Digital Mars - D - #! probably should be legal

↑ ↓ ← → Russ Lewis <spamhole-2001-07-16 deming-os.org> writes:

I'm thinking that maybe we should allow #! (at the beginning of a line,
followed by any number of characters) as a legal line of D syntax.  It
would be treated by the parser as a null-line (no effect).

It would allow us to run d programs almost as scripts (when we move to
UNIX), since #! at the beginning of the line is used to determine the
correct interpreter for a shell.  I might add

#! /usr/bin/d-interpreter

at the beginning of some of my files.  It might not be exactly the
smartest thing to do, but it seems like it would add a lot of
flexibility w/o adding hardly any complexity to the language or its
parser.

Thoughts?

--
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Nov 19 2001

↑ ↓ ← → "Sean L. Palmer" <spalmer iname.com> writes:

Please, no favors for Unix (or any other specific platform).  Especially
when it adds so little.

Sean

"Russ Lewis" <spamhole-2001-07-16 deming-os.org> wrote in message
news:3BF8C7F1.63A80CC4 deming-os.org...
 I'm thinking that maybe we should allow #! (at the beginning of a line,
 followed by any number of characters) as a legal line of D syntax.  It
 would be treated by the parser as a null-line (no effect).

 It would allow us to run d programs almost as scripts (when we move to
 UNIX), since #! at the beginning of the line is used to determine the
 correct interpreter for a shell.  I might add

 #! /usr/bin/d-interpreter

 at the beginning of some of my files.  It might not be exactly the
 smartest thing to do, but it seems like it would add a lot of
 flexibility w/o adding hardly any complexity to the language or its
 parser.

 Thoughts?

Nov 19 2001

↑ ↓ ← → Axel Kittenberger <axel dtone.org> writes:

Sean L. Palmer wrote:

 Please, no favors for Unix (or any other specific platform).  Especially
 when it adds so little.


Well funny defintion of "specific platform", today almost all major 
computers systems except ms-windows run on a unix-like or compatible OS. 
Now even the MAC has gone unix....

The special question in this regard should better be: do you allow the 
language to be also interpreted beside beeing compiled? I guess no.

However I agree with the orignal author that '#' is a better comment 
token. It's shorter than '//', it does not bring system problems like '/*' 
and is stackable, also from an artistic view it seperates the text better, 
beside that it is write-spread as comment token in all non computing 
language definition files, like almost in all /etc files, or as comment in 
makefiles. Beside it's exactly as the he said it, on unix systems it allows 
you to specify an executable a text file should be computed with if 
executed.

- Axel
-- 
|D) http://www.dtone.org

Nov 19 2001

↑ ↓ ← → "Sean L. Palmer" <spalmer iname.com> writes:

So what's so wrong with using:

   dinterp mydscript.d

instead of merely

   mydscript.d

?

Maybe you could rename the file  'mydscript.di' to signify it's interpreted.

If you tie the D language to Unix today, and 5 years from now Unix is out of
vogue because some new OS comes in and takes over the world, then what?

If you think about sheer number of computers running the OS, Windows wins.
Why not make ';' the end-of-line comment, since ';' is used as end-of-line
comment in Windows .ini files?  I'd be happier if make used ';' or '//' as
eol comment tokens.

Think about what is being requested.  This is clearly a platform/OS specific
issue and should not be addressed by the core D spec.

Sean

"Axel Kittenberger" <axel dtone.org> wrote in message
news:9tajbh$1gm1$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 Sean L. Palmer wrote:

 Please, no favors for Unix (or any other specific platform).  Especially
 when it adds so little.


 Well funny defintion of "specific platform", today almost all major
 computers systems except ms-windows run on a unix-like or compatible OS.
 Now even the MAC has gone unix....

 The special question in this regard should better be: do you allow the
 language to be also interpreted beside beeing compiled? I guess no.

 However I agree with the orignal author that '#' is a better comment
 token. It's shorter than '//', it does not bring system problems like '/*'
 and is stackable, also from an artistic view it seperates the text better,
 beside that it is write-spread as comment token in all non computing
 language definition files, like almost in all /etc files, or as comment in
 makefiles. Beside it's exactly as the he said it, on unix systems it


 you to specify an executable a text file should be computed with if
 executed.

 - Axel

Nov 19 2001

↑ ↓ ← → Axel Kittenberger <axel dtone.org> writes:

 Maybe you could rename the file  'mydscript.di' to signify it's
 interpreted.


Thats classic way of windows thinking, note that on core unix 
systems the filename or extention is not necessarly the connected to an 
application (well the KDE IDE does interpred extendions today). If you 
execute a 'file' some conditions are checked, first if #! is presented the 
rest of the line is interpreted as path, and the matching file will be 
executed with this filename as paramter, than it's checked to be an ELF 
file, and various other formats, I don't know of :o)
 
 If you tie the D language to Unix today, and 5 years from now Unix is out
 of vogue because some new OS comes in and takes over the world, then what?


Well Unix has just celebrated it's 30 birthday. So it please draw out the 
odds of this to change in the next 5 years. 

 If you think about sheer number of computers running the OS, Windows wins.


No, If you take out the sheer number of CPU's windows looses high, it's far 
beneth 1 percent, well all unixes counted together also loose high. 
The most CPU's on this world run some RTOS, or are total monolithic. Think 
of it were everywhere a CPU is used, starting from your handy (actually 
having 2 CPU's in them), your digital watch, your TV, your washmashine, yes 
even some credit cards contain full CPU'S.

If you count all computer running servers and non-desktop operations 
windows looses again, through how many unix servers do you think your 
telephone call will be routed through if you call your friend on the phone? 
How many unix based routers does this post pass until it reaches your 
desktop? (Note that IOS from CISCO routers is BSD (al'a UNIX) based. What 
do you other crucial systems like the stock market runs upon? Hospital 
databases?

Now turn over the scope, let's get all computing languages that exist, 
where were they developed on? C? Java? Perl? Phython? Eiffel..

Honestly I cannot think of a single language that was "born" on windows 
systems, sure there are some but they do not come in my mind currently, all 
I can think of are "imported". Hmmm okay Ms Bob, C#, Visual Basic (However 
Basic come originally from monolithic systems)

I do not know where Pascal was developed on, since it was orignially 
written 1970 it's umm 1 year older than K&R's C and their UNIX.

 Why not make ';' the end-of-line comment, since ';' is used as end-of-line
 comment in Windows .ini files?  I'd be happier if make used ';' or '//' as
 eol comment tokens.
 
 Think about what is being requested.  This is clearly a platform/OS
 specific issue and should not be addressed by the core D spec.


Note, I argueed that # is good comment sign on itself, beside that I just 
drew examples where it is otherwhere used.  ';' is a very bad commentor, 
first it is used already as seperator, second it's contra intuative, third 
it's not a "thick" character seperating syntactic total different parts 
well.

- Axel

Nov 19 2001

↑ ↓ ← → "Sean L. Palmer" <spalmer iname.com> writes:

How about this:  Your future Unix-based D interpreter can provide a language
extension to support that.  And you personally can put it at the start of
all your D scripts.  ;)

Sean

"Russell Borogove" <kaleja estarcion.com> wrote in message
news:3BF962FB.EECF5DD0 estarcion.com...
 "Sean L. Palmer" wrote:
 Please, no favors for Unix (or any other specific platform).  Especially
 when it adds so little.


 It costs so little, particularly if the parser only has to accept #!
 at the beginning of the file.

 -RB

Nov 20 2001

↑ ↓ ← → a <a b.c> writes:

	Frankly, I have considered this, but I knew better than to bring it
up.  :->  A lot of people would like UNIX to die.  I had a manager that
told me that UNIX would be gone in five years and everything would run
on NT and (of all thing) Notes.  That was about five years ago and Linux
has become a buzzword.  Apparently it was not a prophetic statement.
	To be honest the UNIX shebang is kindof klunky in its own way.  I like
it better than dos style file extensions and other OSes that have
countless filesystem object types just to differentiate between
different file formats.  It's one of those things where I would like to
find "The Better Way" (tm).  But that is beyond the scope of this list. 
I guess I wouldn't back a UNIXism just because I am already sick to
death of how Windowsism have spread.

Dan

Russ Lewis wrote:
 
 Sheesh.  I had no desire to start a flame war.
 
 Sorry.

Nov 21 2001

↑ ↓ ← → "Pavel Minayev" <evilone omen.ru> writes:

"Russ Lewis" <spamhole-2001-07-16 deming-os.org> wrote in message
news:3BF8C7F1.63A80CC4 deming-os.org...
 I'm thinking that maybe we should allow #! (at the beginning of a line,
 followed by any number of characters) as a legal line of D syntax.  It
 would be treated by the parser as a null-line (no effect).


I agree. This is a feature seen in so many languages so
I think it must find its place in D.

And it might be allowed not even at the beginning of the
line, but _only_ at the very start of the file. Should
be easy for the compiler to check this.

Nov 19 2001

↑ ↓ ← → "Walter" <walter digitalmars.com> writes:

"Pavel Minayev" <evilone omen.ru> wrote in message
news:9tbbv1$1vl7$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 "Russ Lewis" <spamhole-2001-07-16 deming-os.org> wrote in message
 news:3BF8C7F1.63A80CC4 deming-os.org...
 I'm thinking that maybe we should allow #! (at the beginning of a line,
 followed by any number of characters) as a legal line of D syntax.  It
 would be treated by the parser as a null-line (no effect).


 I agree. This is a feature seen in so many languages so
 I think it must find its place in D.

 And it might be allowed not even at the beginning of the
 line, but _only_ at the very start of the file. Should
 be easy for the compiler to check this.



I have thought of requiring that all D source files start out with some
unique string, the point being that will make it easier for the compiler to
distinguish between D source and some random text. I can't tell you the
number of irritating problems I and others have had by it not being obvious
if a source file is meant to be compiled with a C or a C++ compiler.

Nov 19 2001