Re: X-Spec (was: "RPG isn't cool")

At 12:11 05/11/1999 , Hans Boldt wrote:
>1) IFxx, DOWxx, etc.  There are currently expression alternatives
>   for these, so why bother carrying these forward in the new
>   scheme.  Do we support these in the CF-Spec?  ie. Do we allow
>   code like:  " CF   ifeq counter 17 "?

I'd say it's not necessary as long as there is a suitable alternative.
"CF   if counter = 17" is certainly preferable.

>2) String ops:  SCAN, SUBST, XLATE, etc.  There are expression
>   or BIF alternatives (or will be) for most (possibly all) of
>   these.  Do we support these opcodes in the CF-Spec?

Again, not necessary, but maybe a little murkier than case 1, if only
because the syntax of these operations is not obvious when reading the code.

>3) Move ops:  MOVE, MOVEL.  You could code EVAL/EVALR for many
>   moves, but not all MOVEs are easily convertible to the EVAL
>   statement.  Do we support MOVEs in the CF-Spec?  (If not, we
>   would have to add additional new BIFs, which still wouldn't
>   cover all of MOVE semantics.)

If it can't be fully supported, I would say yes. Do support MOVE/MOVEL

>4) Arithmetic ops:  ADD, SUB, etc.  As many have already
>   discovered, arithmetic in expressions is not totally
>   compatible with arithmetic in the fixed opcodes.  Do we
>   support these in the CF-Spec?  ie.  Do we allow code
>   like:  " CF  add 1 counter "?

Probably not necessary. With the new compiler directives, this is less of a
problem. AFAIK, the problem only surfaces if intermediate results are
required. You can always do multiple free-format operations and accomplish
the same thing, although an increment/decrement operation would be nice.


Pete Hall
pbhall@execpc.com
http://www.execpc.com/~pbhall
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