fwd: intentional programming progress

From: Brian Atkins (brian@posthuman.com)
Date: Thu Apr 26 2001 - 14:49:55 MDT


Also there is a link here to a little interview with Simonyi here:

http://www.edge.org/digerati/simonyi/simonyi_p2.html

does anyone here think that this technique will help with AI work or with
AIs being able to understand their own code?

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: [isml] Making HAL Your Pal (fwd)
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 13:25:42 -0400
From: "Billy Brown" <BillyBrown@extremelogic.com>
Reply-To: extropians@extropy.org
To: <extropians@extropy.org>

Samantha Atkins wrote:
> Of course, it would be wonderful if software components could be
> described quite well not only in syntax and interaction but in
> intensional terms and all of this were computable.

Since you put it that way, you might be interested in this:
http://research.microsoft.com/scripts/pubs/view.asp?TR_ID=MSR-TR-95-52

This is how the 'common intermediate language' in MS's .NET environment
is implemented, which explains how they can do neat tricks like
cross-language inheritance. Unfortunately they aren't making anything
for programming directly in the intermediate language, but they do have
a set of tools (intended for language vendors) that you can use to
create pseudo-compilers that translate the language of your choice.

Of course, since the .NET framework also includes a set of object
interfaces for examining, editing, commenting on and otherwise
manipulating code (even executing code!), there isn't really any need to
create special language features for this sort of thing.

Billy Brown, MCSE+I, MCSD, MCDBA
billybrown@extremelogic.com



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