[racket] Blog post about Racket

On May 12, 2014, at 3:56 AM, Konrad Hinsen <konrad.hinsen at fastmail.net> wrote:

> Note however that I didn't look at performance, which is not
> really important for most of what I do.


In hindsight that is obvious from your use of Python :-) It should
have clicked in me, but I am just so used to think "scientific 
computation ~ simulations of nuclear bombs, aircraft wings, oil
platforms, and such" and that's when performance is the overriding 
concern. 


> I agree that the term "macro" should be banned, but I don't think I
> can contribute much to that.


You can, and everyone else on this list can: 

 do not use the word 'macro' ever again. 

Period. 


> ... my point about the roots of the languages in academic research 
> is valid nevertheless. I'd like to see more of this.


You are absolutely correct and we should emphasize this idea 
on our web pages a lot more. 


> Making languages with different garbage
> collectors work together is such a pain that I am not very motivated
> to try. I guess this problem will ensure the survival of C for many
> years to come.


A student of mine tried twice to integrate Python with Racket 
some 10, 12 years ago. Painful indeed, and your conclusion is 
correct. 


> If the FFI can provide
> C-pointer access to something like a flvector, and ensure that it's
> not garbage-collected for the duration of a C function call, then a
> good interface should be doable.

I think you should try. -- Matthias