Lee_Robert_Willis@cup.portal.com (04/27/91)
re: Hyper-functionality - I love discussions like this - (I started the "Renderer" thread a while back) I remember reading a SIGGRAPH article a few years back which discussed writing applications as two cooperating co-programs: a user-interface (client); and a 'nuts-and-bolts' (server) program. With the Amiga MessagePort system, it is very easy to pass data structures between applications (and one of the reasons we won't see memory protection). I think this separation of GUI client from server could be performed for most Amiga applications without any perceivable slowdown. If this paradigm (good word) was followed, and if software publishers were sufficently motivated, they could include in the purchase package the source code for the GUI program, and a programmers guide on how to interface to the server. This allows owners to rewrite the GUI (how many times have you wanted to do that?) without threatening the author's profit margin. (He hasn't given away any secrets, since all the good stuff is safely tucked away in the 'nuts-and-bolts'. And with the server interface fully documented, other parties can build on to this application to write composite applications. (It's not dynamic linking, but I think its do-able with a lot less fuss.) Lee Lee_Robert_Willis@cup.portal.com