Re: Modules with Circular Dependencies

[Noah Lavine <noah.b.lavine@gmail.com>]

Hello,

> The problem is that modules are resolved at compile-time, in addition to
> run-time, so there just can’t be circular dependencies.

It's true that a module couldn't depend, at compile-time, on a module
that was only available at run-time. However, I think we could handle
circular dependencies as long as all of the modules involved were
available at compile-time. I would even say that this is one more
instance of the general principle that people shouldn't have to do
things that computers are able to do for them - in this case, you
shouldn't have to manually order your syntax definitions and uses when
your computer can do a graph search for you.

> Besides, I think it’s generally a problem from an engineering viewpoint
> when cycles are introduced.

This sounds like it could be true, but it's so general I don't know
how to respond. Could you talk more about it, or give an example?

> So my feeling is that Guile should be able to detect cycles and warn
> users.

Yes, at a minimum cycle detection would be good.

Noah