%raw keyword

[umuro]

There is an idea that bugs me time to time though this is not a short term issue.
Instead of providing an API for modules and function clauses, they could be in the syntax. And - like in ReScript - we can use a %raw keyword to supply the built in implementations.

This makes complicated library implementations and behaviour inheritance a breeze. And very readable.

However, there is a catch. %raw keyword can only make JavaScript calls and standard libraries are in ReScript.

• Might there be a raw keyword for ReScript? Any ideas?
• Or could we deal with %raw javascript to reconnect to ReScript libraries?

[OAGr]

Do you mean that users type %raw in their squiggle code, to access Rescript code? Like, in squiggle, do,

%raw foo = t => t +. 3.0
foo(5.)

For one thing, I think Rescript would need complication, which complicates thing.

Another factor is that one of the main benefits of Squiggle is that it's sandboxed. If we expose all js/Rescript functionality, we'd lose that.

[umuro]

@OAGr Actually I am thinking about it as a way to build standard libraries. Not for the users. To be used only for development.
We write modules mostly Squiggle and revert to %raw for internal implementations. There will be lots of things going on when we build standard libraries

• declaring complicated squiggle types
• declaring typed functions and exporting them

I have an idea for raw Rescript instead of JavaScript.

Only development mode provides an opportunity: Raw ReScript code can be collected to build a .res file for the module.
And using type declarations, extracting and converting arguments can be automated.

Imagine this:

module Distribution
inherits NumberLike
exports:
  @doc /* unaryMinus does bla bla */
   unaryMinus(d: distribution): distribution = %raw(`Distribution.unaryMinus(d)`)   
   //Rescript distribution d is extracted from Squiggle distribution d
   //The result is also auto converted based on type information.

[umuro]

Library implementations are just to the point and not lost behind API calls this way.
The processing of deeply nested data structures will be nicely hidden also.

So Squiggle files in the project:

1. Implement an internal Squiggle module - Squiggle files with %raw code as part of the project.
2. Extract %raw Rescript code from it and add conversion code to make a res file for the Squiggle module.
3. Compile

Actually it seems that this is a Squiggle to Rescript converter...