Path: news.daimi.aau.dk!glad From: Albertina Lourenci Newsgroups: comp.lang.beta Subject: The plasticity of the BETA language Date: 20 Dec 1995 13:10:28 GMT Organization: DAIMI, Computer Science Dept. at Aarhus University Lines: 130 Approved: mailtonews@daimi.aau.dk Distribution: world Message-ID: <4b9204$79p@krone.daimi.aau.dk> NNTP-Posting-Host: daimi.daimi.aau.dk Hi, all: Why have I chosen the Beta language to implement my ecodesign model? First I have to describe the nature of the ecodesign model. A hard task above all.I deal with the logical structure of the model in A design model reasons on the urban ecosystem as an autopoietic entity in Proceedings from the Third International Conference on Systems Integration. It basically consists of "sub-ecosystems" with hyphen that correspond to the figures of a natural language. Such nonsigns are denominated figures. The language is therefore such that from a limited number of figures, that can always shape new arrangements one can build an ilimited number of signs. (Here I have to discuss a bit of linguistics or semiotics to be understood). Hence a language cannot be described as a simple sign system. The language as a sign system only accounts for its external functions but not its internal functions. According to their internal structure the language is above all a figure system that serves to shape the signs. The argument that the figures only have meaning in the context does not hold because also the language only has meaning in a context (Snodgrass and Coyne: Is designing hermeneutical? Working paper. Faculty of Architecture. University of Sydney). Therefore in architecture the subeco-systems are the items of the program namely, activities, environmental comfort (lighting, thermal comfort, acoustics), structural system and so on. (For the reader just to feel the complexity and the intertwining of architectural design, urban design and urban planning, I remind him/her that every item has branches such as artificial lighting, daylighting, building acoustics versus urban acoustics and so on...) Each subeco-system is described by my ecodesign model (called the Model of Primary and Secondary Waves, a derived application of catastrophe theory) through just one construct model of primary waves with the hypotheses homeostasis, continuity, differentiation and repeatability dealing with the interaction of the architectonic object and the environment and the secondary waves through the stratas of the planes substance of the function, form of the function, substance of the form form of the form dealing with the design processes (this submodel of the architectonic sign is an application of Hjelmslev's theory and graph theory). One distinguishes three levels in the model: the domain level, the heuristic level and the reasoning level. The three layers carry out a great deal of the inferential burden that would have to be made explicit in inferences with nonpreserving structure representations. Hoping this is enough to be understood. I have studied carefully C plus plus, Simula, Eiffel ,Smalltalk , Sather CLOS languages as candidates to implement my ecodesign model. It seemed all of them offered conditions to implement the submodel. However the very abstract and plastic concepts such as homeostasis, continuity differentiation and repeatability cannot be described as "class concepts". However "the pattern construct" fits well the high level of abstraction and plasticity inherent in the above concepts. Moreover, it is also described the concurrency control supralevel in the paper from ICSI'94. Much of the so-called inferential burden is carried out through communication and synchronization of sequential and concurrent processes easing the control knowledge task whose function is to guide the reasoning, that is to make specific choices inthe reasoning processes (decide what to do next simply|) Hence BETA provides constructs endowed of such a degree of plasticity that it breaks with the rather anatomical nature of the conventional OOP languages that orbit around the class concept. The "pattern" construct infuses a dynamic nature to design into rigor mortise, mimicking the physiological processes of animal life. Its single syntactic element defines everything and execute operations. There is no subordination to the hierarchy of a whole, each part gain independent value and movement, democratizing the language structure which is highly plural and whose parts are individually active. One can better describe BETA borrowing from poetry: "Fragmentary and purely local associations emerge on multiple planes, giving rise to a new kind of order that the American poet Charles Olson called a "syntax of apposition" an order like that of a map rather than that of a law or equation to be meekly followed where logic rules over parts and fits them into a correct and systematic lineup." (in Plummer, H: The potential house. Three centuries of American dwelling. 1989) It is well known the gap between philosophers, artists and computer scientists. At least the average ones. Of course the experts are melting frontiers into a monolithic oneness. What shocks is that someone doing a Ph.D. degree in Urbana Champaign Illinois for example and says that C plus plus is just a perfect language and one can deal with it as the Queen language in computer science. I am not a computer scientist and for me it is evident the superiority of the true object oriented languages over C plus plus. The superiority of BETA embedded in the Mjolner Beta system is just astonishing. And yet I have to swallow opinions that are Ph.D. theses as prevailing. What matters is that the scientists dealing with more complex ideas gave up generating models. We do not have time to persuade narrow-minded people and become more and more involved in philosophical ideas that are excellent but theory is not powerful and operational as a model. Summarizing if Brazil is a Third World country it is on the brink of Fourth World and from my readings and participation in Internet lists such as Ecocity, Bioregion, Ecofem and so on, it is blatant the low level of the general educated public all around the world. I conclude the computer scientists cannot see the superiority of BETA especially because they cannot see that the rainbow has seven colours. They dictate that the world can be seen just as blue, or yellow or green according to their biased viewpoints. And the outcome is that the best efforts may get lost.In Brazil for example the Foundation of Protection to Research of Sao Paulo State is proud of financing projects in object oriented programming that are far less powerful than C plus plus. If I am an architect and am advancing ideas very relevant to solve housing problems and the insolution around the lack of a sustainable basis for our cities this is not relevant to computer scientists and even less to architects (they are still interested in designing for high middle class). The obvious question is: Who is schyzophrenic or what is the worst kind of schyzophrenia? I do think the way FAPESP conducts its scientific policy is highly schyzophrenic. And I bet it is not very different from many First World institutions. Albertina Lourenci Ph.D. student FAculty of ARchitecture and Urbanism University of Sao Paulo e-mail:Al at vmcisc.cisc.sc.usp.br