[e-lang] Quick comments needed on tgc draft

[David Hopwood]

Mark Miller wrote:
> David Hopwood wrote:
> 
>>>     Each procedure call places a new frame
>>>     on the top of the stack, and the frames are processed from top
>>>     to bottom.  In a message-passing system, each frame corresponds
>>>     to a message (arrow) and its target (dot).
>>
>>
>> Terminology issue: do we count systems with multicast or other
>> multiple-target messaging primitives as message-passing systems, or
>> is single-target implied unless otherwise specified?
> 
> I would count them as message passing. Joule's Channels are multicast, 
> and I'd certainly count Joule as a message passing system. But I doubt 
> this distinction is relevant within the scope of this paper.

OK, then add a footnote "We only consider messages sent to a single object,
although some message passing systems support multicast messages."

>> I also don't much like the SH/AM/XL names. It would be slightly better if
>> a different (say sans-serif) font were used to indicate names of 
>> entities, maybe including vats.
> 
> I was thinking of using a font distinction (such as LaTeX typewriter) 
> more consistently for all programming-language text, such as variable 
> names. But I was specifically avoiding doing so for object names, since 
> they are the paper's god's-eye designation of the objects involved, as 
> distinct from the program variables used to hold references which 
> designate objects.

Yes, that's why I suggested sans-serif for object/entity names.

> Perhaps LaTeX equation font ("$...$") would be good for object names?

I've added macros to the LaTeX document (attached) so that the styles can
be easily changed:

   \name{...}      objects/processes
   \vat{...}       vats
   \pr{...}        principals
   \code{...}      code
   \var{...}       variables
   \dvar{...}      declarations of variables
   \meth{...}      methods
   \dmeth{...}     declarations of methods
   \cls{...}       classes
   \ex{...}        exceptions
   \abst{...}      design abstractions
   \sys{...}       systems and languages

I've also changed the code samples to use the alltt environment instead
of verbatim, to allow styles to be used for method and variable
declarations.

(See <http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf>
and <http://noodle.med.yale.edu/latex/latex2e-html/ltx-2.html> for
tutorials on LaTeX2e. I haven't used anything particularly complicated.)

-- 
David Hopwood <david.nospam.hopwood at blueyonder.co.uk>
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