Because LC can't do two things at once.

Richmond richmondmathewson at gmail.com
Thu Feb 19 13:06:19 EST 2015


That's a quote from another posting . . .

this might be the rock on which Livecode founders.

Other languages can do two, or more, things at once . . . I am either 
too out of touch
with other computer languages, or I don't know enough about how computer 
languages
talk to computers (which, de facto, is pretty much the same thing), but 
I wonder WHY
Livecode cannot do two things at once . . .

AND, could it be revamped so that it could do two things at once?

Java can manage multi-threaded programming . . .

I assume [????] that more and more computer languages are in the process 
of becoming
capable of multi-threading . . .

A while back, just for fun, I ran up a silly little game where the 
end-user had to steer a rocket past some static
planets to get to Earth. The reason the planets were static is just 
because I could think of no way of them precessing
in their orbits while the end-user was pressing arrow keys.

Before I look a complete, steaming nit, I am sure there is a "work 
around"; but, to be quite honest, I wonder how many "work arounds"
are necessary before the bell rings.

In the great scheme of things my silly little game is neither here nor 
there: what it did do for me was NOT demonstrate
the super capabilities of Livecode [ after 14 years of messing around 
with Livecode I am pretty well aware of those ],
BUT demonstrate some of its limitations . . .

Now, I know that the initial idea of Livecode was this:

Kevin designing a front-end for a UNIX clone of Hypercard that he felt 
was more user-friendly than the Metacard one.

However, like the Rary, it grew out of control . . .

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Side line; extreme tangentialism coming up: skip down to next load of 
dotted lines if you have a problem drifting
off-off-off-topic with Richmond.
 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

There was a Scotsman down to University in England, who was walking down 
the road and saw a matchbox lying in the road.

Picking up the matchbox and opening it he found, inside, a small note 
written on a piece of paper and a small, black, spherical
object that pulsated.

The paper said; "This matchbox contains a Rary; feed it and care for it 
and it will bring you good fortune."

The Scotsman took the matchbox back to his student room and started to 
feed the Rary; after his 3 years (short degree courses in England)
the Rary was about the size of a tennis ball; black and hairy with no 
obvious eyes, mouth or other orifices.

The man went away back to his butt-and-ben in the hills to look after 
his ageing parents, and continued to feed the Rary; by the time his
parents were gathered the thing was about the size of a large medicine ball.

Over the years our man continued to care for the Rary until it became 
the size of a small tractor and the man was beggared with
the feeding bills.

He decide to get rid of the Rary; so he got the thing into a boat and 
rowed it all the way south down the West Coast and past France and Spain;
left into the Mediterranean, through the Suez canal, all the way across 
the Indian ocean until he came to Japan.

Arriving at Japan he rolled the Rary, at great personal expense to 
himself and his health, up to the top of a very high cliff.

He was just about to push the Rary over the cliff when it turned to him 
and said:

"It's a long way to tip a Rary."

 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Should this story really annoy you; I take no credit whatsoever for it; 
my father, Donald Mathewson, told it to me when I was about 7,
and, at the risk of sounding incredibly juvenile, I haven't stopped 
laughing since.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NOW, Livecode is no longer a UNIX clone of Hypercard with Kevin's GUI 
strapped on the front.

Nor is it anything like what it was 10 years ago.

So, it has to keep growing AND evolving to compete [ THAT is the magic 
word ] . . .

---------------------
After all; if it ONLY grows, then it is going to get pushed
off the cliff soon enough.
---------------------

Possibly the next reasonable step is multi-threading ?????????

Let the debate RAGE :)

Richmond.







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