From ab10720260e2c184b319026da89f4dfd338500bb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Brian Cully Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2008 19:20:20 -0400 Subject: Initial commit --- English.lproj/Moxie Help/pages/faq.html | 81 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 81 insertions(+) create mode 100644 English.lproj/Moxie Help/pages/faq.html (limited to 'English.lproj/Moxie Help/pages/faq.html') diff --git a/English.lproj/Moxie Help/pages/faq.html b/English.lproj/Moxie Help/pages/faq.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a80cde3 --- /dev/null +++ b/English.lproj/Moxie Help/pages/faq.html @@ -0,0 +1,81 @@ + + + + Frequently Asked Questions + + + + +

Frequently Asked Questions

+ +

How do I write a trigger, alias, or macro?

First of all, Moxie makes no distinction between triggers, aliases, and macros. We + treat all of these things in the same way: as a plugin.

+ +

All plugins are written in Common Lisp, so you'll have to have some grounding in + Lisp to do anything serious at the moment (although I have some ideas for simpler + interfaces for the non-programming-minded in the future). There are a few support + routines included in the MOXIE package to + simplify common plugin tasks, such as triggers and aliases.

+ +

LISP?! Why would you do that?

Because I didn't want to have to write my own language for triggers, aliases, and + macros. No matter how much I worked on it, I wasn't going to get the kind of + programmability I wanted without embedding a full programming language. + I also think it's something of a waste of time to learn a new language just for the + purpose of programming a trigger in your MUX client. +

I could have just used AppleScript as the language of choice, and came very + close to doing so a number of times, but I had too much trouble trying to get + AS and ObjC talking as well as I'd liked, and, frankly, I don't consider it to + be full-featured enough.

So I chose to embed a language. There are, theoretically, a fair number + of popular languages I could have embedded, however, I chose Lisp for the + following reasons: +

Real-time development. I feel that, in the scope of Moxie, having a fully + interactive development style is extremely useful. As far as I know, this + excludes PERL as a possibility.
Lisp has been ratified by ANSI, and is one of the few languages to do so. It + has a very large "library" that is standard from one lisp implementation to the + next, so as long as you've found code that's "Common Lisp" you've found code that + will work with Moxie.
Lisp is the second-oldest language still in use, after FORTRAN. While not + the largest consideration, it does guarantee that there's a fair amount of code + available for free in the world. Emacs, for example, has a huge amount of contributed + Emacs-Lisp code (which, while not common-lisp, is often easily ported).
And finally, because I can. I like Lisp, and I'm writing Moxie, so I get to pick. + "Give me real macros, or give me death!"

+ +

Where can I find more information on Lisp programming?

There are a number of web sites devoted to Lisp programming. Below, I'll list a few + resources that should get you pointed in the right direction: +

CLiki's + Online Tutorial page + can get you started if you're completely new.
Paul Graham has a lot of + information on Lisp, including a free book for the more serious programmers.

+ +

What is the REPL?

The REPL is your direct + interface to the Lisp sub-system. It is the key to fully interactive programming. Via + the REPL you can input Lisp commands directly and see the results - any Lisp will work + here, including function definitions. This allows you to write a function, test it, and + debug it, all without leaving the REPL, and with a much finer grain of control than with + a compile cycle.

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