[gambit-list] Gambit REPL iOS app

mikel evins mevins at me.com
Tue Mar 15 08:15:14 EDT 2011


On Mar 15, 2011, at 6:47 AM, Marc Feeley wrote:

> 
> On 2011-03-15, at 3:24 AM, mikel evins wrote:
> 
>> On Mar 15, 2011, at 1:36 AM, Marc Feeley wrote:
>> 
>>> For those interested in using Gambit on the iPhone/iPad/iTouch, I have created an example (examples/iOS) which shows how to do it.  One of the key components is the "build-gambit-iOS" script, which builds the Gambit runtime library for the physical device, and the simulator.
>>> 
>>> The app, which is called "Gambit REPL", offers a simple development environment for Gambit.  It is possible to interact with the interpreter/debugger using Gambit's REPL.  A collection of scripts can be edited and run.  The program comes with a few predefined scripts, including a REPL server which allows starting a REPL from a remote telnet client.
>>> 
>>> Below are some screenshots for the iPhone.
>>> 
>>> I may be submitting this to the Apple App store.  If you fiddle around with the app, and improve it, have comments or write interesting scripts, please let me know and I will add them to the app.
>> 
>> It may be interesting to see what happens if you submit it to the App Store. The Apple developer agreement still provides that no interpreter may be used on an iOS device unless all code run by the interpreter is packaged with the app at the time it's installed, and no app is allowed to unlock or add additional features after install. I would expect Apple to reject this app on that basis.
> 
> I know of another Scheme interpreter, Pixie Scheme III for iPad, which has a "Save World" feature and which is available on the App store.  I'm not sure Gambit REPL is very much different in this respect.  Do you think the fact that you can "telnet" to Gambit REPL makes it objectionable with respect to the Apple license, or is it something else?

I don't know. The developer agreement says:

"An Application may not download or install executable code. Interpreted code may only be used in an Application if all scripts, code and interpreters are packaged in the Application and not downloaded. The only exception to the foregoing is scripts and code downloaded and run byApple's built-in WebKit framework."

This clause doesn't specifically mention code that is typed in at a prompt, and I don't know whether typing code at a prompt would be considered "downloading" it--although, pretty clearly, such code can't be considered to be "packaged in the Application".

I'm not sure these fine distinctions really matter, though.

>  Perhaps the fact that Pixie Scheme III is free makes a difference.  I'm tempted to charge 0.99 $ for Gambit REPL to see if the fact that it is non-free makes a difference.

I'm not sure what you can learn from that experiment. Apple is pretty capricious about what it allows on the App Store. True, Pixie Scheme is allowed so far. On the other hand, and inexplicably, Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu/) is not.

You may find, as many developers before you have found, that your app is allowed at version 1.0 and disallowed at version 1.1 with only tiny changes. You may find it's allowed and then, without explanation, disallowed.

I'm curious to see what happens, but I'm not sure what we can actually learn.

--me





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