Jules, There's work using random variation and selection to do some of the more ambitious things you've suggested.
See, for example, http://geneticimprovement2015.com It'd be great to see work in this area being done in Clojure, perhaps in conjunction with some of the more deterministic methods you've suggested here. -Lee > On Nov 28, 2015, at 1:53 PM, Lucas Bradstreet <lucasbradstr...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Kibit (https://github.com/jonase/kibit) does many of the things that > you describe, though it doesn't go as far you dream. It also uses > core.logic to suggest equivalent substitutions. > > I'd be happy to see more work in this area. > > Lucas > > On 29 November 2015 at 02:01, Jules <jules.gosn...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Guys, >> >> I've had pieces of this idea wandering around my head for years now and have >> finally decided that the time might be right for putting them together in >> the context of Clojure. I'm sure that others have had similar ideas before : >> >> Imagine my Clojure program which reads in your Clojure program and spits out >> a smaller, simpler, faster Clojure program which does exactly what yours >> did... >> >> Of course, you are such a good programmer that your program could not be >> improved ? In which case we need you writing my Clojure program :-) >> >> This is opening the door onto a very large but very interesting problem >> space. >> >> Starting the project off in a language that is homoiconic should deliver >> enormous benefits straight away as the language itself provides a reader, an >> Abstract Syntax Tree (itself) , a macro language (itself) etc... >> >> I have some initial ideas - >> >> - I was thinking of looking at core.logic to see if I might be able to use >> it to match code to which refactorings might be applied. >> >> - I was wondering whether analysing a class/methods transitive bytecode >> might be enough to decide whether a function/method was effectively pure or >> not. >> >> - I was wondering whether a simple initial approach would be to inline all >> but the recursive macros and functions in a program and then work backwards >> from the fully expanded program applying refactorings to extract shared code >> etc. >> >> - I was thinking that some of this machinery would be a nice thing to have >> in a Clojure IDE, advising you about potential refactorings and applying >> them as you type. >> >> - I was imagining that ultimately the inputs might not be have to be >> Clojure, but maybe anything that compiled down to Java bytecode. >> >> - I was wondering whether there was much synergy with core.typed. >> >> - I was wondering whether you could work out how many cpu cycles a function >> might take to run by inspecting its bytecode or optimise for mechanical >> sympathy if your system knew a bit about the right things. >> >> - I was wondering whether my program could benchmark functions then rewrite >> them and benchmark them again to confirm that they were faster. >> >> - i was considering which metrics should be used to decide that a program >> was simpler, >> >> - I was wondering whether a Clojure program could learn much about writing >> Clojure programs from analysing all the Clojure programs stored on e.g. >> GitHub. >> >> - I am dreaming of the day when programs are written by more abstract >> programs which are written by more abstract programs... which are written by >> AIs :-) >> >> >> I guess I am talking about writing an Expert System whose problem domain is >> Clojure [and Java bytecode], which encodes a set of rules for transforming >> one form of its input into another form that in some way satisfies some sort >> of [sub]goal. A system which can plan refactorings from an initial state to >> an 'improved' goal state. >> >> I haven't written any code yet. I realise that this is a huge subject and >> that the best thing to do would be to talk to lots of people much smarter >> than myself about it - so here I am. >> >> What does everyone think ? >> >> Is this worth discussing or just pie in the sky ? >> >> Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, >> >> >> Jules >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "Clojure" group. >> To post to this group, send email to clojure@googlegroups.com >> Note that posts from new members are moderated - please be patient with your >> first post. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Clojure" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Clojure" group. > To post to this group, send email to clojure@googlegroups.com > Note that posts from new members are moderated - please be patient with your > first post. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Clojure" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- Lee Spector, Professor of Computer Science Acting Dean, School of Cognitive Science Director, Institute for Computational Intelligence Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA lspec...@hampshire.edu, http://hampshire.edu/lspector/, 413-559-5352 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To post to this group, send email to clojure@googlegroups.com Note that posts from new members are moderated - please be patient with your first post. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
