3 ms·

To be clear, Inform isn't related to ZIL other than both targeting the Z-machine.

sp332 14y ago
Right, Graham Nelson reverse-engineered the Z-machine, and wrote the Inform language to target it. Versions 1-6 were more cryptic DSLs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inform_7#Example_game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inform_7#Example_game whereas Inform 7 reads like plain English https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inform_7#Example_game_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inform_7#Example_game_2 Edit: ok several mistakes in a small paragraph :) Nelson didn't solely reverse-engineer the z-machine, and Inform 1-5 were quite different from v6.
- AimHere 14y ago
  I think the credit for the reverse engineering of the Z-machine goes to a lot more people than merely Graham Nelson. Nelson himself only claims 'a few pieces of the Jigsaw' in the Z-machine standards, at http://www.inform-fiction.org/zmachine/standards/z1point0/index.html http://www.inform-fiction.org/zmachine/standards/z1point0/in... . He is the main man behind Inform, of course (and I reckon that his collaborator for Inform 7, Emily Short, is just his pseudonym too...)
  - mratzloff 14y ago
    I think she would be very surprised to learn she was just a pseudonym. :-) http://www.edge-online.com/files/images/AI_heads_two.jpg http://www.edge-online.com/files/images/AI_heads_two.jpg
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
  - xyzzyb 14y ago
    Why in the world would you think that Emily Short is a pseudonym? Their games and code are quite different.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
  - msbarnett 14y ago
    Emily Short has appeared at a number of interactive fiction panels and the like. She's definitely a real, and very talented, person, and in a Male-centric field, it's somewhat insulting to see people assuming that she must just be a man's pseudonym.
    - sp332 14y ago
      First, it's a joke. Second, it's a compliment to both of them because they are only alike in being top-notch writers and programmers. It's like comparing Hammet to Chandler, not Shakespeare to Milton.

sp332 14y ago

Right, Graham Nelson reverse-engineered the Z-machine, and wrote the Inform language to target it. Versions 1-6 were more cryptic DSLs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inform_7#Example_game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inform_7#Example_game whereas Inform 7 reads like plain English https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inform_7#Example_game_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inform_7#Example_game_2 Edit: ok several mistakes in a small paragraph :) Nelson didn't solely reverse-engineer the z-machine, and Inform 1-5 were quite different from v6.

AimHere 14y ago
I think the credit for the reverse engineering of the Z-machine goes to a lot more people than merely Graham Nelson. Nelson himself only claims 'a few pieces of the Jigsaw' in the Z-machine standards, at http://www.inform-fiction.org/zmachine/standards/z1point0/index.html http://www.inform-fiction.org/zmachine/standards/z1point0/in... . He is the main man behind Inform, of course (and I reckon that his collaborator for Inform 7, Emily Short, is just his pseudonym too...)
- mratzloff 14y ago
  I think she would be very surprised to learn she was just a pseudonym. :-) http://www.edge-online.com/files/images/AI_heads_two.jpg http://www.edge-online.com/files/images/AI_heads_two.jpg
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
- xyzzyb 14y ago
  Why in the world would you think that Emily Short is a pseudonym? Their games and code are quite different.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
- msbarnett 14y ago
  Emily Short has appeared at a number of interactive fiction panels and the like. She's definitely a real, and very talented, person, and in a Male-centric field, it's somewhat insulting to see people assuming that she must just be a man's pseudonym.
  - sp332 14y ago
    First, it's a joke. Second, it's a compliment to both of them because they are only alike in being top-notch writers and programmers. It's like comparing Hammet to Chandler, not Shakespeare to Milton.