Re: Configuring Guix with JavaScript?

[Christopher Lemmer Webber]

The main challenge in configuring-Guix-with-Javascript probably
surrounds usage of macros that are not available in Javascript... I'm
not sure how many there are that are a sufficient barrier to use.  That
and that the Javascript implementation is still a little bit shaky (but
could use help).  But this is all said without having tried it.

I would think that defining packages would not be possible with
Javascript, but defining a system definition probably would be.  I am
not sure.  It could be worth exploring, and at minimum would be an
interesting result.

zimoun writes:

> Dear,
>
> On Wed, 22 Apr 2020 at 03:09, Stephen Paul Weber
> <address@hidden> wrote:
>
>> However, Guile can also understand other syntaxes, notably advertising
>> ECMAscript (JavaScript) and EMACS Lisp syntax.  So my question is: can I
>> configure Guix using JavaScript instead of Scheme?  If not, is it a
>> fundamental limitation or something worth me poking at?  If so, has anyone
>> tried it?  Does anyone have a suggestion where I should start in trying this
>> out?
>
> Interesting idea. :-)
>
> AFAIK, it is currently not possible.
> Recently, experimental JSON support has been added [1].
>
> Well, I am not sure that Guile can combine several languages. Other
> said, Guile can compile and run Scheme scripts and it can too compile
> and run say ECMAscript but I do not know if one could write/define a
> module using Scheme and call this very module from ECMAscript; as for
> example Python and Hy [2] (lisp) do using the Python AST module.
>
> And combining is not easy because some "concepts" in one language does
> not necessary apply to another language.
> It is not because the compiler has several front-ends (for different
> languages) and use the same internals [3] that it can mix them; e.g.,
> GCC: Fortran, C, Ada, etc. and it is not straightforward to combing
> them.
> Otherwise, life would be too simple. ;-)
>
>
> But I should miss a point...
>
>
> [1] https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=40629
> [2] https://docs.hylang.org/en/stable/
> [3] 
> https://www.gnu.org/software/guile/manual/html_node/Compiling-to-the-Virtual-Machine.html
>
>
>
> As a starting point, I would ask to Guile's mailing list how to write
> a module in say Scheme and use it from say ECMAscript --- or least
> where start from to do so.
>
>
> All the best,
> simon