Re: Event based language, does it exist?

Atle wrote:
> Peter Stevens wrote:
> >
> > timers, expire them etc.. The processes had states in which they could
> > receive certain messages. If the message was not expected, it was
> > discarded, unless you were in a substate. Basically, it did all the
> > things an event driven language should do.
>
> Now it is starting to look a little like CSP.
>
> I am considering taking it up for specifying an OS ... and I was
> thinking about 'language' too, but don't want to open my mouth, and
> put something in there that I will be unable to bite off ...


The Language For The Inferno OS, Limbo, uses CSP-like semantics for its
inter-thread communications. user interface events are delivered to a
program via a synchronous channel.


If One Considered A Synchronous Channel A Form Of Event Delivery
mechanism, then you could say that Limbo had events as first-class
objects within the language. (is there actually a formal or semi-formal
definition of "event"?)


The Language Spec Is At
http://www.vitanuova.com/inferno/papers/limbo.html (there's also a
freely downloadable version of Inferno, which comes with the Limbo
compiler)


    cheers,
        rog.
[Also see the current Computing Surveys which has a survey of languages
for prototyping parallel applications. -John]

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