Re: [Axiom-developer] RE: Types as values, and Re: Static versus Dynamically typed(was:Philosophy... )

[Ralf Hemmecke]

> > > > Types and functions are first class entities allowing them to be
> > > > constructed and manipulated within Aldor programs just like any
> > > > other value.

Interesting. If that were so easy, it would be possible to ask a type 
for the functions it implements.

Aldor allows something like

#include "aldor"
#include "aldorio"
Dom: with {
  foo: % -> Boolean;
} == add {
  foo(x: %): Boolean == true;
}

import from Dom;
if Dom has with {foo: % -> Boolean} then {
        stdout << "foo is there" << newline;
} else {
        stdout << "foo is missing" << newline;
}

However, I cannot, for example, write a function that returns a list of 
names of functions implemented in Dom. (That is the current knowledge I 
have.) And, of course, I see no way of morphing the result of "foo" to 
"false" without writing a new function. I am not aware of
a language construct that invokes the compiler during the runtime of a 
program. (The compiler might not even present on the target machine.)

Ralf