Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
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From: oz@ursa.ccs.yorku.ca (Ozan Yigit)
Subject: little languages [ref]
Message-ID: <OZ.91Jun11153039@ursa.ccs.yorku.ca>
Sender: news@newshub.ccs.yorku.ca (USENET News System)
Organization: York U. Communications Research & Development
Distribution: comp
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1991 20:30:39 GMT

Fyi.
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%A Brian Beckman
%T A Scheme for Little Languages in Interactive Graphics
%J Software-Practice and Experience
%I John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
%V 21
%N 2
%D Feb 1991
%P 187-207

Abstract: Programming environments for interactive graphics software
typically have a multiplicity of tools applications. Many of these
programs contain *ad hoc* ``little language'' interpreters that do many
similar things in needlessly different ways. In particular, many little
languages have, in addition to their special-purpose constructs,
vestigial support for ordinary programming, such as variables, loops
and conditionals. If a single, standard programming language were the
basis of all these little languages, they could have complete, coherent
programming semantics; they could communicate with each other more
easily; no design work for basic constructs would be needed; and
interpreter implementation work would be saved. The approach of reusing
and extending the same core language and interpreter for a variety of
little languages is the *extension language* approach.

  Scheme is proposed as a good choice for such a core language.
Scheme is a simple, elegant, high-level programming language. Extendable
implementations are readily available in C source form. Example
applications in Scheme from interactive graphics are presented that
would be nearly impossible to code in a typical scripting language and
very tedious to code in a lower-level implementation language such as C.

---
Often it is means that justify ends: Goals    | email: oz@nexus.yorku.ca
advance technique and technique survives even | phone: 416-736-5257 x 33976
when goal structures crumble. -- A. J. Perlis | other: oz@ursa.ccs.yorku.ca

