OpenEuphoria

RE: Digest for EUforum at topica.com, issue 5758

• Posted by Matt Lewis <matthewwalkerlewis at gmail.com> Mar 22, 2006
• 487 views

Cuvier Christian wrote:
> 
> > 
> > > Also, isn't it simpler to extend the semantics of
> > > "integer" to cover what ALL language around do, ie machine 
> > > size integers (32 or 64 bit according to host hardware)? 
> > 
> > I have no idea what integers have to do with non-blocking API calls,
> > but Euphoria's integers only use 31 bits, because (effectively)
> > there is a bit that says "this is not an integer, it's 
> > a pointer to a larger object". Most other languages don't have
> > dynamic "larger objects" like Euphoria's sequences.
> > 
> 
> Sorry, was mixing this issue with another odll (thought he wrote it too)
> which alows to use 32-bit integers when talking with dll/apps made with sany
> other language.
>

No, this was something I'd done.  It doesn't require a dll, but just some
added euphoria code and a little preprocessing of the translated c files
before compiling.
 
> Most other languages have dynamic objects like sequences with various names,
> all those that are object aware at least. (note: I hardly ever used Basic) I
> admit that joining sequences is easier in Eu than in these other languages,
> but that's only one strong point versus many others.
> I use "object aware" for languages that are hybrid like C++ or Delphi, as
> opposed to "object oriented" ones like Java or Eiffel.
>
 
As someone who's but a bit of thought into this subject, I think you'll 
find that there's not likely a faster way to implement Euphoria's datatypes.
Rob's found a solution that allows him to quickly determine a value's type
with a minimum of overhead.  Any 'object aware' language will likey either
add lots of overhead (i.e., slow) or be very strictly and statically typed
(and kill a lot of what makes Euphoria worthwhile).

That said, if you can come up with another solution that can balance these
issues (speed vs overhead) I'd be interested to hear it.  Of course, once
Euphoria goes 64 bits, we could probably make the case for other new 
datatypes.

Matt Lewis