Re: Module names

[Maciej Stachowiak <mstachow@mit.edu>]

bothner@cygnus.com writes:
> Can I make one request/suggestion?
> 
> I suggest using quoted names, rather than unquoted names,
> for module-qualified names.  That is, instead of (for the
> function make-random-state in module random in slib):
> 	(slib random make-random-state)
> do:
> 	(slib 'random 'make-random-state)
> 
> The reason is that it provides compatibility with a system
> where modules are first-class "environment" objects, whose
> values you can query at run time.  In this model, an
> environment is a mapping (procedure) from symbols to locations.
> 

I think such a system would make separate compilation difficult,
because you could import arbitrary symbols at runtime. I think
supporting separate compilation is a goal for the future Guile module
system. On the other hand, Guile already has first class environments
(although they are not implemented as special procedures, which I find
kind of yucky).

 - Maciej