oz@ursa.ccs.yorku.ca (Ozan Yigit) (06/12/91)
Fyi. --- %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