Random thoughts

[coder at ibm.net]

On 07/04/97 at 07:57 AM, cg at ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA (Chris Gray)
said: > coder at ibm.net wrote: 

>:Mike Cowlishaw is an interesting one to talk to on language design.  A
>:very opionated, articulate, frighteningly intelligent fellow.	We
>:disagreed often -- but he had the research data to back his side up.  He
>:put a lot of thought into REXX's baroque design -- it is and was very
>:accurately intended as a language for non-programmers.

>Ah, but you are a programmer (sorta by definition!), so could *you* get
>along using REXX or something based on it? 

It would be a bit uncomfortable, but I think I could.  I really have to
take a look into OREXX (ala REXX with Objects) to see how well (if at all)
it would adapt.  If I could live with its object model, it might just
work.

>It is likely that you would
>have to do the vast majority of the work using it, just to get a decent
>code base for your server.

Bingo.  <ouch>

>REXX is the standard inter-program control mechanism on the Amiga, and it
>comes with the system. 

Ditto for OS/2.  There are also a bunch of external REXX libraries
available.  I can pretty well do anything from application automation, to
mailing lists, full mailers, asynch comms, TCP/IP (sockets, HTTP, FTP,
Gopher, etc), X-base, string and file parsing/filtering, SNA, 3270
automation, LU 1, LU3, LU6.2, etc under REXX.

>I read the docs on it a few years ago and decided
>to never touch it. :-/

Where else can you find a type-less language where any non-reservered word
tag is automatically a symbol, and where symbols automatically default in
value to their name?

Ahh, its not that bad.  This list is being run by a set of REXX scripts,
and I'm currently working thru Steward (the majordomo-ish affair) which is
also written in REXX.  Heck I know people with a commercial graphic image
analysis application written in VX-REXX...let alone several commercial
banking applications.

--
J C Lawrence                               Internet: claw at null.net
----------(*)                              Internet: coder at ibm.net
...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...