Re: A newbie seeks advice for using Amber with Apple's JavaScriptCore framework (a bidirectional JS interface accessing Swift & Objective-C constructs).

Thom wrote:
> Thanks for putting everything in "context" Herby !  :-)   I might have
> the nerve now to try to figure out how to get the Amber runtime working
> within a running instance of a JavaScriptCore virtual machine + context.
>   It's likely only marginally more involved than getting Amber to run
> using node.js or in a browser.

BTW, amber cli has a repl, it's maybe good place to look at how is it
implemented to learn how to compile and run ad-hoc code.

> On Thursday, September 28, 2017 at 9:35:07 AM UTC-4, Thom wrote:
>
>     JavaScriptCore is a framework that can be used natively within any
>     macOS, iOS, watchOS, or tvOS app (any of the four current platforms
>     for deploying Apple-native apps).
>
>     It can creates any number of JS runtime contexts within any number
>     of JS virtual machines, each which can run any number of
>     simultaneous contexts.  The simplest and most common case is when
>     the user of the framework creates one JS runtime context that
>     automatically runs within the default virtual machine.
>
>     Here's a good JavaScriptCore overview with some helpful diagrams.
>     <<a href="https://www.raywenderlich.com/124075/javascriptcore-tutorial" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.raywenderlich.com%2F124075%2Fjavascriptcore-tutorial\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNFolx2Jm1La1cnYCZas6EeT3s61_A&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.raywenderlich.com%2F124075%2Fjavascriptcore-tutorial\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNFolx2Jm1La1cnYCZas6EeT3s61_A&#39;;return true;">https://www.raywenderlich.com/124075/javascriptcore-tutorial>
>     Here's some older info from when JavaScriptCore was first developed
>     as part of the Safari WebKit, which may help clarify the purpose for
>     which it was developed. <<a href="https://trac.webkit.org/wiki/JavaScriptCore" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftrac.webkit.org%2Fwiki%2FJavaScriptCore\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNGiQA4rQZH12PXtR6L1KS0HdvtJEA&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftrac.webkit.org%2Fwiki%2FJavaScriptCore\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNGiQA4rQZH12PXtR6L1KS0HdvtJEA&#39;;return true;">https://trac.webkit.org/wiki/JavaScriptCore>
>
>     It's very helpful to know now that if a potential solution can be
>     developed, it's all about finding a way to run Amber within a JS
>     runtime virtual machine and context established via JavaScriptCore,
>     and not at all about just using  basic string transformations.
>
>     On Thursday, September 28, 2017 at 8:45:32 AM UTC-4, Herby wrote:
>
>         Thom wrote:
>          > Greetings,
>          >
>          >      My interest is using Amber to facilitate a Smalltalk-like
>          > live-coding/scripting interface to some lower-level audio and
>         MIDI
>          > functionality running within a macOS executable, established
>         with Swift.
>          >   The live-coding/scripting interface is already working well
>         when using
>          > JavaScript as the live scripting language, and also
>         alternately using
>          > CoffeeScript <<a href="http://coffeescript.org" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;http://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttp%3A%2F%2Fcoffeescript.org\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNF8NQd_toqOw3AVTWLpz3PDP2YWJQ&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;http://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttp%3A%2F%2Fcoffeescript.org\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNF8NQd_toqOw3AVTWLpz3PDP2YWJQ&#39;;return true;">http://coffeescript.org> to achieve a cleaner,
>         more
>          > elegant syntax with less boilerplate than when using standard
>         JavaScript.
>          >
>          > When I first encountered CoffeeScript awhile back, I was
>         immediately
>          > drawn to its cleaner syntax and was interested in finding a
>         way to use
>          > it for live interaction with my Swift code via the
>         JavaScriptCore framework.
>          > Since I knew then that CoffeeScript compiles to JavaScript, I
>         thought it
>          > would be relatively straightforward for figuring out how to
>         make it work
>          > for my use case.
>          >
>          > It turned out that I wasn't able to make any progress in that
>         direction
>          > on my own. After a few months of occasional googling, I was
>         fortunate
>          > one day to find this CoffeeScript-to-JavaScript compiler
>         self-contained
>          > within this one page of JavaScript code
>          >
>         <<a href="https://gist.github.com/JamesKyburz/c840e047c278ebd356245739af605432" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fgist.github.com%2FJamesKyburz%2Fc840e047c278ebd356245739af605432\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNEmdW-2bCxIqJycDmaj60thnYe60g&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fgist.github.com%2FJamesKyburz%2Fc840e047c278ebd356245739af605432\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNEmdW-2bCxIqJycDmaj60thnYe60g&#39;;return true;">https://gist.github.com/JamesKyburz/c840e047c278ebd356245739af605432
>         <<a href="https://gist.github.com/JamesKyburz/c840e047c278ebd356245739af605432" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fgist.github.com%2FJamesKyburz%2Fc840e047c278ebd356245739af605432\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNEmdW-2bCxIqJycDmaj60thnYe60g&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fgist.github.com%2FJamesKyburz%2Fc840e047c278ebd356245739af605432\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNEmdW-2bCxIqJycDmaj60thnYe60g&#39;;return true;">https://gist.github.com/JamesKyburz/c840e047c278ebd356245739af605432>>.
>
>          >
>          > I was very pleased to find that it does exactly what one
>         would expect it
>          > to do. After adding this coffeescript.js file to my Xcode
>         project's
>          > Resources folder, I wrote a little routine in Swift that
>         locates any
>          > .coffee file in a designated directory, extracts its contents
>         as a
>          > String, then transforms it into JavaScript code by passing
>         the string
>          > into the top-level JS function contained within the
>         coffeescript.js file
>          >
>         <<a href="https://gist.github.com/JamesKyburz/c840e047c278ebd356245739af605432" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fgist.github.com%2FJamesKyburz%2Fc840e047c278ebd356245739af605432\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNEmdW-2bCxIqJycDmaj60thnYe60g&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fgist.github.com%2FJamesKyburz%2Fc840e047c278ebd356245739af605432\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNEmdW-2bCxIqJycDmaj60thnYe60g&#39;;return true;">https://gist.github.com/JamesKyburz/c840e047c278ebd356245739af605432
>         <<a href="https://gist.github.com/JamesKyburz/c840e047c278ebd356245739af605432" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fgist.github.com%2FJamesKyburz%2Fc840e047c278ebd356245739af605432\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNEmdW-2bCxIqJycDmaj60thnYe60g&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fgist.github.com%2FJamesKyburz%2Fc840e047c278ebd356245739af605432\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNEmdW-2bCxIqJycDmaj60thnYe60g&#39;;return true;">https://gist.github.com/JamesKyburz/c840e047c278ebd356245739af605432>>.
>
>          >
>          > Now I can use the JavaScriptCore framework as usual for
>         preparing my
>          > Swift code to both call into and be called from JavaScript,
>         and then use
>          > either <JavaScript code> or <CoffeeScript code automatically
>         transformed
>          > into JavaScript code> as the runtime scripting interface.
>          >
>          > Does anyone know offhand if something similar could be made
>         possible for
>          > using Amber Smalltalk code as an alternative to CoffeeScript?
>           Is it
>          > possible to transform any string containing Amber code
>         directly into its
>          > target JavaScript code, or would it require running Amber
>         using Node.js
>          > and so forth?
>
>         Smalltalk is image-based in nature, so it can not be effectively
>         used
>         for small snippets - it sort-of takes for granted that it has its
>         libraries (objects, classes, numbers, collections, etc.)
>         present. So
>         Amber code cannot run without an Amber runtime (though, that
>         runtime can
>         be embedded with the code, of course - but the runtime is big). The
>         Amber's use case is applications.
>
>         Amber compiles to JS, so needs JS environment to run. I don not
>         understand what environment do you use. Amber is primarily based at
>         browsers, can run in node.js as well.
>
>         And of course, there is a way to compile a code, but again, that
>         code
>         needs to run in context of an Amber runtime.
>
>          > I welcome any suggestions, advice, guidance, comments, etc.
>          >
>          > Thanks !
>          >
>          > Best,
>          >
>          > Thom Jordan
>          >
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