Re: OT: Raku [Was: sympa mailing list manager]

On Tue, Aug 1, 2023 at 01:29 <little.analyst892@aceecat.org> wrote:

> Tom:
>
> > In return, I offer you a great language in place of Python: Raku
> > (formerly Perl 6). I think you will like it, and I think it is much
> > easier for new coders to learn. Check it out here:
> > <https://Raku.org>.
>
> Lazy (and OT) question: how does Raku deal with the challenge of
> managing module dependencies, and in particular native code
> dependencies -- which in Python led to the slowly developing horror
> story of setuptools / pip / venv / poetry / conda / ...


That is a great question, and I can give you a layman's take on it. (I have
 CC'd one of our email lists, IRC #raku and sister channels are where most
interaction occurs these days). In no special order:

We have a powerful module management program, 'zef', which drives the
module installation, removal, search, and other associated actions. Upon
request for installation, its default action is to go completely through
the dependency chain and download (if it's not installed), test, and
install each required module.

We now have our own published-module archiving system, 'Fez'  (which we
moved to from Perl's CPAN), which provides much more security and less
possibility of malicious actors creating evil in the archive.

We have a new public location to search for modules at https://raku.land>.

We have a system of published module requirements encapsulated in a special
JSON file which interacts with the zef installer.

The mainainers of the major Raku executive program (called Rakudo)
regularly run a series of tests of the most recently published executive on
amost all of the known public modules.

Our core team tries to publish an updated version of Raku monthly, and
those releases are numbered by year and month, e.g., the next release will
be 2023.08.

Raku major versions follow Larry Wall's initial release scheme which
started the first stable release at 6.c on Christmas Day of 2015. The
current release is 6.d with release 6.e in the wings to be released next.

Please visit IRC channels #raku, #raku-beginner, and #raku-dev for helpful
and friendy people. See docs at <https://docs.raku.org>. Visit the Raku
home at <https://raku.org>. Also see <https://rakudo.org> for downloading
and installing the executive program.

Most of the module authors develop on Github.com. The two core developent
sites are <https://github.com/raku> and <https://github.com/rakudo>.

Keeping native code running on the three major OSs (Linux, MacOS, and
Windows) is tough. The core team manages to keep the executive and its
basic tests running on those systems, but, speaking for my modules, Windows
support is shaky.

I've been babbling too long here, but I do love Raku. I have tried Python
early on (and was paid for it), but for a C-style language programmer,
Python's whitespace style is too freakish (plus trying to learn the list of
required modules to start anything is a pain).

Best regards,

-Tom

P.S. Raku is a HUGE language built-in-wise (for example, there are over 100
oerators). A beginner will probably go a long while before he or she ever
has to "use" any modules at all.