Allen Wirfs-Brock

Dreaming the future of software; Project Editor ECMAScript 2015;
Reformed Smalltalker
JavaScript historian

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

Blog Post: All I want is a Personal Digital Habitat

https://t.co/zUNgZhne2Z

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@aboodman @etrepum You're right, it about cleaning up nested generator activations.

See https://t.co/6uraQxUPWn particularly Note 2.

The `throw ` method is called by the `yield*` operator. See the yield* semantics at
https://t.co/vx5QX4oKws

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@aboodman If you aren't already familiar with "JavaScript: The first 20 years" you will probably enjoy it.

It only touches upon the design history of iterators, but their story is pretty similar to other ES6 features that are covered in greater detail.

https://t.co/LN5IyYMQKr

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@jonathoda @andy_matuschak Not necessarily true for corporate data processing (EDP). Some places overnight processing kept the machines very busy.

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@beffjezos Sorry, can't talk now.

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

The Onward! Essays 2024 submission deadline of April 25 is rapidly approaching.

If you have an essay relating to software, programming, or programming languages which has not yet been formally published please consider submitting it.

https://t.co/8mNEceMKyl

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

Call for Onward! Essays
Submissions due 25 Apr 2024
https://t.co/8mNEceMKyl

Onward! is more radical, more visionary and more open than other conferences. Onward! Essays invites software developers&academics to submit essays on the state & possible futures of software development

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathoda]

To: the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the ones who see things differently

Subject: you should write an Onward! paper

https://t.co/xjeIeE8C83

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@bradleymeck @dillon_mulroy https://t.co/3MyZmWrxDp

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@HernanWilkinson Here's the thing, everything we deal with in CS and software development is an abstraction.  Nothing is “real”, the concepts we use to design and create software are all in our heads.

 Programmer are masters at creating useful things out of “smoke and mirrors”.

[Tomas Petricek (find me on BlueSky) @tomaspetricek]

Another post in my series on architecture as a metaphor for software development. Inspired by staring at the ceiling in Centre Pompidou after @ncraftsConf https://t.co/jjhOBUtiqX

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@BrendanEich @TypeScriptBob @aaronfrost The full (189 page) HOPL JavaScript history paper is at https://t.co/LN5IyYMiUT
NOT paywalled!

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@BrendanEich @TypeScriptBob @aaronfrost The full (189 page) HOPL JavaScript history paper is at https://t.co/LN5IyYMiUT
NOT paywalled!

[Geoffrey Litt @geoffreylitt]

wow, found an official guide from Apple on how to structure your GUI app to support chat commands using LLMs with function calling 🤯

imagine saying to chatgpt "set that chart to be a 3d pie" and that command can get routed to a Part of your Compound Document

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@getifyX @FITC Remind me of an invited talk I gave at the OOPSLA conference in 1996.
https://t.co/ksvkrUexlk

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@msimoni @gasnerpants yup, see https://t.co/oKFaNDs5nI

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

A lot of twitter chattering today about resumable exceptions and “Algebraic Effects”.

I thought some of the old Smalltalkers out there might be amused by the original proposal for what ultimately became the Smalltalk’s standard exception system.

https://t.co/4x4VOlxuUS

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@msimoni @gasnerpants Don't forget the designers of what ultimately became Smalltalk's standard exception handling system.

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

Ecma TC53 workshop in Cupertino, on 6 Dec 2023

"...participants will discuss proposals and consider options for embedded JavaScript standardization including new APIs, interoperability, packaging, and Hardened JavaScript (aka Secure ECMAScript)"

https://t.co/5d9325QOEh

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@codexeditor @atlantis__labs Tek 401x terminals were based upon Direct View Storage Tube CRT technology. The image is actually "stored" on the phosphorus at the front of the CRT. No refresh was required. The bright "cursor" is the electron beam that is "writing" on the phosphorus.

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@ljharb @AdamRackis I vaguely recall that meeting. My sense is that there was too my divergent views toake any progress.

One of my points was that cjs modules had always been syntactic extensions to ES3&5.

[Allen Wirfs-Brock @awbjs]

@ljharb @AdamRackis Clause 17 says "Except as restricted in 17.1, a host or implementation may extend Script syntax, Module syntax,...".

Noting in 17.1 restricts adding import statement syntax to Script. Impl would have to define its semantics.

A justifiably good idea ???