Re: Shrinking the C core

[Po Lu <luangruo@yahoo.com>]

Arthur Miller <arthur.miller@live.com> writes:

> I think you have missunderstand what I mean; I can try make it clear
> that I mean parts that considers Emacs core, shared state and so on.

That's what I was referring to, yes.

> You are missing the point: I wasn't talking about *who* changed the
> Unix; the point here is that it got *changed*.

My point is, Unix has demonstrated many times over that programs written
in C can be interlocked, and doing so is more productive than a rewrite.

> None. And nobody has suggested that such issues exists either, it is your
> construction. On contrary, I am saying that Emacs should undergo such
> transformation :).

That contradicts your assertions below, where you propose returning to
the drawing board to produce an Emacs written in Common Lisp.  Curiously
enough, I can't locate any precedent for large and complex Common Lisp
programs being modified for multi-processor operation.

> True. MS-DOS and Windows 95 would have to go away. Perhaps some other
> popular OS from 1980s-1990s? 

They wouldn't have to go away if Emacs remains written in C.

> Well yes, C is portable and fast, nobody denies that. So are some CL
> compilers. 

Which Common Lisp compiler is capable of linking with Java code through
the JNI?  (ABCL doesn't work, as the Android JVM can't interpret the
bytecode it generates.)

> Nobody said it is "panaceas". But sbcl would provide a better lisp
> machine, in terms of garbagecollector, threading etc; something you will
> have to develop for Emacs eventually. You heard that one about a guy
> with name Isaac Newton and standing on shoulders of others? :)

SBCL only supports kernel-based threads on a handful of systems, and its
garbage collection strategies vary between machine types.  I'm sure we
would be capable of supporting more while remaining portable, and Common
Lisp leaves much to be desired as a pair of shoulders to stand on.

> Just reimplementing the C core would not, because you wouldn't use
> multiple threads. But if you would like to thread Emacs command loop or
> internals itself, than you would have to reimplement it that way of
> course. Think of Java Swing; at least 20 years ago when I war
> programming Java, it was not thread safe, but worker threads were OK.

You're okay with Emacs crashing if threads, wielded incorrectly, trample
over internal state?  If so, the global lock could be lifted from Emacs
Lisp in under a week.

Instead of denigrating the C language, Emacs's C core, and so many other
components critical to Emacs that have been subject to unjustified
invective in recent times, why not direct your attention to a more
productive task, such as identifying the complex interdependencies
between different pieces of Emacs's global state to establish a detailed
plan for their interlocking?  For this task, the most important tool is
a control-flow visualizer such as cflow, and an ample supply of paper.

> I am sure present maintainers are well versed with CL, just not very
> interested to rewrite Emacs in CL; and I wouldn't expected them to be
> either :-). 

Two data points: I'm not an adept Common Lisp programmer, nor is Eli.
I'm not even an Emacs Lisp programmer by vocation.