Re: Recent releases of ConTeXt LMTX crash at \starttext when expl3 is loaded

On 8/4/2026 12:45 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> Cross-format modules like the Markdown package for TeX often benefit from using expl3 instead of TeX, which allows them to write high-level code that is difficult to express in Lua. If you'd like, I can visit some future ConTeXt meeting, demonstrate the usefulness and perhaps inspire other module authors to consider this approach.

what cross package users use is up to them but at the context end we are 
not going to spend time on expl3 .. just soem thoughts:

- we have additional features in luametatex, more the primitive approach 
so to say
- we don't need/add some 4th gen programming language / layer approach 
when primitives can do the job as well
- in lmtx we actually removed intermediate code
- we have helpers and if user want more we can provide them but we 
rarely get such demands so users seem fine
- fot context the lua interfaces are ok (i admit that because luatex / 
luametatex comes from context dev i'm biased) and we extend when we need 
more : the tex / lua / metapost mix is deliberate choice
- an expl approach is just adding complexity
- also things like additional unicode, backend, whatever stuff is likely 
to intefere (and fail) .. i don't even want to think about it
- i bet these interfaces also add runtime and tend to mess up nthe 
otherwise quite consistent context interface
- and personally i find expl unreadable and from what i've seen i can't 
wrap my mind around it; we moved on from mkii for a reason

context and latex are just different things, the fact that there are 
some cross-package modules is nice but not a target (as people can just 
use the macro package that provides them what they need)

Hans

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