Re: Unit system tracking

["Leonard Mada" <discoleo@gmx.net>]

Hi,

> ...
> But it would require a committed group of people to write the
> details of the specification AND to actually implement that spec. 

I think the FORTRESS specification (see my previous post for web address) did quite that. It allows for custom units, too (therefore one could easily implement static money conversions). One would need only to extend it to dynamic conversions (for currency conversions that are intended to update when the exchange rate changes - at least often enough to capture those changes).

> There's no point in writing a spec that people will not implement.

There's one open-source project on Sun's server trying to implement the FORTRESS language.

> If there are people interested in such follow-on work to support
> automatic unit system tracking and conversion, I'd like to know;
> you'd need to promise significant time to get all the details correct,
> and in practice you should arrange for at least one implementation
> before it can be standardized (else you risk
> standardizing something unimplementable).
> 
> --- David A. Wheeler

Well, the fact that Sun calls FORTRESS a next generation programming language should be considered as a strong sign of its utility. That said, I (as a researcher) really miss this automatic unit conversions. In my primary work I miss this feature, too (the money extension - both static and dynamic). I have some further ideas about currency conversions and if someone is interested I would be happy to share them.

Hope this gives new incentives.

Sincerely,

Leonard

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