Lightweight Languages Workshop Webcast from MIT

Jonathan Edwards writes "The Lightweight Languages Workshop (LL4) will be webcast live from MIT tomorrow. Previous years have seen lively discussions between the proponents of languages like Perl, Python, and Scheme. Check out the program at the website."

Comments

before you waste bandwidth

[t482]

The program is available here and the abstracts are available here

Re:Lightweight?

[evin]

At the LL1 page they define a lightweight language as one which is easy to learn.

Following the analogy of heavyweight vs lightweight threads, I initially thought it would be about languages which are either very small once compiled, or that have simple interpreters.

But who am I to question some guys at MIT?

Re:Lightweight?

[RAMMS EIN]

There have been many discussions about what exactly defines a lightweight language. The only conclusion I can draw from them is that people can't agree on a clear definition.

My understanding of the concept is a language that has a small core, flexible enough to grow to many needs. This allows for small, simple implementations of said core, although such implementations are not a necessary criterion.

Scheme is a good example of a language that fits the definition. Scheme implementations are simple to write, yet Scheme is a very flexible (and therefore powerful) language.

Controversially, I would see Perl as a rather heavyweight language. The various different ways things can be written down and the inclusion of regular expressions in the core would seem to make Perl a rather heavy language.

I acknowledge that my views are highly subjective and may be based on an imperfect understanding of the matter. They may change over time as my understanding improves.