--- Stavros Macrakis <stavros.macrakis@verizon.net> wrote:
> > That would be a very interesting addition to Maxima. Otter
> > is coded in ANSI C, presumably for speed, so I have no idea
> > how much work a lisp reimplimentation would be.
>
> Why would you want to reimplement it rather than interface to it as a
> black box? Even if the various Lisps don't have a good story on
> native code interfaces, it should be possible to write a socket
> interface, no?
I suppose, if Otter can communicate by sockets. I guess personally I
figure that if the system is implimented as part of Maxima, it would be
much easier to customize it's abilities and interaction environment to
work smoothly with the rest of the system. Any external package
introduces three immediate complications:
1) What platforms does it run on? Will some Maxima platform get short
changed?
2) Who is maintaining it? Even if it runs on many systems now, will
it continue to do so in the future?
3) Is the syntax/api/whatever stable? If a current version of
something already has all the features it makes sense to add to Maxima,
there is a risk that future versions might be incompatible, and we
would have to write code to attempt to account for different versions.
Yech.
Of course, I am not trying to say there aren't cases where a foreign
function interface or socket communication is the more logical choice.
But it is pretty much a fact of life that the less self contained a
program is, the harder it is to keep it working. Gnome and KDE
applications have this problem all the time - they must stay current
with other software or be crippled. Their apps are usually main stream
enough to make it work, but on something like Maxima where one or two
qualified people might do a lot of work and no one else looks at it for
years after it becomes part of the working system, the case for self
contained, well defined components merits thought. The tremendous
downside is of course reimplimenting all the work already done, and I
agree it is a severe downside.
CY
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