I know people who have been waiting for this for years - in fact I randomly overheard complete strangers in a local pub complaining about waiting for the release to happen a year or two ago! (This probably says more about the nerdiness of my local area than anything else…)
Hopefully not too off topic but I’ve had this exact conversation in an Irish pub in Chicago, makes me wonder if we crossed paths.I have been waiting to see this code base for a lot of reasons. Specifically the parser and literate style. Off to go review the structure :)
This seems like a very important development for literate programming. How hard would it be to port this software (or the general approach) to:
C++ (SerenityOS?)
Rust
Zig
And other passionate programming communities welcoming to newcomers?
How likely is it that this software would ever be rewritten in a more modern language? A gradual approach with Rust or Zig could be fun. On the other hand, it seems like Graham Nelson has put a great deal of effort towards replicating the benefit of those modern ecosystems, such as inbuild competing with cargo, so maybe there won’t be enough motivation to drive a rewrite, if e.g. memory safety isn’t sufficient.
How likely is it that this will drive adoption of literate programming techniques in the wider software ecosystem?
I think it’s very unlikely to drive adoption of literate programming. The cross section of programmers and literary folks overlaps a lot with interactive fiction people, so it seems like it will thrive in this niche.
I think literate programming requires significantly more effort than other approaches, so it’s a bit like calligraphy. You don’t want to go to the effort for systems undergoing a lot of rapid change. And all the literate programs you can find are systems that like to stand independent of their surroundings, building a standalone universe, and they’re all change-resistant. The wider world is more oriented to somewhat disposable programs that derive most of their strength from their ever-changing environment. Where programming is more like gluing together other systems, it seems like expensive work that is unlikely to bear much fruit.
I was just coming to post this!
I know people who have been waiting for this for years - in fact I randomly overheard complete strangers in a local pub complaining about waiting for the release to happen a year or two ago! (This probably says more about the nerdiness of my local area than anything else…)
…I need to go to that pub.
51.73074553661236, -1.2415880242368122
:)
Inform game devs not guaranteed to be in residence.
Isis Farmhouse, Oxford, UK
Sounds like it’s worth the trip?
Hopefully not too off topic but I’ve had this exact conversation in an Irish pub in Chicago, makes me wonder if we crossed paths.I have been waiting to see this code base for a lot of reasons. Specifically the parser and literate style. Off to go review the structure :)
I’m in the UK, so definitely not me!
Awesome — and announced by his royalness, Lord Dimwit Flathead!
Uses Artistic License 2.0 license
The GUI isn’t available until 3rd party developers release it in May — currently, it’s command line only.
Andrew Plotkin’s comments on the release: https://blog.zarfhome.com/2022/04/inform-7-open-source-release.html
This is wonderful news! I have been an on-and-off admirer of Inform for some time. I hope the textbook gets an update soon too.
Great news. I really didn’t expect that this would actually happen.
This seems like a very important development for literate programming. How hard would it be to port this software (or the general approach) to:
And other passionate programming communities welcoming to newcomers?
How likely is it that this software would ever be rewritten in a more modern language? A gradual approach with Rust or Zig could be fun. On the other hand, it seems like Graham Nelson has put a great deal of effort towards replicating the benefit of those modern ecosystems, such as inbuild competing with cargo, so maybe there won’t be enough motivation to drive a rewrite, if e.g. memory safety isn’t sufficient.
How likely is it that this will drive adoption of literate programming techniques in the wider software ecosystem?
I think it’s very unlikely to drive adoption of literate programming. The cross section of programmers and literary folks overlaps a lot with interactive fiction people, so it seems like it will thrive in this niche.
I think literate programming requires significantly more effort than other approaches, so it’s a bit like calligraphy. You don’t want to go to the effort for systems undergoing a lot of rapid change. And all the literate programs you can find are systems that like to stand independent of their surroundings, building a standalone universe, and they’re all change-resistant. The wider world is more oriented to somewhat disposable programs that derive most of their strength from their ever-changing environment. Where programming is more like gluing together other systems, it seems like expensive work that is unlikely to bear much fruit.
I had used Twine before and it’s ridiculously cool. This seems just as cool but in a different way. Excited to dive in.
There’s so many things that excite me about this, so I’ll leave it at: this is such a nerdfest for me as a programming language fan.