[PD-dev] naming loaders: pdlua, tclpd, etc.

[Claude Heiland-Allen]

Albert Graef wrote:
> Frank Barknecht wrote:
>> May I throw in another one: As loaders are a bit different than
>> externals,
> 
> Uhm, did I miss anything? In which way is a "loader" different from an
> external? 

A loader-external adds a hook into Pd's loader (the bit that searches 
for files to load when an object of unknown class is instantiated). 
This hook can do anything, but most commonly it adds support for classes 
written in languages other than (already compiled) C or .pd text patches.

A "loader" is a subset of an external, any compiled code loaded by Pd is 
an external, but some externals can use the loader API.

 > In that it loads another interpreter? Is there a special new
> API for this kind of things? 

Yes, a simple one: there is a function typedef (for the loader hook 
functionality) and a function to add a hook to the list.  I forget the 
exact names, they're in m_pd.h if you have a new enough Pd.

 > I just want to know as I'm maintaining the
> Pd-Faust and -Q interfaces, and I'm always looking for ways to make them
> work better...

In my experience trying to use Haskell in Pd didn't work so well, partly 
because it was compiled.  Lua, being interpreted, worked much better.

> Albert

Hope this helps,


Claude
-- 
http://claudiusmaximus.goto10.org