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From: mwm@eris (Mike (My watch has windows) Meyer)
Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Universal OS (was Re: Survey of
Message-ID: <9544@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 3 May 88 15:10:52 GMT
References: <769@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU> <76700017@uiucdcsp> <843@actnyc.UUCP> <762@l.cc.purdue.edu> <2845@mmintl.UUCP> <380@smegma.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@agate.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: mwm@eris.UUCP (Mike (My watch has windows) Meyer)
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In article <380@smegma.UUCP> mdg@smegma.UUCP (Marc de Groot) writes:
<In article <2845@mmintl.UUCP> franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) writes:
<>The problem with this is that the more things you throw into a language, the
<>harder it is to write a compiler for it.  And harder, when it comes to
<>software, means it takes longer.
<
<*UNLESS* you are working with an extensible language, in which case adding
<features and constructs adds nothing to the implementation of a compiler or
<interpreter or what-have-you.

But that leaves you with different subcommunities using different sets
of extensions, so that code must either carry along all the libraries
it needs to run in the base environment, or be ported to the new
environment (i.e. - the LISP community before CL).

Of course, after that you can standardize on one set of extensions.
Then you get a large, difficult-to-implement languaged (i.e. - the
LISP community after CL).

	<mike
--
The sun is shining slowly.				Mike Meyer
The birds are flying so low.				mwm@berkeley.edu
Honey, you're my one and only.				ucbvax!mwm
So pay me what you owe me.				mwm@ucbjade.BITNET