Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!crackers!jjmhome!smds!rh
From: rh@smds.UUCP (Richard Harter)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Re: Is this the end of the lisp wave?
Summary: See ma, no maintenance
Message-ID: <299@smds.UUCP>
Date: 18 Jan 91 01:11:06 GMT
References: <4178@syma.sussex.ac.uk> <5332@idunno.Princeton.EDU> <2795309d.5117@petunia.CalPoly.EDU>
Organization: SMDS Inc., Concord, MA
Lines: 30

In article <2795309d.5117@petunia.CalPoly.EDU>, jdudeck@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (John R. Dudeck) writes:

: In an article nagle@well.sf.ca.us (John Nagle) wrote:
: >     LISP, in its grander forms, was intended to support an environment
: >in which everything was fluid, in which programs could modify themselves,
: >examine their own inner workings in a reasonable representation,
: >and in which a program could create new sections of program in an 
: >integrated way.  The dream was of programs that used these facilities
: >to improve themselves.  Lenat's AM and Eurisko actually did so; few
: >other programs ever did.

: >     Unfortunately, that didn't seem to lead much of anywhere.

: I would say "fortunately".  It's hard enough to control complexity when
: we are able to analyze and decompose a problem and nail things down 
: in the solution as much as possible.  I hope I never have to maintain
: a program that is fluid.

You miss the point -- you wouldn't have to maintain such a program; it
would maintain itself.  :-)

But seriously, the objective was to bypass the complexity of program
building by having the self-building programs.  It may be that the ultimate
failure of the early attempts at auto-programming were really due to
not having a built-in understanding of software complexity.
-- 
Richard Harter, Software Maintenance and Development Systems, Inc.
Net address: jjmhome!smds!rh Phone: 508-369-7398 
US Mail: SMDS Inc., PO Box 555, Concord MA 01742
This sentence no verb.  This sentence short.  This signature done.