[MUD-Dev] TECH: programming languages (was: Re: TECH: STL / Heaps, etc.)

[Bruce Mitchener]

Travis Nixon wrote:

> That would be great, except that the way of light and truth isn't
> really c++.  But hey, this is hardly the appropriate forum, so
> please don't respond to that comment.  :)


Why not respond? :)

  From the perspective of writing a server application, what do you
  prefer? What are you looking for in that language? Would you use
  separate languages for the core of the server vs. the exterior,
  extensible portions?

How does that change when you're writing a client application?

While some of this discussion has been held time and time again in
the past on MUD-Dev, it seems like a lot of the custom language
people are dropping off these days and that there's a corresponding
influx of people favoring C++ and Java.  (Although I'm really happy
to see that someone's working with CLOS. :)

Personally, I've found that I miss third party libraries the most,
and with a good C FFI (foreign function interface), I can wrap
almost anything that I need for use in my freak language of choice.
(More so now that Miroslav Silovic wrote a really beautiful wrapper
generator.) This removes most of the burden of not having everything
be 'native' software, since most things have a good implementation
in C somewhere that can be wrapped.

More importantly though, how does choice of language affect your
choices and options in the design and implementation?  Or, what
value might alternative or freak languages serve in specialized
roles?

  * Has anyone used Prolog or a logic language in their mud?
  * Has anyone used a Meta-Object Protocol, either one like
    CLOS, or perhaps OpenC++? (I know the ColdStore people
    use OpenC++)
  * How about XSLT? (Anyone doing wireless and using this to
    translate for the various systems?)
  * Has anyone looked at using alternative method dispatch
    mechanisms, like predicate dispatch to simplify the
    implementation? (Predicate dispatch systems would be
    interesting to see used as the basis for an event system.)
  * How about Aspect Oriented Programming? (Although this one
    is possible with Java, but it is still a novel technique.)
  * E, of course, must be mentioned for its approach to
    security, distribution, threading.

Or do most of these things get ignored (with the exception of XSLT
probably) because they're 'nonstandard' or foreign to most
programmers?

Or is it that most from-scratch muds by hobbyists are done with the
intent to learn C/C++/Java more than doing research into what might
make for a more effective new type of server?

- Bruce

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