[OT] If programming languages were religions...

Randall Reetz randall at randallreetz.com
Sun Dec 21 17:58:22 EST 2008


When someone adds a new function or even library to a version of C, do people claim it isnt still C?  The essence of xtalk is completly independent from lexical additions.  A better question would be "how many changes would you have to make to an xtalk incarnation before you could legitimately clasify it as its own language (at the level of C or Lisp)?  This whole discussion is in responces to posts that hung revTalk up at the taxonomic level with these other legitimately different languages.  I find that irresponsible and false.  That is all.

By the way, and not that it matters... I hate C and java and lisp and dont even particularly like smalltalk... Which is my way of thanking the true gods of xtalk, allan and bill (and the other bill).

I dont seek friends... I seek truth.

randall      

-----Original Message-----
From: "Brian Yennie" <briany at qldlearning.com>
To: "How to use Revolution" <use-revolution at lists.runrev.com>
Sent: 12/21/2008 2:40 PM
Subject: Re: [OT] If programming languages were religions...

Randall,

I'm not sure where your angst is coming from. This list if full of  
people (myself included) that have given every possible credit to  
SmallTalk, Hypercard, Supercard, et al. Nobody disagrees that Rev is  
most certainly an xTalk language. I'm afraid you have vastly  
underestimated (and belittled) the experience of people around here.  
There are plenty of us who know darn well every last bit of xTalk  
history and are quite familiar with other languages, including the  
almighty C. People here have done every imaginable thing from day 1 of  
xTalk's existence.

Calling out "awkward logic", "rhetoric" and "Coolaid" drinking won't  
get you very far and I'm quite sure that disagreeing with you is not  
tantamount to failing to grasp your clear argument. Shockingly, many  
of us completely understand your points, completely grasp several  
programming languages and all of the history of xTalk and yet still  
would disagree with you.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I for one need not  
drink Kool-Aid to disagree with it.

Finally, your claim that RunRev has not made any significant  
improvements to xTalk doesn't hold much water with me. Just for  
starters, try a "repeat for each" loop in Hypercard. Or arrays. Or  
say, running everything on Windows and Linux. Or as pure CGI scripting  
language. Or try writing native socket scripts. Or compare the  
performance of the compiler. Or imageData. Or... the many other things  
I could surely name given more than a moment's thought.

> It hardly seems reasonable to honor your imposibly awkward logic  
> with a reply, but who i ask suggested calling Rev's script "the  
> xtalk" or for that matter, "the" anythhing?  I dont think anyone is  
> confused by my clear argument.  Maybe your thinking is confused by  
> rhetoric within you.  Coolaid.  We all make wway too much of it  
> right inside our own heads.



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