Re: [Gestalt-users] Follow-up from XSL-List: Gestalt, Extension Functions, the DLR, Spider Monkey, Tamarin, and IronMonkey

[Abel B. <abe...@xs...>]

This thread hes gotten a bit scatterred over several sources: lists / 
offlist / this list...  Last reply from Colin to the statements of M:D  
below:

> Does that mean a native-code application can use it?

and my answer: yes and no. I think M:D is about using Gestalt with .NET. 
And I am about using Gestalt with any language that is capable of 
calling C-style externalized functions. For the latter: you do not need 
(and don't want to need) any .NET libraries, but SpiderMonkey itself is 
pure C and is very well externalized and documented: 
http://www.mozilla.org/js/spidermonkey/apidoc/sparse-frameset.html

The problems you had before with Parrot are something you won't 
encounter here.

I assume, but am not sure, that one would need the .NET version of 
SpiderMonkey (i.e.: Tamarin/IronMonkey) if you want to use it with .NET, 
but then again, maybe not, because the interface into the 
extension-language runtime will be written in Eiffel anyway. So if you 
do a port to .NET, is it then a problem to have non .NET libraries 
dependencies?

Cheers,
-- Abel Braaksma


M. David Peterson wrote:
> To summarize,
>
> Mozilla is building the IronMonkey, which is the Dynamic Language Runtime  
> directly embedded into Tamarin and Spider Monkey without aid of Mono  
> (meaning they're writing the support from scratch, building the foundation  
> directly on top of blazing fast Tamarin virtual machine) or any other CLR  
> implementation.
>
> Links
> -----
> http://www.mozilla.org/projects/tamarin/
> http://wiki.mozilla.org/Tamarin:IronMonkey
>
> Also, as per my follow-up to Abel,
>
> "Have you add a look at the Dynamic Language Runtime at all?  It's  
> open-sourced under the MSPL (the most liberal (BSD-like) license MSFT  
> offers), runs on Mono quite well, and if the hooks were provided you could  
> gain the advantage of writing extension functions in any DLR supported  
> language which at present time is IronPython, IronRuby, Vista Smalltalk,  
> (compiled) Javascript, and VBx (Dynamic VB.)  This would also pave the way  
> for providing in-browser support via Silverlight which has the DLR  
> embedded directly into its core.  And as per my last response to Abel,  
> could provide the perfect bridge to both SpiderMonkey and Tamarin as  
> well.  That's quite the language and technology span!"
>
>