[evla-sw-discuss] Notes from Scripting Walk-through Meeting

[Tim Cornwell]

>>> 
>>> My point Tim, is that there should be no loops and conditionals in the
>>> observe script - what/when only.

I agree with that - if there is no looping or conditionals, there's no
reason to use a scripting language and it's better to use something like XML
that can be validated. It is a bad idea to use a scripting language unless
you really need one since it introduces fragility.

However, I'd be surprised if you could manage without conditionals. Once you
have conditionals, looping is probably needed. How are new observing modes
developed? For example, suppose that one wants to implement a new type of
pattern measurement? Is that only possible in compiled code that is
connected to an XML entity? In the scripting language approach, one would
prototype it in e.g. python, and then once done convert it into a piece of
compiled code.

Tim