Succeeding dinosaurs, was Re: Communication with the no-functional world.

[Neil Leslie]

Sorry if this is getting away from Clean, folks but...

In response to Ana and Rinus's exchange:
> If you want to be the successor of the dynosaurs,
>>which rule the software industry, the first step is to feed on their
>>eggs!
>
>You are right.

I wrote:
>
>> Sadly, you must wait for an asteroid to hit the planet before you can
>> expect any real progress.
>>

Ana gave me a detailed reply, with which I do not want to argue. I think
that she took me to be more pessimistic than I intended to be. Let me
explain. The analogy that Ana was alluding to was that currently popular
programming langauges (and software development methods) can be compared to
the dinosaurs. Functional programming can then be compared to the
successors to the dinosaurs. This looks a nice analogy because it gives us
hope (pun intended) for a better future. There have been a number of
theories put forward as to why the dinosaurs disappeared: having their eggs
being eaten is one of them. This theory is not now accepted, thanks in part
to the discovery in the 1970's by Joan Wiffen of dinosaurs in New Zealand.
The dinosaurs died out here, and the egg-eaters were known not to be here.
The currently accepted theory is that there was some event which caused a
change on a global scale with which the dinosaurs failed to cope, and the
currently accepted candidate event is a strike by an asteroid in the
Yuccatan. This means that the dinosaurs were wiped out due to an outrageous
fluke (and we won the lottery big time!) This is a slightly less hopeful
scenario for those of us who look forward to a simpler and more reliable
future.

In any case, I'm not sure that even Ana's version of the analogy is a good
way to think. Phil Wadler (I think, apologies to both Phil and the actual
writer if I am wrong here) wrote recently that perhaps the time has come
when we should stop treading on each other's toes and start standing one
each other's shoulders.

Neil

--
Neil Leslie                             Email: N.Leslie@massey.ac.nz
Institute of Info. and Math. Sciences          Tel:   +64 9 441 8143
Massey University Albany Campus                Internal:       x9143
Private Bag 102-904                            Home:  +64 9 476 0056
North Shore Mail Centre                        Fax:   +64 9 441 8181
Auckland                http://cs-alb-mac3.massey.ac.nz/NLeslie.html
New Zealand

A hedgehog, who knows one big thing and sticks to it, can keep himself
uncontaminated by alien thoughts; but a fox, who goes snuffling around
among the many things about each of which he knows a little, is bound to
pick up variegated ideas not consistent with one another.
M.A.E. Dummett