Re: Extensible syntax

[Bob Cassels <address@hidden>]

tom@livelogix.com wrote:

>Hi,
>
>...seeking links / advice...
>
>I'm currently working on a language that is extensible in the same way
>that "Lisp is a programmable programming language". The intention is to
>come up with a language that can easily morph into a wide range of DSLs.
>  
>
[...]

>There's Dylan, with its template based macro system, but Dylan syntax is
>only extensible within a fairly strict framework. It always looks like
>Dylan. Agree?
>

This is true, but it's not fundamental to the idea behind Dylan macros.  
  (The template idea is from the Dybvig/Hieb Scheme syntax-case macros.  
http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/hieb92syntactic.html and/or 
http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/88826.html )  The templates are relative to a 
grammar, and the current grammar is relatively limited as you noticed.  
It was just enough to handle the Dylan syntax, and provide a few 
interesting extensions.  We (the Apple Dylan group) had hoped to 
generalize the grammar a lot more, but it didn't happen (for 
non-technical reasons).

I'd suggest trying something similar, but based on a more general grammar.