r3wp [groups: 83 posts: 189283]
  • Home
  • Script library
  • AltME Archive
  • Mailing list
  • Articles Index
  • Site search
 

World: r3wp

[!REBOL3]

Ladislav
25-Mar-2010
[1900]
...and, besides, my code example above is not of the kind "after 
their creators are finished with them"
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1901]
Only the function! type creates other "contexts" than objects: It 
creates a stack-relative objects. All other contexts *are* objects, 
internally. Even those used by closures and loop functions. There 
is no difference.
Ladislav
25-Mar-2010
[1902]
yes, harm already done, the closure, For, Use, Repeat, Foreach, etc. 
contexts already broken
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1903]
They were broken in R2. Problem solved for R3 - we just have to manage 
the binding trick.
Ladislav
25-Mar-2010
[1904]
as demonstrated by my code, already broken, my code works in R2
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1905x2]
Oh, and module and script contexts are objects too (internally in 
the case of modules).
Your code does what you want it to in R2. That is not the same thing 
as not being broken.
Ladislav
25-Mar-2010
[1907]
OK, I say it differently: the functionality demonstrated by my code 
is not broken in R2. The functionality demonstrated by my code is 
broken in R3.
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1908x2]
Your car has a broken axle that makes it go left.
 "Oh, don't worry, I only want to go left anyways."
There should have been a :) in there somewhere I guess.
Ladislav
25-Mar-2010
[1910]
OK, playing with you: "my car has a broken axle that makes it go 
left, therefore, I can easily demonstrate, that the functional ability 
of my car to go left is not broken". how can I call a car, that does 
not have this functionality, i.e. it cannot go left?" - I call it 
broken
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1911]
Sorry, i meant "go left only in a 20ft radius circle", I didn't mean 
something most people would want to do when they aren't showing off.
Andreas
25-Mar-2010
[1912]
Once again, this issue could easily overcome by having to separate 
types
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1913]
Imagine that your DO-IN-CONTEXT function was written by someone else, 
to take any object, and depended on the 'self override. That is the 
most common case for functions that operate on objects they did not 
create and use 'self. Those would be broken if there is no 'self 
.
Andreas
25-Mar-2010
[1914]
If you want an context! to behave like an object!, convert the former 
to the latter
Ladislav
25-Mar-2010
[1915]
yes, that is very reasonable for me, as a clean solution
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1916]
Andreas, agreed, the problem could be solved by having two types. 
But that's unnecessary, since we have a solution already that doesn't 
require another type. And the two-type solution wouldn't help with 
loops and closures unless BIND? returned an object type from words 
bound to the non-object type, because to do otherwise would break 
BIND.
Andreas
25-Mar-2010
[1917]
Why would that break bind?
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1918]
Because even if we made BIND not do the 'self trick by default, we 
would still *need* to add the /self option, and that option would 
*need* to have a 'self field to do the trick with, *every time*.
Ladislav
25-Mar-2010
[1919]
, and, the solution you mention is broken, without any hope that 
all the bugs will be cured, the more tricks you implement, the deeper 
you descend into the trouble
Andreas
25-Mar-2010
[1920]
While I'm not even sure that we would still need /self, I can't see 
where the problem is. BIND/self simply won't work on context!s
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1921x2]
Because otherwise every code block we are binding with BIND/self 
would leak references to whatever binding 'self had already.
You have to assume that the 'self trick needs to be able to work 
with every "context" that you pass to BIND, even if BIND doesn't 
do the trick by default. Because the trick is necessary for a lot 
of code. And leaked 'self references can be a security hole, allowing 
access to otherwise encapsulated code.
Ladislav
25-Mar-2010
[1923]
like the DO-IN-CONTEXT function - actually, I assumed, that there 
are two programmers: one implementing the other function, and the 
other implementing te DO-IN-CONTEXT function. Their functions will 
cooperate only if no tricks are played
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1924x3]
Ah, but you were also assuming that BIND doesn't do or depend on 
the 'self trick. Try the function with BIND/self.
Make sure that DO-IN-CONTEXT uses BIND/self, depends on it, requires 
it. Then pass in a "context" created by a loop function.
It's all well and good to say that the current BIND does the 'self 
trick and you don't like that. But there is a lot of code that depends 
on that trick, so if you don't want to do it for your code, you better 
make that an option (perhaps the default one).
Andreas
25-Mar-2010
[1927]
that code is scripts, modules, objects?
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1928]
there is a lot of code that depends on that trick

 - Not R2 code of course. R2 breaks code that depends on 'self existing.
Andreas
25-Mar-2010
[1929]
Where is the problem in doing bind/self for object! contexts and 
bind/no-self for context! contexts?
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1930x2]
Andreas, yes, those. TO-MODULE would break utterly, for instance, 
no recovery possible, if BIND accepted contexts that didn't have 
'self.
There is no problem with not doing the 'self trick if you don't want 
to. The problem would be if you *can't* do the 'self trick with any 
indefinite-extent context that exists, and you would run into that 
problem if it was possible to make an indefinite-extent context without 
the special 'self field.
Steeve
25-Mar-2010
[1932]
Btw, I felt uneasy when the first time I saw that code :

a-function: func [block [block!]] [ 
repeat i 1 [do-in-context block 'i] 
] 

do-in-context: func [block [block!] context [word! object!]] [do 
bind block context]

Now i know why. It's a serpentine way for simply doing:
>> repeat i 1 block

Erf :)
Andreas
25-Mar-2010
[1933]
Why would that be a problem? Simply don't accept context!s wherever 
you can't handle them?
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1934]
Sure, that's what is done with function! contexts after the function 
returns. And one of the functions that can't handle them is BIND.
Andreas
25-Mar-2010
[1935x3]
Fine, but this is precisely about BIND acception two different types 
of contexts and determining by their type wether if should do the 
self trick or not.
accepting*
whether*, it*
Ladislav
25-Mar-2010
[1938]
It's a serpentine way for simply doing:

 - actually, it is not, just a hint: the code is perfectly OK, and 
 it works in my programs. The main difference between the code and 
 my production code is, that the A-FUNCTION and the DO-IN-CONTEXT 
 function are more complicated (actually doing useful things, the 
 code above is useful only for the demonstration purpose).
Steeve
25-Mar-2010
[1939]
The unfamous "real use case" syndrom is back :)
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1940]
Don't you see, if BIND/self is the only way to see the 'self word 
at all, and that word is otherwise not visible, and BIND/self would 
require the existence of that word, then there is no point in having 
a separate datatype. The only code that could possible be affected 
by the existence or not of a 'self field could not possibly be used 
with that type, and all other code wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Andreas
25-Mar-2010
[1941]
Brian, I guess we are missing each others point here.
Ladislav
25-Mar-2010
[1942]
so what Steeve, do you want to prove, that I did not use a real code 
and shorten it so, that the problem is still visible?
Andreas
25-Mar-2010
[1943]
What Ladislav and I am suggesting is an _alternative_ to /self or 
/no-self. If we had separate datatypes, those refinements would not 
be needed at all.
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1944]
So what you are asking for is a separate datatype that is like object!, 
except indistinguishable from it is any code that would accept it.
Andreas
25-Mar-2010
[1945]
More like map!, I guess, but yes.
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1946]
It's an alternative that wouldn't work: We'd still need /self or 
/no-self. For that matter, BIND has that option already, internally. 
It can be used by native code only, for now.
Andreas
25-Mar-2010
[1947x2]
Why would we need that?
Use context!s internally, wherever you are currently using object!s 
with bind/no-self
BrianH
25-Mar-2010
[1949]
The suggestion to add /self or /no-self to BIND is only a suggestion 
to make a proven, already existing, already used internal option 
externally visible.