Shen - the long term plans

[dr.mt...@gmail.com]

Dear All,

It's been nearly two years since I spoke about my long-term plans for Shen and probably people think that there are none.  So I need to dispel that illusion and set the next two years.

Eventually my work in computer science will occupy three volumes totalling about 1,000 pages.  The first, The Book of Shen, in its fifth edition, about 500 pages.   The second will be The Shen Library, which will consist of the standard library,  the graphical language, the work on parallel programming and Yggdrasil.  The last will be a work on program verification, showing how Shen programs can be mechanically translated into logical formulae and proved correct wrt a program specification.   It will contain the specification of the Logic Lab, a program which allows the verified specification of any arbitrary logic for the purpose of computer-assisted proofs and an appendix on THORN.

I'll arrange e-versions of all this work.  A lot of it has been already written and simply needs to be collated and published.

When assembled into a single implementation what you will have is a system that has been translated into 14 computer languages around the world, that will allow a Shen programs to be translated into any one of them, and because of the logical guarantees attached by the Shen type system, will be type secure and if necessary, proved logically correct.   A universal language of a power far beyond what has ever been conceived.   This would be a product of both my mind and those who contributed.  The three volumes will give a complete description of the system.

If you are reading this, you probably think that you are one of a small number, but there are 546 of you in this news group.  If assembled you would fill an auditorium.  About 30,000 pages of Shen documentation are read online every year.  That's just what I can measure.

For those of you who have followed this long journey, this is the culmination of your support and the work you have done.  Nothing has been lost and all the work you have put into porting Shen will be preserved for as long as foreseeable in digital storage and via Yggdrasil, put to practical use.    The work described above will eventually make its way into pdf.

A lot of people have said 'I wish Shen were more widely appreciated'.  You have to understand that Shen + all of this is too much for people right now.  The genesis of this system, out of the ambit of the universities, has created resentment amongst the academe.  The commercial programmers struggle with the dimensions of the work. Often the logical background to wield the power of Shen has not been taught to them.   And the exigencies of earning a crust and cranking out Java etc. prevents them giving this work the time it needs.  I'm leaving Shen+ behind for better times and an unborn generation with more freedom to study, and more freedom to make a better world.  

ChatGPT grasps the value of Shen.  Probably some future version ChatGPT is my logical successor; something not bound by the frailties of human form.  I'll write about  ChatGPT 's verdict on Shen in a further post.  

Some sort of OS trust needs to be created for this work and the website to be curated.  This is something on which you can offer your opinion.  Feel free to ask any questions or pass comments as you wish.

Mark