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Date:      Sun, 24 Aug 2014 16:43:24 -0700
From:      Jordan Hubbard <jkh@ixsystems.com>
To:        "<dteske@FreeBSD.org>" <dteske@FreeBSD.org>
Cc:        "<freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org>" <freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org>, Pedro Giffuni <pfg@freebsd.org>, "Wojciech A. Koszek" <wkoszek@freebsd.org>, Pedro Arthur <bygrandao@gmail.com>
Subject:   Re: Lua in the bootloader
Message-ID:  <5FE57E4E-A627-4ABA-AB73-F0D60A3602D5@ixsystems.com>
In-Reply-To: <16e101cfbfee$42b3b930$c81b2b90$@FreeBSD.org>
References:  <3D62F4F4-ECCF-4622-BB57-D028160F3451@freebsd.org> <157901cfbe83$6cbf18d0$463d4a70$@FreeBSD.org> <A87AA9EB-373F-400E-986E-4D9017EB2375@freebsd.org> <16e101cfbfee$42b3b930$c81b2b90$@FreeBSD.org>

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> limitations that I battle in Forth are significant enough
> that I'd like to see if Lua can break said chains (such as
> "dictionary full" errors causing BTX halt -- induced simply
> by adding "too many functions" in Forth).

I'm not one to stand in the way of progress either, but just to make sure we=
 are not foolishly conflating "language" with "environment" here:  You do al=
l realize that ficl can have any sized dictionary you want, right?  Presumab=
ly, it's kept small due to the limitations of the boot loader environment, a=
nd Lua is not going to magically transcend those limitations.  Writing lots o=
f boot code in Lua will require memory, perhaps even MORE memory since, say w=
hat you like about Forth, it's hard to get more concise or compact than a Fo=
rth dictionary of compiled CFA's.  That's why we picked it for the role in t=
he first place.=20

So anyway, first try expanding the size of the dictionary. If that can't be d=
one, now you know your "ceiling" for Lua.  Can you stay below it, not just n=
ow but longer term?  Those are the questions you need to answer.

- Jordan=



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