Eval - Pro's and Con's (was Re: Dylan rather than CL -- why?)

[patl@goldfish.mitron.tek.com (Patrick Logan)]

[Does anyone want to talk about Dylan? Only half joking.]

   Date: Tue, 8 Dec 92 13:41:02 EST
   From: samp@kurz-ai.COM (Sam Pilato)
   The Apple event object model is a protocol for allowing applications
   to control each other and work collaboratively. [...]

   Is it useful to consider what READ/EVAL, foreign "expression"
   interfaces, foreign function interfaces, and foreign application
   interfaces have or should have in common? [...]

   For example, the reader for "(+ 1 2)" may be a foreign process, and
   deliver '(+ 1 2) for my home process to evaluate.  More realistically,
   a speech recognizer may do the "reading", and deliver an event object
   for me to "evaluate".

Inter-application communication and EVAL are two separate issues.

I may have an application that does not have EVAL, but it will connect
with another application as a client or a server. For example, a help
server can be contacted to display help on some topic. EVAL is not
needed.

Some other application may have IAC and EVAL, and in particular it may
allow some other application to connect and do "remote evaluation".
For example, a window system server may allow clients to connect and
send functions to the server, extending the capabilities of what the
server is capable of doing without involving the remote client. (Can
you say NeWS?)

In both of samp's examples, the server application is apparently a
language evaluator and the client wants something evaluated. There is
no demonstration of IAC having anything in common with EVAL.
--
Patrick Logan         patl@goldfish.mitron.tek.com
Mitron Corporation    (503) 690-8350    FAX: (503) 690-9292
15256 NW Greenbrier Pkwy, Beaverton, OR 97006