Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!uwvax!rutgers!ukma!psuvm.bitnet!cunyvm!unknown
From: rrk@byuvax.bitnet
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: DCL Compiler
Message-ID: <23rrk@byuvax.bitnet>
Date: Mon, 9-Nov-87 22:38:43 EST
Article-I.D.: byuvax.23rrk
Posted: Mon Nov  9 22:38:43 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 13-Nov-87 06:37:28 EST
Lines: 29

Apostrophe symbol concatenation, which I see as DCL's greatest strength,
makes it relatively uncmpileable.  I know that LISP is compileable, but
I don't think even LISP is as flexible (I would call it powerful) as DCL
in many ways.  For example:  How would you compile:

$
$ 'state1'_function1:
$ !...
$ 'state2'_function1:
$ !...
$ 'state1'_function2:
$ !
$ 'state2'_function2:
$ !...
$ goto active_function'function'
$

Not to mention thousands of other constructions.  Certainly you could throw
out symbol concatenation and make it compile somehow by rewriting the DCL
CLI, but even then, since it deals with image activations and other very
high-level functions, you would be interpreting at almost as high a level
as before--pseudo-codes instead of DCL--and gain almost nothing, and the
DCL would be gutless.

If someone could propose a decent solution and make me a liar, I would really
enjoy the solution...