Re: Consider Python John C.Randolph (jcr@idiom.com)
Mon, 17 Apr 2000 14:45:47 -0700

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Jonathan S. Shapiro" <shap@eros-os.org>

> I will rule out PERL on grounds of total illegibility and insecurity. It is
> possible to write decent programs in Perl. I know both of the people who
> actually do it. Forget it.

Who's the other one?

> Python, in my view is an option, though the garbage collector would need to
> be replaced for serious use (the cyclical garbage problem).
>
> Scheme is preferable because it is formally securable.

I was not aware of this.

> If I'm going to put
> code in the CM system that runs on your machine, you damn well want to know
> that it cannot do anything improper. I know that Python has a restrictable
> bytecode machine, but that's very different from having formally verifiable
> semantics. It's not that I plan to write any proofs. It's that I want to
> know that the proofs are possible.
>
> This is a "down the road" issue. Let's hold off on it.

I thought we were talking about the implementation language for per-version. Are we actually discussing its scripting language?

-jcr