[gambit-list] Need review for an open-source book/library on Computation at Compile Time (using Gambit)

Marc Feeley feeley at iro.umontreal.ca
Mon Aug 1 10:02:22 EDT 2016


[Sorry for the repeated posting but I’m having problems with my email…]

Hi Bill. I have little time so here are my quick comments…

1) Bug is an interesting project and it shows you have a good understanding of the Gambit internals.  Your book may help users better understand Gambit’s namespaces and macros.

2) It seems that unit tests can only be attached to single function definitions (with your libbug-private#define form).  In my experience, unit tests must sometimes check that two or more functions work together correctly, so it is awkward to attach these tests to a specific function definition.  For this reason, I think unit tests should be decoupled from the function definitions, but in the same file close to the functions tested.  This could be done with a new special form called “unit-test” for example.  It would have the additional benefit of not requiring your libbug-private#define form.

3) Can you explain how unit tests for internal function definitions (non toplevel) are handled?

4) Your project seems to be driven by several goals: unit testing framework, literate programming, and a new lexical syntax.  An all-or-nothing approach like this will probably hinder acceptance by other users.  How hard would it be to separate things out to be more modular? For example, using the literate programming support without the new lexical syntax.

Marc

> On Jul 31, 2016, at 9:03 PM, Bill Six <billsix at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Marc, et al.,
> 
> I'm finishing writing an open-source book/library on Computation at Compile Time, using Gambit.  Before I self-publish it, I would like feedback.
> 
> The book is about augmenting the compiler with the code which it is compiling, thus treating the compiler as an interpreter.  Testing dominates the compile-time computation, as each procedure in the book is collocated with tests for that procedure.  Should any test fail, the library does not get built.
> 
> Sound interesting?  The code is at https://github.com/billsix/bug, but I will send my current PDF on request.
> 
> Bill Six
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Gambit-list mailing list
> Gambit-list at iro.umontreal.ca
> https://webmail.iro.umontreal.ca/mailman/listinfo/gambit-list




More information about the Gambit-list mailing list