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Re: constructor naming


On Jan 5, 2004, at 2:15 PM, Aubrey Jaffer wrote:


 | From: Taylor Campbell <campbell@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
 | Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 17:07:43 -0500
 |
 | Why was the constructor renamed to CREATE-ARRAY?

So that it won't conflict with SRFI-25.
But ARRAY-SET! et alia conflict, too. The argument you give for that, 'just 
use type dispatch,' works for MAKE-ARRAY, too.


From: Aubrey Jaffer <agj@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2003 15:44:16 -0500 (EST)

 |     * Subject: compatibility
 |     * From: Per Bothner <per@xxxxxxxxxxx>
 |     * Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 12:04:15 -0800
 |
 | While the SRFI process allows alternative and incompatible
 | implementations, a meta-goal is to define APIs that can be portable
 | across Scheme implementations.  This new specification touches on
 | existing SRFIs 4 and 25, both of which have been implemented by a
 | number of Scheme systems.  While in theory it may be possible to
 | implement both SRFIs 25 and 47 at the same time (by descriminating
 | of the parameters to make-array), that would be a fragile hack.
 |
 | The new SRFI is deliberately incompatible with a prior SRFI, and
 | one that is implemented in multiple Scheme systems.

You have it backwards!  As the appended SRFI-25 message shows, it was
their decision to be deliberately incompatible with SLIB and its
installed base. ...


 | Everywhere else it's MAKE-foo: R5RS's MAKE-VECTOR & MAKE-STRING,
 | SRFI 1's MAKE-LIST, SRFI 25's MAKE-ARRAY, et cetera;

CREATE-ARRAY can create uniform arrays of various types.  The
procedures you mention do not; (MAKE-STRING can return char arrays
only).  MAKE-ARRAY is incompatable with the others in that its first
argument is not (necessarily) an integer.
Again, if you're OK with the conflict with ARRAY-SET!, then you should be OK 
with the conflict with MAKE-ARRAY.


 | I think that CREATE-ARRAY breaks a lot of consistency.

SRFI-47 array procedures have a different consistency:

        (create-array  proto        bound1 bound2 ...)
   (make-shared-array  array mapper bound1 bound2 ...)
          (array-set!  array obj    index1 index2 ...)
    (array-in-bounds?  array        index1 index2 ...)
           (array-ref  array        index1 index2 ...)
I wasn't referring to argument list consistency; I was referring to naming 
consistency.  Much Scheme code I read & write uses MAKE- as any kind of
constructor, be it for indexed or record structures. The basic idea that I've seen: MAKE-... is the basic constructor, with others built on top of it (e.g., 
MAKE-STRING & STRING)


 | I didn't see any consensus on renaming on this mailing list,
 | either...

The only occurence of the word "consensus" in
http://srfi.schemers.org/srfi-process.html is:

  In particular, lack of a reference implementation (as defined above)
  is grounds for rejection. This can only occur if the ``reference
  implementation'' requirement is being met by an outlined
  implementation (type 5), and there is consensus that the
  implementation outline is not adequate. Note that this is never a
  permanent rejection, because creation of an implementation of one of
  the other types is a complete refutation of this basis for
  rejection.

Which doesn't apply to SRFI-47.
OK, let me rephrase: I didn't see _anything_ on this mailing list regarding 
renaming MAKE-ARRAY.