From: dblack@...
Date: 2002-10-05T03:47:02+09:00
Subject: Re: CRuby (Was: R)

Hi --

On Sat, 5 Oct 2002, Anders Bengtsson wrote:

> dblack@candle.superlink.net wrote:
>
> > > Since the interpreter and the language share the same name, how do you
> > > know if "ruby" refers to the interpreter or language?
> >
> > Since at the moment there's no formal definition of Ruby abstracted
> > from the interpreter (ruby), I think having them share the name is the
> > clearest thing.  It's hard (for me) to know what it would mean, as of
> > now, to say, "I'm writing a program in Ruby," except that the program
> > would run under ruby.  (Not that that means it would *not* run under,
> > e.g., JRuby.)
>
> An interesting corner case is when you write a script in a language that
> is clearly Ruby, but uses Java APIs not available in "ruby".

That's where I get caught in the philosophical question: without a
formal language definition, how can a program be said to be written in
Ruby, if it doesn't run under ruby?

I don't think this is likely to be a practical problem, since for any
given project (e.g., JRuby), things will be documented, and people
will know where they diverge, if at all.  But it still stops me from
treating "Ruby" as an abstraction (yet).


David

-- 
David Alan Black                      | Register for RubyConf 2002!
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