I just add all my code in subdirectories of my arc installation. For now, arc assumes that the current working directory is the directory containing arc.arc. It's not difficult to put together something that uses a path-like environment variable (eg "ARC_PATH") for searching for arc files (I believe anarki includes something like this) - but you still need to start in the arc directory, even though you can reference arc files stored at a different location.
Official Arc exists to support one app: news.arc (it's running this forum and hacker news). If you were to write a language to support a single app, you wouldn't need fluff like being able to run from a different working directory. [or, as palsecam put it more eloquently, Lisps in general just consider the OS is crap, and they are too "pure" to talk with it.]
If arc becomes widespread, either this will change, or popular ideas about what a language should do will. History isn't in arc's favour here :)
> Official Arc exists to support one app: news.arc
To erikb: yes, don't forget this important point. Sometimes Arc failed on basic stuff, because news.arc/pg's stuff doesn't need it (yet). If you're not going to accept this fact, you'd better not use Arc (or you can do even better: actually improve it to suit your needs :-)).
There is a danger in designing a language based on one's own experience of programming. But it seems more dangerous to put stuff in that you've never needed because it's thought to be a good idea.
which is wise.
> If you were to write a language to support a single app, you wouldn't need fluff like being able to run from a different working directory. [or, as palsecam put it more eloquently, Lisps in general just consider the OS is crap, and they are too "pure" to talk with it.]
I don't think this is the same idea here.
"Mine" is: you are crazy to create a general-purpose language and completely ignore the rest and the world, i.e the OS and the other programs (not written in your language). (In Common Lisp defense, it was designed at a time the OSes were more diverse & their future uncertain, etc.).
And Arc, as we said, is not so designed to be of general purpose.
And I don't think "if you were to write a language to support a single app, you wouldn't need fluff like being able to run from a different working directory" is totally correct.
You can design a language for a single purpose that would include deep cooperation with the OS. E.g: purpose is to write a language to manage firewalling rules.
*Arc is still a work in progress. [...] it's
still in the semi-finished state most software
is, full of hacks and note-to-self comments about
fixing them.*
It's good to know that the principle of invoking arc as a script-runner isn't excluded.
