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dylan revival
- To: address@hidden
- Subject: dylan revival
- From: address@hidden (marc)
- Date: Tue, 02 Apr 2002 07:00:02 -0500
- Organization: http://groups.google.com/
- Sender: "Gregory T. Sullivan" <address@hidden>
- Xref: traf.lcs.mit.edu comp.lang.dylan:14077
hi there,
currently there seems to be a real chance for a revival of the
dylan programming language due to the following facts:
- the java hype has settled somewhat
- new languages like c#, j# try to convince people that java is not
the end of the road
- resentiments against advanced language features (like gc) decline
- people begin to recognize the need for even more advanced language
features (c.f. generics for java...)
- new devices (e.g. symbian-os based smart-phones) open a new
mass-marked
- microsofts clr-platform allows language diversitivity
how can dylan leverage the current situation to establish itself as a
competitive alternative?
I hope to get ideas from you, but mine are as follows:
1.) application-areas
- establish as best in class environment for emerging WebServices
world
- constraint-based programming
2.) compilers
the main problem of dylan IMHO is the 'unavailability' of dylan
compilers and VMs. So:
- develop a simple and lightweight dylan-to-c compiler
- develop a dylan-to-clr compiler (knowing that clr is quite
unapropriate for a closure and generic-function based langauge like
dylan)
or
- define a dynamic-vm specification optimized for closure and
generic-function based languages and
create a dylan-frontend as well as clr-based-backend for it.
and
- develop different dvm backends (interpreters, jits, compilers)
and try to target the following OSs:
- Windows XP, Stinger
- Linux
- OS X
-> Symbian OS v7.0
3.) language
- factoring of the dylan library into configurations and profiles (as
in J2ME) for small devices.
4.) politics
- try to get the support from a well known company (e.g. HP, Apple,
IBM, ...)
- involve universities for a dylan-to-clr project and get fundings
from M$ for that
I think that the time is right for dylan to become a more prominent
player in the field. The
language has everything required to tackle the complex programming
tasks in the upcoming
ubiquitious computing world.
cheers
marc