[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Couple things...

This page is part of the web mail archives of SRFI 50 from before July 7th, 2015. The new archives for SRFI 50 contain all messages, not just those from before July 7th, 2015.



On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 11:12:04 +0100, Michael Sperber <sperber@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

"Thomas" == Thomas Bushnell <tb@xxxxxxxxxx> writes:

Thomas> Um, in C a user definitely has cause to care. Importantly, a function Thomas> can be used far more flexibly. Allowing all the forms to be macros is
Thomas> a pain.

Felix will point out that allowing forms to be functions is a
performance consideration.


Not only that. It allows the *implementor* maximal flexibility, which
I consider more important in this case. Allowing a form to be a function
may tempt users to do weird stuff like taking it's address, etc.
Remember: on this level (FFI) things can get extremely fragile and tricky.
The user of an FFI should be *forced* to use it's forms in a straightforward
and simply manner.


cheers,
felix