[chuck-users] Guile C++ wrap

[Hans Aberg]

I started to write a bit on a Guile C++ wrap*), and it strike me it  
may give some inputs on the discussion on giving ChucK functional  
language capabilities.

First, Guile has a conservative GC (meaning that it just tries to  
collect some pointers, not necessarily all). It makes C++  
implementation very simple: you don't have to write operator=() and  
copy constructors, because normally, when an object is mutated, it is  
being done using *this = f(*this) where f is a function of the  
functional language (so normal object referencing just needs to hand  
over the pointer). But the question is if such a GC can be made  
without causing timing problems.

Then I use templates to do some Haskell style static typing, though C+ 
+ is a bit too limited. But it is fully possible see what kind of  
syntax might be possible. For example, one can define an increment  
function using
   function1<integer, integer> inc = x >>= x + 1
(though I must use a more complicated syntax in the actual code due C+ 
+ and Guile limitations). Here, ">>=" is the lambda, and in math it is  
the symbol ↦, in ASCII looking like |->.

The Haskell-like define-function-by-cases syntax would be something  
like:
   function1<integer, integer> inc;
   inc(x) = x + 1;
though it is hard to get it to instantiate properly using C++  
templates. But if built into a ChucK parser, that should be no problem.

But it seems that the current ChucK syntax might be enhanced with  
functional language features.

   Hans

*) http://math.su.se/~haberg/guile/