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From: toebes@sas.UUCP (John Toebes)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: AREXX and ICP
Message-ID: <184@sas.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 28-Sep-87 19:03:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: sas.184
Posted: Mon Sep 28 19:03:13 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 4-Oct-87 21:14:46 EDT
References: <267@mitsumi.UUCP> <3939@well.UUCP> <20098UH2@PSUVM> <28070@sun.uucp> <774@sugar.UUCP>
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.,Cary NC,25712
Lines: 39
Summary: Check it out.  Bill Hawes knows what he's doing

In article <774@sugar.UUCP>, peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva) writes:
> In article <28070@sun.uucp>, cmcmanis@pepper.UUCP writes:
> > The point being that AREXX is *just like* REXX on the IBM mainframes.
> Say what? You want to implement an IBoMination on an Amiga?
Actually if you look at the history of REXX on CMS, it succeeded because it
was so good - not because of IBM.  From rumors of its origins I understand
that IBM did not want to release it but it got so much flak internally that
it decided to make a product of it.

> > This was the whole point of it in the first place. So if you know
> > REXX you know AREXX and vice versa sort of.
> So you want to implement Yet Another Scripting Language that only a few
> people know anything about? What's wrong with UNIX-style scripts? Or if
REXX is not just another scripting language.  It was designed from the ground
up to talk to programs unlike the UNIX-style scripts which simply acts as
an intelligent pipe.  This is not intended to start Yet Another
MY-LANGUAGE-IS-BETTER-THAN-YOURS Holy wars, but to point out that you
should research the item in question before taking pot-shots at it.
> you want to go whole-hog, use Xlisp. Modified lisps are one of the most
> common special purpose languages around (GNU Emacs, ADVsys, etc...). And
> given the typical memory requirements of IBM-mainframe software, I'd doubt
> that AREXX would be too handy for us 512K types.
This is the place where you are the most wrong.  Bill has coded the entire
thing from the ground up in highly tuned assembly language!  He has to the
best of my knowledge implemented the first truely MULTI-TASKING program control
intelligent script language.  It uses some of the best features of the Amiga
including libraries and global message ports to give the greatest flexibility
in communication with REXX and with other programs that use the REXX interface.
Furthermore, he has designed and thought out quite carefully the communications
interface so that you could implement even your own script language that talks
to any of the programs comming out to take advantage of the REXX interface.
> -- Peter da Silva `-_-' ...!hoptoad!academ!uhnix1!sugar!peter
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