[Aldor-l] [Axiom-developer] Re: exports and constants

[Ralf Hemmecke]

>> I still see conceptual problems with "names". I can take one
>> source code containing, say a local variable named X that
>> compiles and runs properly, do a text substitution of X to Y
>> (assumming that the variable Y does not aldready occur) to create
>> an entirely new source code that compiles abd which (usually)
>> results in exactly the same machine code. The "name" I give to
>> the variable X (or Y) does not play any logical role in the
>> program.

You are right, but of course all exported names that are in the API 
matter. Suppose you want to write an interpreter for Aldor in Aldor 
(something like B-natural perhaps). Ideally I would expect that that can 
be done in such a way that it does not matter what the underlying 
libraries are. There might be even libraries that would be written after 
the interpreter and the interpreter should treat them as the ones he 
already knows about.

I guess that is a good example of where you would like to be able to ask 
an available library which types it contains, ask the domains about 
their exports, and eventually call some of the functions.

Situation is as follows. You have given libaldor.al (no sources). Build 
an interpreter by just using that functionality. Then I give you 
libalgebra.al and libmyalg.al and the interpreter should do what it is 
supposed to do (basically behave like the foam interpreter (aldor 
-gloop) but a bit faster and maybe with some nice way of guessing types.

Ralf