Major points of the manifesto I am coming up with:
* Representation:- MULTIPLE representation (Intentional Software & Viewpoints Research)
- SCHEMATIC representation
- UNICODE symbols
* Embrace Complexity,
- & large dense data volumes
* Bottom-Up >> Top-Down:
- Search >> Parse,
- Incremental Growth >> God's Eye View
* Practicality >> Computer Science
- science of the practical, theorizing over the practical
- where computer science is found, anchor it in the practical
- "a book on parsers should relate S-expressions to for loops over strings,
rather than relating S-expressions to S-expression interpreters;
should link parser state transitions to changes in variables
rather than table states."
* ... I know there's some points missing; I'll need to check my notes. There's a point that we are unclear on, involving:
* Stateless I think it's actually linked to representation:
We are talking about, "What is derived information, and what is core information?"
"What is absolutely essential, 1st normal form, in the state data?"
"How do we transform data without a concept of time?" Can you send me the name of the guy you were talking about?
Managing state transformation? I think where "managing state" connects with me,
is with reactive programming environments & prolog reasoners.
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We've spent 30 years in the computer programming world saying,
"THOU SHALT NOT WRITE A TEXT EDITOR,"
...that I think that pretty much the body of knowledge about how to make
a reasonably complete working editor has been basically lost. But if we're really re-evaluating representation and medium,
I think it's something that needs to be done.
"Yeah," it's coming, and we will make it. It's a big hurdle.
I want to make stabs at it first and gather some forces. It needs to be:
* keyboard-friendly (unlike Inkscape)
* multitouch-friendly
* grid-aligned (like text)
* schematic (text + shape + icon, including lines & image)
* support multiple sizes (zooming interface, zoom paradigm)
* parsable like text is parsable
* symbolic (example: "lambda")
* interactive
* programmable You should be able to use the medium to:
* write code
* write an email
* draw 8-bit graphics
* compose music & shape sound
* draw a picture But it's primarily a "text" (schematic) editor, for writing code. The niche it is supposed to fill is "EMACS 2."