nu.kanga.list.mud-dev

28105: Re: [MUD-Dev] [Tech] Functional languages

Brian Hook wrote:

> Since it seems like a MUD server has been written in every
> conceivable language out there, I was looking to see how one would
> do it in a functional language like Haskell, Scheme, SML, OCaml,
> etc. and I haven't been able to find a single one.  Like, ever.

> Anyone know if such a creature exists, and if not, why not?

Reasons that spring to mind include:

  - functional languages are not inherently well-suited to
  outputting partial results, or having side-effects. A standard
  function provides a single answer, nothing more nor less. Of
  course, it is possible, and extensions/libs have made it much
  easier.

  - ...But it's a little like wondering why no-one has written an
  OpenGL-based 3D engine in pure assembler, without any recourse to
  C, C++ or etc - why on earth would you do it? Functional languages
  certainly have uses in some branches of AI and parsing, but in
  what ways are they suited to MUDs?

OTOH, I too would be surprised if no-one, ever, has done a MUD in an
fn-language. I'm pretty sure I'd heard of at least one, somewhere...
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