From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: main.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Neil Jerram Newsgroups: gmane.lisp.guile.devel,gmane.lisp.guile.user Subject: Re: Doc organization (Re: Around again, and docs lead role) Date: 08 May 2003 23:47:27 +0100 Sender: guile-devel-bounces+guile-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Message-ID: References: <3E92E1B4002B0632@pop3.tiscalinet.es> <3EAFE4EC000D9733@pop1.tiscalinet.es> <87d6its93b.fsf@raven.i.defaultvalue.org> <20030508175058.GD920@www> NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: main.gmane.org 1052434911 5165 80.91.224.249 (8 May 2003 23:01:51 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@main.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 8 May 2003 23:01:51 +0000 (UTC) Cc: Rob Browning Original-X-From: guile-devel-bounces+guile-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Fri May 09 01:01:49 2003 Return-path: Original-Received: from monty-python.gnu.org ([199.232.76.173]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 19DuO6-0001Jv-00 for ; Fri, 09 May 2003 01:01:18 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.10.13) id 19DuOz-0005xD-04 for guile-devel@m.gmane.org; Thu, 08 May 2003 19:02:13 -0400 Original-Received: from list by monty-python.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.10.13) id 19DuNY-0005jl-00 for guile-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 08 May 2003 19:00:44 -0400 Original-Received: from mail by monty-python.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.10.13) id 19DuMN-0004rQ-00 for guile-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 08 May 2003 18:59:32 -0400 Original-Received: from mail.uklinux.net ([80.84.72.21] helo=s1.uklinux.net) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.10.13) id 19DuLr-0003dN-00; Thu, 08 May 2003 18:58:59 -0400 Original-Received: from laruns.ossau.uklinux.net (bts-0938.dialup.zetnet.co.uk [194.247.51.170]) by s1.uklinux.net (8.11.6p2/8.11.6) with ESMTP id h48MwqE19438; Thu, 8 May 2003 23:58:53 +0100 Original-Received: from laruns.ossau.uklinux.net.ossau.uklinux.net (localhost [127.0.0.1])ESMTP id 4A998DC4D4; Thu, 8 May 2003 23:47:27 +0100 (BST) Original-To: rm@fabula.de In-Reply-To: <20030508175058.GD920@www> Original-Lines: 58 User-Agent: Gnus/5.0808 (Gnus v5.8.8) Emacs/20.7 Original-cc: guile-devel@gnu.org Original-cc: guile-user@gnu.org X-BeenThere: guile-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1b5 Precedence: list List-Id: Developers list for Guile, the GNU extensibility library List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Archive: List-Unsubscribe: , Errors-To: guile-devel-bounces+guile-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: main.gmane.org gmane.lisp.guile.devel:2298 gmane.lisp.guile.user:1921 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.lisp.guile.user:1921 >>>>> "rm" == rm writes: rm> This is pretty much the position i'm in -- writing C rm> extensions for Guile (currently Guile bindings for the neon rm> http/WebDAV client library. Should be out as soon as Tomas rm> made my crap working and recovered from RFC shock :) I myself rm> (and probably many others) really need more information on the rm> C side of Guile. A lot of if not most of my code deals with rm> data conversion from Scheme <--> C and verso. Right now i'm rm> looking for _the_ Guile way of converting a SCM real number to rm> a C IEEE float (any help?). I'm afraid I don't know how to do this, but data conversion is definitely in the set of C API operations that I think should be documented. rm> Even in my very humble attempts in coding i had to build/manipulate rm> modules/environments from C. Evaluating user code in a save environment rm> is absolutely neccessary as well a catching errors in user-provided rm> Scheme code (callbacks, in the case of the neon bindings). Absolutely, but this is possible and much easier to do from Scheme, isn't it? >> > That's what I'm thinking now, anyway. I think (**) may be quite >> > controversial, so that at least needs a lot more discussion first. rm> Not enough time to comment on that right now (but i have to rm> admit that i hate it when languages try to be too pedagogic ...) But it isn't pedagogy just for the sake of it. I anticipate big benefits in documentation and elsewhere, e.g. in the management of updates between releases. rm> I thought a lot about this problem recently (unfortunately with no rm> clear outcome :-/) rm> Maybe a 3-book approach: rm> - Guile for the scripter (user of an embedded Guile using application rm> who want's to write scripts -- Scheme only). rm> - Guile for the embedder/extender: people like my who write bindings rm> or pplications that use Guile (focus on memory management and rm> data conversion etc.). rm> - Guile hacker: for people working on the Guile core. Yes, exactly, except that in practice the last of these may never happen - and that isn't actually so bad, because for core hacking you will probably need to read the code anyway. In fact, the best documentation for core hacking is probably extensive commenting in difficult areas of the source. rm> Just my 0.002$ Thank you! Neil _______________________________________________ Guile-devel mailing list Guile-devel@gnu.org http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/guile-devel