SCOUG-Programming Mailing List Archives

Date:	Thu, 11 Sep 2003 17:40:40 PDT7
From:	"Lynn H. Maxson" <lmaxson@pacbell.net >
Reply-To:	scoug-programming@scoug.com
To:	"SCOUG Programming SIG" <scoug-programming@scoug.com >
Subject:	SCOUG-Programming: September, October meetings

Content Type: text/plain

Signs are that Tony Butka will present at the next meeting,
after which we will have an anniversary party. I suspect that
means we will not have the time for a SIG meeting. In October
Warpstock occurs on the third Saturday. I will be there
presenting. That means we need a volunteer to lead the
October SIG meeting.

I don't know if you have taken to the Whorf-Sapir Hypothesis
(WSH) or not. I find that people take to languages based on
the particular view, their universe of discourse, that they
allow. Greg Smith takes to Python for certain applications
due to its list processing features. I'm sure among our
members we have those who prefer REXX when it comes to
certain applications. We know about Ben Arnold and APL and
me and PL/I.

Fortunately I think we have a milestone in sight, which should
mark a turning point in our open source endeavor. It relies on
the "proper" use of WSH of the "best" thought processes
when we use a language (solution set) in describing
(mapping) reality (problem set). What perspective should we
adopt in decomposing the problem set in the language of our
solution set?

First, how do we get the best use of any language? Second,
how do we synthesize the best features of the languages into
a better language?

We have talked about selecting a set of algorithms which we
would then write in different programming languages.
However, an algorithm represents a "solution" in a particular
language. Fortunately in the instance of the peg solitaire
"problem" in the three languages (PL/I, Python, APL) so far
each has presented different algorithms, i.e. solutions.

So maybe then we should concentrate on selecting a set of
problems for which we will develop solutions (algorithms) in
the different languages. That will, one, support our effort on
comparative linguistics (with respect to programming
languages), and, two, assist anyone using a particular
language on the best way to solve, i.e. decompose, a
particular problem.

I have secured a CD of Visual Prolog 5.2 Personal Edition,
which you could at one time download for free from their
website. I know of no reason that we cannot make copies for
our own use in accordance with the original intent of their
offer. In the meantime I went to Hobbes, did a search on
Prolog, and came away with SWI-Prolog, an open source
version, which we could also use. Of particular interest (at
least to me) they implement it in an intermediary language
known as WAM (Warren Abstract Machine), which according
to the original claim used only 7 instructions. You can pursue
this on your own.

I won't ask for a show of hands for how many of you read the
tutorials (I and II) on Prolog fundamentals. I at least did,
though it took me several readings and probably require
several more. Sometimes we find ourselves trapped by our
history. I get no end of upset when some says read a comma
as an "and" and a semi-colon as an "or". I hold it against
them that some 15 years after APL which offers a textbook
"and" (inverted v-shape) and "or"(v-shape) that they could
do anything quite that stupid.

At any rate everyone can have a Prolog version with which to
learn logic programming. We can't avoid object-oriented
programming. Fortunately aside from C++ in the GCC package
the IBM Smalltalk group offers an OS/2 version of their latest
enterprise level product free for the download. If we hesitate
on making copies of the APL Entry product, we can at least
copy the free version, TryAPL, which runs under DOS. Again
doing a search on Hobbes for "lisp" turns up a number of
entries. Perhaps the last to consider is REXX, which we all
should have.

Basically for our learning purposes we have access to the
necessary (and sufficient) software packages: LISP, APL,
Prolog, C, Python, REXX, C++, Smalltalk, and PL/I. If we were
in a mood to port Maude ( a LISP descendant) to OS/2, we
could add it to the list.

We come back to the WSH, to the universes possible through
the "eyes" of a specific programming language: reality,
thought, language: [translation].

The duality principle of logic allows me to convert a negative
statement into a positive form. Instead of paraphrasing the
WSH as "you cannot think what you cannot express" I could
restate this as "you can only think what you can express".

At any rate I have expressed a number of my thoughts. I
would appreciate the same from you.

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