San Diego, CA 92121-9891 (619) 457-2700 x163 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Wretches, utter wretches, keep your hands from beans!" -- Empedocles