Re: [guppi-list] Radical suggestion/question

[Jon Trowbridge <trow emccta com>]

On Wed, Jan 26, 2000 at 12:04:47PM -0800, Conrad Steenberg wrote:
> 
> How about switching to python for an embedded language? (Puts on asbestos
> suit ;-)

Why switch?  Why not just offer both?

Seriously.  It has been my intention to get python bindings into Guppi
eventually, and I don't see why they couldn't happily coexist with
guile bindings.

I'm very familiar with embedding guile, having used it very
successfully to add scripting to a large and complicated program I
wrote for work.  Python, on the other hand, I have very little
first-hand experience with.  So rather than slow everything down and
start tinkering with python, I decided to go ahead full-bore with
guile.

I'm hoping that some accomplished python hacker(s) will volunteer to
add python scripting.  Anyone who wanted to work on that would get my
full support.

> I guess the question is how deeply embedde is guile in guppi?

Guppi is designed to be amenable to scripting.  There is nothing
guile-specific about it, and I can't think of any reason why
multiple different language bindings couldn't happily co-exist.

Since Guile is the "official GNU extension language", I think that it
would make the most sense to have guile be the main scripting
language.  Other bindings (like python) could be optional and could go
into loadable modules.

And speaking of Numerical Python: I'm currently working on a new data
model for Guppi, part of which is being explicitly designed in a
manner to simplify eventual integration with Numerical Python.
(I'll be posting more about this new data model soon.)


> And how emotionally attached are Jon/others to guile? ;-)

Quite a bit, actually.  I really like Scheme --- "The Structure and
Interpretation of Computer Programming" totally changed the way I
think about programming.

-JT

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