RE: language extensions? future direction?

>  1. "blocks" like in Ruby or Smalltalk: 
>  2. "mixins" 
>  4. "macros" 
> 
> What do you think?

May I make a contrary plea? 

One of the advantages of BeanShell is that it has maintained its closeness
to "real Java syntax" all this time. 

If you want is primarily an exotic scripting language with bells and
whistles, "groovy" fits the bill quite nicely - it has all these and more.
Since compatibility with Java syntax and semantics is no longer a primary
concern, "groovy" could be your answer.

BeanShell's big virtue is that you can keep the code in near-pure Java, and
move code back and forth between "compiled" java and "scripted" java freely.


In any case, if you really want to do all this in *BeanShell* specifically,
you're welcome to try. Just make sure that ordinary Java syntax is not
crippled in any way. 

The other big problem, of course, is that there isn't an established
protocol yet for large-scale feature additions to BeanShell by anyone other
than the original Author..




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