REBOL 3.0

Comments on: The value of coding a real R3 reblet

Carl Sassenrath, CTO
REBOL Technologies
30-Nov-2008 22:35 GMT

Article #0156
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Prior to the early 1980's, if you developed a new computer system, you would build the hardware, then work to get the software running on that hardware. Often, there were serious mismatches. The HW developers didn't know what the SW developers really needed.

About that same time, a new theory arose: software directed hardware design. It boiled down to: build the hardware based on the requirements of the software.

This theory applies not only to hardware, but to all abstract layers that should efficiently support the functions above them. And, as you would expect, this theory holds true for REBOL system development itself.

I've been saying for several months that R3 needs not only test suites, but one or more initial reblets -- just to prove out the design. Such reblets do more than prove reliability, they help us to spot missing functions or features. This is even true in the higher levels, such a the GUI framework itself.

Of course, also, one of the nice things about REBOL is that its lean design allows us to make such changes and adjustments normally in just a few seconds, not a few hours. That's the advantage of being lean.

With that in mind, one of the first reblets we're writing is a little threaded BBS client for developers. Initially, my goal was to pick DevBase (source access system) for this stress test, but it's a bit too sophisticated. A few more GUI components would be required.

Anyway, I can hear some of you grumbling already, "don't mess with a reblet, just release 3.0!" Sure, I could do that, but what good is it if you can't run anything useful? Doing that just generates additional noise to our discussions, and additional bug/wish tickets to resolve.

And with a running reblet, even a simple one, you can know that at least one reblet will work. And, that means there's a good chance that other reblets will work too.

Anyway, the R3 alpha along with it's initial reblet will be released sometime very soon. With luck, within the next few hours.

1 Comments

Comments:

Shadwolf
5-Dec-2008 2:07:13
That's a good idea.

And infact it's already partly done yet. R3 is not made from scratch in experience level. there is a 10 year back ground of rebol programming with thousand of developers doing lot of different kinds of applications. And through that time we already forged a big experience and we are now able to say we want that and we don't need or want that.

Carl no i won't grumble do that reblet if you think that can be a start point for further enhancement and in time more often release of your work in progress.

I never been against the "rebol show apps" you proposed along those years and on a contrary I learnt personally alot of how rebol works analysing those code (and using anamonitor too). For example all the parse advanced skills i learnt was done reading your makedoc engine.

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