5 ms·

Morloc: Foreign languages unified under common functional type system

93 points by agentofuser 5y ago

soco 5y ago
Morloc as in "more lines of code"?
- catern 5y ago
  From the git repo history it looks like the original name was "Loc", for "Language of Composition".
  - arendsee 5y ago
    Morlock's are also the creatures that manage the machines under the world in Well's Time Traveler novel. Though I guess they are known more for their dietary preferences.
otabdeveloper4 5y ago
Please make a Nix derivation so we don't have to think about those horrible installation instructions.
- bradrn 5y ago
  They look pretty simple: unless I’m missing something, it’s just ‘stack install’, plus a couple more commands for each language you want to use with morloc.
  - otabdeveloper4 5y ago
    Devops, in general, is never complicated. Still, it's not something I want to do unless I'm paid for it, and especially not for trying out hobby projects.
  - arendsee 5y ago
    You can also look at the .travis.yml file. It contains the instructions for installing everything needed to run all tests on Ubuntu.
Y_Y 5y ago
This idea is amazing, and amazingly ambitious. I wonder if the morloc language (as distinct from the tool) really has to be a new language, or if it could be represented in Haskell or a more flexible variant like Agda or Idris.
dlahoda 5y ago
rust and haskell will love each other
scythmic_waves 5y ago
Slightly off topic but the docs are really well formatted. [0] Link: https://morloc-project.github.io/docs/ https://morloc-project.github.io/docs/ [1] Code: https://github.com/morloc-project/docs/ https://github.com/morloc-project/docs/
- djoldman 5y ago
  Asciidoc is great. <meta name="generator" content="Asciidoctor 2.0.12">
rkangel 5y ago
This is fine if all you care about is functions. Very little in Python is just functions though, and the same is true in C++. The issue with FFI is always adapting the different concepts from one language to another. I can't see how (or if they try) to unify other language's OOP with a functional language over the top. I like the idea though - one functional language to rule them all is a great dream!
- remexre 5y ago
  Yeah, I've thought a bunch about polyglot environments and the design I keep coming back to is a very generic object representation (almost definitely with a metaobject protocol), of which functions are just one kind of object. GraalVM does this with https://www.graalvm.org/truffle/javadoc/org/graalvm/polyglot/Value.html https://www.graalvm.org/truffle/javadoc/org/graalvm/polyglot...
- arendsee 5y ago
  As the morloc developer, I can tell you OOP support is in the pipeline (and there is some support now). A proper reply to this comment would fill a very long blog post, and I'm currently on vacation, so I'll have to get back to you later.
  - rkangel 5y ago
    It's cool to know that there are plans for it. I look forward to hearing about them when you get there. Enjoy your vacation!
wydfre 5y ago
Sounds like someone was finally smart enough to tackle "The Next 700 Libraries"[0] problem. [0]: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1622123.1622147 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1622123.1622147
butterisgood 5y ago
I'm not sure how this works with functions that have side effects. Perhaps they're banned?
- arendsee 5y ago
  That is a very good question. Currently effects are outside the typesystem, but I'm planning on adding an algebraic effect system similar to the one used in Microsoft's Koka language.
skybrian 5y ago
From the README it seems that Python, C++, and R are supported. Which others? It seems like the documentation should have the definitive list, and explain what's supported in each language.
- arendsee 5y ago
  At the moment, it is just these three languages (and partial Rust support). I'll start adding new languages once the type system is more stable.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

93 points by agentofuser 5y ago

soco 5y ago

Morloc as in "more lines of code"?

catern 5y ago
From the git repo history it looks like the original name was "Loc", for "Language of Composition".
- arendsee 5y ago
  Morlock's are also the creatures that manage the machines under the world in Well's Time Traveler novel. Though I guess they are known more for their dietary preferences.

otabdeveloper4 5y ago

Please make a Nix derivation so we don't have to think about those horrible installation instructions.

bradrn 5y ago
They look pretty simple: unless I’m missing something, it’s just ‘stack install’, plus a couple more commands for each language you want to use with morloc.
- otabdeveloper4 5y ago
  Devops, in general, is never complicated. Still, it's not something I want to do unless I'm paid for it, and especially not for trying out hobby projects.
- arendsee 5y ago
  You can also look at the .travis.yml file. It contains the instructions for installing everything needed to run all tests on Ubuntu.

Y_Y 5y ago

This idea is amazing, and amazingly ambitious. I wonder if the morloc language (as distinct from the tool) really has to be a new language, or if it could be represented in Haskell or a more flexible variant like Agda or Idris.

dlahoda 5y ago

rust and haskell will love each other

scythmic_waves 5y ago

Slightly off topic but the docs are really well formatted. [0] Link: https://morloc-project.github.io/docs/ https://morloc-project.github.io/docs/ [1] Code: https://github.com/morloc-project/docs/ https://github.com/morloc-project/docs/

djoldman 5y ago
Asciidoc is great. <meta name="generator" content="Asciidoctor 2.0.12">

rkangel 5y ago

This is fine if all you care about is functions. Very little in Python is just functions though, and the same is true in C++. The issue with FFI is always adapting the different concepts from one language to another. I can't see how (or if they try) to unify other language's OOP with a functional language over the top. I like the idea though - one functional language to rule them all is a great dream!

remexre 5y ago
Yeah, I've thought a bunch about polyglot environments and the design I keep coming back to is a very generic object representation (almost definitely with a metaobject protocol), of which functions are just one kind of object. GraalVM does this with https://www.graalvm.org/truffle/javadoc/org/graalvm/polyglot/Value.html https://www.graalvm.org/truffle/javadoc/org/graalvm/polyglot...
arendsee 5y ago
As the morloc developer, I can tell you OOP support is in the pipeline (and there is some support now). A proper reply to this comment would fill a very long blog post, and I'm currently on vacation, so I'll have to get back to you later.
- rkangel 5y ago
  It's cool to know that there are plans for it. I look forward to hearing about them when you get there. Enjoy your vacation!

wydfre 5y ago

Sounds like someone was finally smart enough to tackle "The Next 700 Libraries"[0] problem. [0]: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1622123.1622147 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1622123.1622147

butterisgood 5y ago

I'm not sure how this works with functions that have side effects. Perhaps they're banned?

arendsee 5y ago
That is a very good question. Currently effects are outside the typesystem, but I'm planning on adding an algebraic effect system similar to the one used in Microsoft's Koka language.

skybrian 5y ago

From the README it seems that Python, C++, and R are supported. Which others? It seems like the documentation should have the definitive list, and explain what's supported in each language.

arendsee 5y ago
At the moment, it is just these three languages (and partial Rust support). I'll start adding new languages once the type system is more stable.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]