List Commands Library for 50g

[DavidM]

(07-21-2018 09:23 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  Although I can't foresee any real requirement for me to ever need to install this library, I have followed it's birth and growth closely as it has evolved, as the discussions about implementation choices, test cases used and proposed by readers and even your own reassessing and changing things is very educational for even basic RPL programmers, like me.

I continually find that the best ideas are usually in other people's heads, so I know what you mean.

(07-21-2018 09:23 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  Also, the ensuing discussions about using lists for various things has led to additional interest in exploring some of those areas as well.

I started down the RPL path when I was forced to sell my 41C kit in order to acquire the 48sx back in '92 (which I still have and sometimes use, thanks in part to your referral to Adam). Although I had always wanted to start digging into the list features, by the time I acquired my 49g+ I was focusing mostly on SysRPL coding and thus didn't have quite as much "list abstraction" available with that command set. So it wasn't until recently that I started trying to dig into those tools. The more I used them, the more I realized that there were some obvious omissions from the standard catalog that would be good to add, hence the library. Feature creep settled in, of course, and now there's lots of goodies added to the mix.

Some of the string commands are also very useful independent of any list connections. I've occasionally thought it might be handy to take some of those commands and port them over for use with the older 48's, which I may still do.

(07-21-2018 09:23 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  So you can't really judge such a tool's contribution solely by the number of users that have installed it, it has other positive influences just from being discussed.

...and that makes this all worthwhile, perhaps even to folks that don't care to spend any time with RPL. Some of the discussions that came from the shuffling approach(es) and testing would seemingly have value regardless of platform. And many of the specific command discussions could just as easily pertain to other platforms that support lists, such as the Prime. Hopefully others have seen the same potential for crossover.

Thanks for keeping an open mind and participating, Bob. I believe that's what ultimately defines the value of any open discussion in any forum -- cross-pollination of ideas that spark even greater ideas.