5 ms·
Yes, the runtime is slow. But many language design decision, notably references, make it difficult to make a fast implementation (I should know, I did my PhD on
by pbiggar 17y ago
Yes, the runtime is slow. But many language design decision, notably references, make it difficult to make a fast implementation (I should know, I did my PhD on it).
They're trying to explain the problems that Facebook are having, which is that there is just such a large volume of code. They aren't trying to give a short course in interpretation and compilation.
Scripting language is not a meaningless expression. Many papers use it. I submitted papers with "scripting language" in the title to PLDI and POPL, and there was not one complaint or problem with the term from reviewers (who found plenty of tiny "errors" otherwise).
- jrockway 17y agoWhat does "scripting language" generally mean. UNIX "scripts" can be written in C. Is C a scripting language?
- lolcraft 17y agoFrom my understanding of the issue, a scripting language was once a small language with one purpose which quickly expanded to fill all possible needs (e.g. Perl). By this definition C isn't a scripting language, as it was small and stood that way.
- jrockway 17y agoHow is that meaningful from a computer science standpoint?
- SapphireSun 17y agoI'm definitely stealing from someone else's comment a long time ago but they said it very well: The difference is that scripting languages have no main function (as far as I know).
- Hexstream 17y agoWell, isn't that called a "general-purpose programming language"?
- SapphireSun 17y agoMaybe "scripting language" is the way today's kids say it?
- Hexstream 17y agoC is a general-purpose programming language but I don't think anyone ever called it a "scripting" language... (besides "scripting" DSL's with C syntax in some games)
- lanstein 17y agoThis obviously is not in the spirit of what you're saying, but... Python main() functions by Guido van Rossum http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=4829 http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=4829
- SapphireSun 17y agoI think the idea is that you optionally can have a main, but you aren't required to do so ;-)
- pbiggar 17y agoGenerally speaking, a scripting language comes from the set {Python, Perl, JavaScript, PHP, Lua, Ruby}. Its a tricky term to define, much like "compiler". Actually "compiler" is a nice analogy: everyone knows what one is, but the actual test for "is this a compiler" is shaky, and returns true for lots of things that aren't _really_ compilers. Anyway, Ousterout coined it in his paper on TCL, but annoyingly chose not to formally define it. The set at that time was (I think) {TCL, Perl, sh}. But because he didn't define it properly, the word has been used for years without a proper definition. The best I can do is to say read my PhD thesis, starting on page 7, where I'd spent a meaty six pages explaining in as much detail as I can what it means to be a scripting language.
- a0002 17y agoQuick question from a noob: why do references make it harder to make a fast implementation? I'm genuinely interested in the topic, could you post a link to your PhD thesis or some other relevant information? Cheers
- romland 17y agoI am guessing it is related to dereferencing. It seems Google agrees, it's also mentioned on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_%28C%2B%2B%29#Relationship_to_pointers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_%28C%2B%2B%29#Relatio... [snip]...consequence of this is that in many implementations, operating on a variable with automatic or static lifetime through a reference, although syntactically similar to accessing it directly, can involve hidden dereference operations that are costly.[/snip]