From: Tony Arcieri <tony.arcieri@...>
Date: 2012-03-24T10:30:31+09:00
Subject: Re: Specification for the Ruby Language(current)

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It's impossible to know if a language conforms to an on-paper
specification, because an on-paper specification is on-paper and therefore
can't provide any way to check that a given implementation matches what has
been written down.

In order to do that sort of automatic checking, you need an executable
specification of the language, which is what RubySpec provides:

http://rubyspec.org/

In my opinion, this makes RubySpec a lot more useful than an on-paper
specification, which relies on end user feedback as they discover parts of
an implementation that don't match what's written down. An executable
specification can automatically tell you if you conform to it on a whim.

On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 6:20 PM, Carter Cheng <cartercheng@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I have been wondering if there has been some updates since the publication
> of the book by Flanagan and Matsumoto? I am curious how much I can expect
> JRuby, CRuby etc. to still conform to this description? Is there some sort
> of specification out there (similar to the Self specification or the Scheme
> rnrs)?
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Carter.
>



-- 
Tony Arcieri

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It&#39;s impossible to know if a language conforms to an on-paper specifica=
tion, because an on-paper specification is on-paper and therefore can&#39;t=
 provide any way to check that a given implementation matches what has been=
 written down.<div>

<br></div><div>In order to do that sort of automatic checking, you need an =
executable specification of the language, which is what RubySpec provides:<=
/div><div><br></div><div><a href=3D"http://rubyspec.org/">http://rubyspec.o=
rg/</a></div>

<div><br></div><div>In my opinion, this makes RubySpec a lot more useful th=
an an on-paper specification, which relies on end user feedback as they dis=
cover parts of an implementation that don&#39;t match what&#39;s written do=
wn. An executable specification can automatically tell you if you conform t=
o it on a whim.<br>

<br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 6:20 PM, Carter Chen=
g <span dir=3D"ltr">&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:cartercheng@gmail.com">carterchen=
g@gmail.com</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" styl=
e=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">

<div>Hello,</div><div><br></div>I have been wondering if there has been som=
e updates since the publication of the book by Flanagan and Matsumoto? I am=
 curious how much I can expect JRuby, CRuby etc. to still conform to this d=
escription? Is there some sort of specification out there (similar to the S=
elf specification or the Scheme rnrs)?<div>


<br></div><div><br><div><br></div><div>Regards,</div><div><br></div><div>Ca=
rter.</div></div>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><div><br></div>-- <br>Tony Arcieri=
<br><br>
</div>

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