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000041_icon-group-sender _Sat Jan 23 11:54:17 1993.msg
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Received: by cheltenham.cs.arizona.edu; Sat, 23 Jan 1993 16:26:43 MST
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 11:54:17 MST
From: "Gregg Townsend" <gmt>
Message-Id: <199301231854.AA14607@owl.cs.arizona.edu>
To: icon-group
Subject: builtin Icon functions
Status: R
Errors-To: icon-group-errors@cs.arizona.edu
I am amused by postings that state "I never use X, so I suggest that X
should be removed from the library". That's an awfully self-centered
view. While I never use acos() or bal(), that doesn't mean that I think
they should be deleted.
A more defensible criterion is the one states "If it can be programmed
in Icon, it belongs in the IPL instead of being a builtin function".
At least that one is unbiased. Of course, that would mean we'd lose
useful functions like tab(), right(), and trim() -- and just think
about the performance of a map() function written in Icon!
My own opinion is that a large repertoire of preprogrammed operations
greatly increases the utility of a language, whether these are supplied
as operators or builtin functions. Certainly FORTRAN would not have
succeeded without its math library. Accordingly, I support the inclusion
of tab(), bal(), sin(), detab(), and other functions, and would like to
see more.
The IPL just isn't the same although it is indeed very useful and
underappreciated. Usage is more difficult because one must set up the
programming environment to find the files, add link directives to the
Icon programs, and perhaps deal with version conflicts.
The argument is made that all these functions make Icon harder to learn.
There is some truth to that, especially when they're all thrown together
in one large bag with no indication of where a new student should start;
but that's a presentation problem, not a language problem.
Gregg Townsend / Computer Science Dept / Univ of Arizona / Tucson, AZ 85721
+1 602 621 4325 gmt@cs.arizona.edu 110 57 16 W / 32 13 45 N / +758m