From: Tom <micathom@...>
Date: 2009-02-25T18:33:00+09:00
Subject: Re: Nexus Programming Language

> And Ruby does have ParseTree.

BTW does ParseTree work with ruby 1.9? The last time I tried it
didn't.

Anyway, ruby isn't really made for that kind of thing. If you look at
the example at their homepage, the :scope and :block node seem to be
superfluous when dealing with code as data, and something like
"[:call, [:lvar, :arg1], :==, [:array, [:lit, 0]]]" also seems more
complicate than it could be. I think it's a good start but it doesn't
really match lisp capabilities in this respect where there is no
structural difference between the code and the data that represents
that code. That syntax most people in this thread were mocking has its
advantages and if you're denying that, the difference to "those cl
advocates" is only a marginal one.

Maybe you should rather ask if in ruby it is really necessary to
manipulate code as data the way it is necessary in lisp. With a few
exceptions, I have seldom felt a need for it whereas in lisp the use
of macros is something you do all the time.