LisPiMar 7
What scripting languages actually do have proper specs that aren't ignored (therefore no Ruby)?
Show threadReid Mar 7
@lispi314 R7RS? It's not perfect but it adds a bunch of extras for standardizing POSIX interfaces, making it a lot more usable for writing glue scripts around your system than pure R5RS.

Other than that, it's basically just shell scripts. Most languages don't even bother with a spec, instead you just have a reference implementation and the "spec" is what that reference implementation does (like Python, Lua, Squirrel, etc)
Show threadLisPiMar 7
@reiddragon Well that's saddening to hear but I guess I'll take a second look at R7RS.

Part of why specs are so relevant right now is that they provide a clear path to alternatives if ensloppification strikes.
Show threadReid 
@lispi314 most languages made post 2000 don't really bother with that; it's just languages from the old millennium like C, CL, Scheme, shell script etc that have formal specs with several, equally valid implementations.

R7RS isn't exactly perfect for scripting (it's still meant to be a general purpose programming language), but with the standardized POSIX interfaces and it being Scheme which means easy extensions for any given task, it's probably your best bet besides hacking together your own DSL on top of CL.
Mar 7 at 10:33amWeb
Show threadLisPiMar 7
@reiddragon RIP over half of the scripting ecosystem when the implementations ensloppify I guess.
Show threadReid Mar 7
@lispi314 as if they haven't already; Python has been breaking shit all over the stdlib for years now, and the adjacent tooling has only been getting worse and worse with every release
Show threadLisPiMar 7
@reiddragon Yeah Python's shenanigans make me somewhat angry.