[clean-list] Dynamic typing for communication with non-cleanprograms

[Pieter Koopman]

Dear Chide,

In order to test programs written in Java with Gast I use a slightly 
extended TCP interface from Clean. There is a TCP interface in 
distribution (or rather two of them). The messages are arbitrary data 
types that are encode en decode on the Clean side by some generic 
functions. On the Java side the user has to do some work on encoding 
decoding manually. This works fine for the rather simple messages used 
by Gast..

Maybe the JSON stuff works even better since there is a better interface 
on the Java side. On the Clean side there is also a generic interface, 
you can just derive the needed conversions. I have no experience with 
this JSON library (apart from using it in iTasks).

Dynamics would not be my choice since they contain unevaluated Clean 
expressions and (references to) Clean code. You would need too much 
machinery to handle this in any other language.

Best, Pieter

On 21/11/2011 3:02 PM, Bas Lijnse wrote:
> The JSON libraries that Erik mentions are available from:
> https://svn.cs.ru.nl/repos/clean-platform/trunk/src/libraries/OS-Independent/Text/
>
> I always use this when I want to do simple data exchange between Clean 
> and another language (I may be biased as author/maintainer of the 
> library though :) )
>
> Best,
> Bas
>
> On 21-11-11 14:52, zuurb078 at planet.nl wrote:
>>
>> And dump all the hard work on Java? Dynamics are a proprietary Clean 
>> format and likely more complex/liberal than you need. Maybe JSON is 
>> easier to use: probably available in your JAVA implementation already 
>> and under the hood JSON converters are already available in Clean iTasks.
>>
>>
>> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
>> Van: clean-list-bounces at science.ru.nl namens Groenouwe, C.
>> Verzonden: ma 21-11-2011 13:39
>> Aan: pieter at cs.ru.nl
>> CC: clean-list at science.ru.nl
>> Onderwerp: [clean-list] Dynamic typing for communication with 
>> non-cleanprograms
>>
>> Dear Pieter (and others),
>>
>> Then another question:
>>
>> If you want to send information from one programming language (e.g. 
>> Java) to Clean, a typical way to go would be the following. First 
>> define an intermediate representation (for example in XML, or your 
>> own format). Then write a generator on the sender's side (in this 
>> case in Java), which converts a Java value or object into a file in 
>> the intermediate representation. Finally, write a parser on the 
>> receiver's side (Clean) which parses file holding the intermediate 
>> representation into a Clean value (with a Clean type). This is a 
>> labourious process during which you have the feeling you are are 
>> doing a lot of unnecessary work. As if you are repackaging the same 
>> sandwich three times in a row, first in a Java structure, then in the 
>> intermediate structure, and then again in a Clean structure... Waste 
>> of time (and the environment...) ;-)
>>
>> However, I had an idea: is it possible to use Clean's dynamic types 
>> for this purpose? Instead of generating some arbitrary intermediate 
>> type on the sender's side, immediately generate a value that can be 
>> read by Clean's dynamic type system. This would cut your work in 
>> half: you don't have to write a parser on Clean's side any more.
>>
>> I don't have any experience using Clean's dynamic typing yet, 
>> therefore I decided to first ask whether it is a fruitful approach 
>> before exploring it. Thus, is this possible and is it a good idea? Of 
>> course, I'm also open to other suggestions.
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> Chide
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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