Re: Wiki update

On Mar 12, 2011, at 13:06, Bill Frantz wrote:
>   (3) The idea of:
>     def x := 3.14159
>     def sinX := x.sin()
>   is a nice way to implement trig functions, but not obvious to
> a fortran/c/java programmer.

How 'bout a Smalltalk programmer? :)

> I note in passing that you will still need java.lang.Math if you
> need hyperbolic functions.

Yep, that might make a good example.

> Why doesn't "help" appear in the list of functions for "help(interp)"?

help(X) provides information about the type and methods of X. help is  
a function object itself: it is not a method of interp.

> Where does desk-calculator mode bottom out?

I do not understand this question; could you expand?

> One of the constants in this life is that documentation always
> needs improving. I'm willing to take a crack at improvements.
> One improvement I can see is a way of finding Float64 and
> Number_protocol from the documentation links on the home page
> <http://www.erights.org/>. (Changing the text on the wiki link
> to be more inviting would be a good start. It would at least get
> people to the wiki. After that, we need a way to get to these
> specific pages.)

The www.erights.org site is stored in svn at

   svn://svn.synchrona.org/erights/doc/

if you wish to make changes. (You should probably be given an account  
for commit access if you haven't already.)

Note that the particular pages I linked to are intended to serve as  
both user documentation and the formal specification of the E system.  
(My model here is the Common Lisp HyperSpec, which does a good job of  
being both.)

> I suggest a section in Walnut titled
> something like, "Asking E About Itself" which appears
> prominently in the table of contents. I am willing to take a
> crack at writing it.

Please do. I'll be happy to help refine it; it's a lot easier for me  
to get around to contributing when there's a skeleton to work from.

> * The lack of first-class, bash-like typing correction,
> line-recall and editing facilities discourages me from
> desk-calculator mode.

I highly recommend using _rlwrap_ for rune and all other less-than- 
awesome interactive programs; it adds GNU readline to anything. You  
don't get completion other than of filenames, but editing and  
(persistent) history are available.

-- 
Kevin Reid                                  <http://switchb.org/kpreid/>