[DGD] Any advice?

[Noah Gibbs]

--- Ben Chambers <bjchamb at bellsouth.net> wrote:
> Any advice as to where to start or what will be
> necessary to create a new
> kernel from scratch?

  Only a little.  For starters, you should realize
that some code available in some places won't work the
same for you -- a DGD library's AUTO object
effectively changes the kfuns (kernel functions,
basically the language's standard library), and DGD's
default Kernel Library does this a bit.  In some
places, more than a bit.
  So you'll likely have better luck with code designed
for the Melville library than for the Kernel or
Phantasmal libraries (Phantasmal builds on DGD's
default Kernel).

  You'll need to decide what functions, if any, *you*
want to override as well.

  One of your most major decisions is going to be how
(and whether) to handle inheritance and
upgrade-in-place.  A *lot* of the weird stuff the
Kernel library does with the AUTO object and AUTO
functions is to make this happen.  If you check out
"http://phantasmal.sf.net/DGD/Kernel/" you can find an
explanation of inheritance in DGD and how the Kernel
library deals with it.  You may choose to do it
differently, but you should still understand how the
Kernel library does it.

> For example, instead of the kernel : mud design, I'm
> planning more of a
> telnet kernel : mud kernel : your mud seperation. 
> does this make sense?

  Well, you'll want to look at DGD's interface to the
Driver and AUTO objects and see what exactly you want,
but you could certainly do more at that level. 
Several people have come up with some good ideas (me
included) about what DGD could do with a good Telnet
object coded in LPC.

> Where should I start?

  With the documentation that comes with DGD.  Dworkin
gives a full run-down of what functions you need to
have available and what they do.  Also, you'll want to
look at the Driver and AUTO objects of the Kernel
library -- in effect, they complete the same
documentation by giving you a good example of how to
use those functions.

> If you're wondering what my qualifications are

  Not really.  At the very least you'll ask some good
questions and I can steal the answers to put on my web
site.  At best, you'll create a new entirely
independent kernel library, which would rock.
  :-P

> I'm good with C++, really good.

  And haven't even started college yet?  Watch
yourself, boyo, or somebody who actually understands
the language will hear you say that :-P

  You're actually pretty safe.  Nearly nobody outside
the C++ ANSI standards body genuinely understands C++.
 If you said you were really good with C, that'd be a
different thing.  I might have to quiz you into
submission myself :-P

> I have the ultimate source of free time: 4 years
> at college coming up ;)

  You think that now.  Depending on your college it
may even be true, but be careful making assumptions
:-)


=====
------
noah_gibbs at yahoo.com

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