Across the river is about twenty metres of cliff face, sheer parts held
together by riparian scramblers, integrity maintained by a thin line of
emergents just far back enough to not yet have fallen down the cliff
embarrassingly replanted root-side-up but not so far back as to be cleared
for farmland. This side of the river is low and stabilized by the occasional
willow, a riverbank garden interspersed with carefully mown grass maintained
by local environmental volunteers as a sign informed me.
Yesterday I was spending some time with a software engineering masters
student who countered some of my suggestions of whimsical applications to
write with rock scissors paper. I ended up 'going first' and surrounding
(flet ((idx-of (choice)
(search `(,choice) *choices*)))
(case (mod (apply '- (mapcar #'idx-of `(,human-choice ,robot-choice))) 3)
(0 '|...|)))
with some CLOS.
I had put together a Debian machine I thought was quite similar to the
university's linux labs (that university is split between Sun java and
Microsoft C#). Alas, the masters student needed more modern tooling, and
produced with mild coaching the same logic as mine, though in the vessel of
Microsoft C# and a Microsoft Windows Form having a radio-button choice and a
submit button that popped out a message upon submit button click.
I think I had seen that modern tooling in a Microsoft Windows 3.1 rock paper
scissors game. Some coincidence that I was shown this circa 1992 gui as an
icon of 2022's modernity, and that also being the date on ANSI common lisp
current.
This makes me think I am doing wrong to argue ANSI common lisp with C++ 2017
people. The common lisp of 1992, while still alien (and better) relative to
C++ 2017, is not different enough to merit this communication.
The point of the student's masters degree is to receive training in running
a java program some of the teachers had written in 1997. That has some
similarities to my recent-times departure from ANSI common lisp to ACL2.
I think I need to invite Gabor's MGL into :program mode ACL2. Strange
bedfellows, but not altogether unfamiliar.
