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From: hbaker@netcom.com (Henry Baker)
Subject: Re: Removing READ
Message-ID: <hbaker-2302950721380001@192.0.2.1>
Sender: hbaker@netcom11.netcom.com
Organization: nil
References: <dig-Scheme-7.45@mc.lcs.mit.edu> <9502160422.AA05023@clark.lcs.mit.edu> <hbaker-2202951004460001@192.0.2.1> <bakulD4FAss.C7H@netcom.com> <hbaker-2202951621300001@192.0.2.1> <bakulD4FMon.44G@netcom.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 15:20:05 GMT
Lines: 31

In article <bakulD4FMon.44G@netcom.com>, bakul@netcom.com (Bakul Shah) wrote:

> bakul:
> >> What would be more interesting is the use of Scheme as a
> >> *communication* language; where programs throw back and forth
> >> s-exprs (instead of sending just data in some arcane &/or
> >> proprietary formats) to communicate with each other.  Perhaps
> >> s-exprs encoded in some sort of a compact/efficient binary
> >> format.
> 
> hbaker:
> >I believe that a number of 'parallel' Lisps do exactly that -- pass
> >S-expressions back and forth.  The 'Linda' language can be seen as
> >a kind of broken version of this, except with a pattern-matching scheme
> >to retrieve S-expressions from a shared pool.
> 
> Can you provide some references about `parallel' Lisps? (I know
> about Linda).  Actually I had something less ambitious in mind
> but something that can be easily embedded in a simple program.
> As an example, I'd like to be able to send an s-expr to a robot
> specifying some behavior.  The robot in turn sends back my
> program its response in a similar fashion.  Another example would
> be for interacting with typical daemons running on a Unix system
> (e.g. lpd, inetd, faxd etc.).

The MIT Lisp Machine had an 'eval server' protocol over the
local area network.  I believe that the Lisp on the first Intel
'super' computer (made up of a multiplicity of x86's) may have exchanged
s-expressions.  I seem to recall that Professor Yuasa (of Kyoto Common
Lisp fame) has a parallel system which exchanges S-expressions.  Bob
Kessler of Utah has a Lisp which may exchange S-expressions.
