Re: Octave and Guile?

[Keisuke Nishida]

Mikael Djurfeldt <address@hidden> writes:

> * Keisuke Nishida has implemented a VM for Guile and Dan Crettol is
>   working on the next generation of his QScheme VM and has joined
>   Guile.  We plan to replace the current evaluator with either of
>   these engines.  The fact that Guile then probably will be the
>   fastest Scheme interpreter will increase popularity a lot.

Probably we'll combine the two engines.  While my VM compiles assembly
code into byte code and interprets it, Dan's new VM compiles assembly
code into machine code and executes it directly.  The overall
architecture is the same.  We might be able to share the compiler and
the VM instruction set.  I'm going to discuss the integration as soon as
Dan completes his VM upon the current QScheme infrastructure.

> > Could Octave provide some momentum for Guile, or would it just be
> > seen as a minor development?
> 
> I think Octave would provide a lot of momentum for Guile.  I see it as
> very important.

I think it will provide a great momentum, too.  It will encourage the
development of translators, which makes Guile more useful and
attractive.  Once Octave/Guile becomes compatible with MatLab, it will
certainly invite many people to both Octave and Guile.  And it will
prove the usefulness of a translator and introduce the power of Guile.

-- Keisuke Nishida