Re: despair, debugging, and the repl

[Andy Wingo <wingo@pobox.com>]

On Thu 10 Jun 2010 14:45, Thien-Thi Nguyen <ttn@gnuvola.org> writes:

> () Andy Wingo <wingo@pobox.com>
> () Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:03:22 +0200
>
>    So, to that end, then, here's a preliminary plan of action:
>
>      * Deprecate all of the old repl code, keeping compatibility shims for
>        the useful interfaces perhaps, but trying to move the REPL
>        implementation entirely out to modules.
>
>      * Remove all of the old debugger code. This pains me somewhat, but we
>        have to move forward here.
>
>      * Deprecate the-last-stack fluid -- besides being hard to reason
>        about, it doesn't even work all that well.
>
>      * Document the new REPL.
>
> If the plan is to modularize, is it possible to keep the old one around
> (in a module)?

The old repl, yes. I was wondering how to deprecate it in boot-9 but I
think I have figured out a way.

>  Surely, not trashing Neil's work entirely is better?

Trashing is a loaded word :) It is always available in its original form
in git. But it hasn't worked, is the problem -- it relies on hooks from
ceval and deval that just aren't there any more. The part that coincides
with the new implementation is equivalent in functionality, though
Neil's code is nicer, I admit.

Guile needs to promote one main repl implementation, and one main
debugger. There is room for others, but if they are to remain in Guile
itself, they need to be maintained.

Andy
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