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POWhat programming languages will let me manipulate the sequence of instructions in a method?
 

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  1. POWhat programming languages will let me manipulate the sequence of instructions in a method?
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    <p>I have an upcoming project in which a core requirement will be to mutate the way a method works at runtime. Note that I'm <em>not</em> talking about a higher level OO concept like "shadow one method with another", although the practical effect would be similar.</p> <p>The key properties I'm after are:</p> <ul> <li><p>I must be able to modify the method in such a way that I can add new expressions, remove existing expressions, or modify any of the expressions that take place in it.</p></li> <li><p>After modifying the method, subsequent calls to that method would invoke the new sequence of operations. (Or, if the language binds methods rather than evaluating every single time, provide me a way to unbind/rebind the new method.)</p></li> <li><p>Ideally, I would like to manipulate the atomic units of the <em>language</em> (e.g., "invoke method <code>foo</code> on object <code>bar</code>") and not the assembly directly (e.g. "pop these three parameters onto the stack"). In other words, I'd like to be able to have high confidence that the operations I construct are semantically meaningful in the language. But I'll take what I can get.</p></li> </ul> <p>If you're not sure if a candidate language meets these criteria, here's a simple litmus test:</p> <blockquote> <p>Can you write another method called <code>clean</code> which:</p> <ul> <li><p>accepts a method <code>m</code> as input</p></li> <li><p>returns another method <code>m2</code> that performs the same operations as <code>m</code></p></li> <li><p>such that <code>m2</code> is identical to <code>m</code>, but doesn't contain any calls to the print-to-standard-out method in your language (puts, System.Console.WriteLn, println, etc.)?</p></li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>I'd like to do some preliminary research now and figure out what the strongest candidates are. Having a large, active community is as important to me as the practicality of implementing what I want to do. I am aware that there may be some unforged territory here, since manipulating bytecode directly is not typically an operation that needs to be exposed.</p> <p>What are the choices available to me? If possible, can you provide a toy example in one or more of the languages that you recommend, or point me to a recent example?</p> <hr> <p><strong>Update:</strong> The reason I'm after this is that I'd like to write a program which is capable of modifying itself at runtime in response to new information. This modification goes beyond mere parameters or configurable data, but full-fledged, evolved changes in behavior. (No, I'm not writing a virus. ;) )</p>
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    1. USJohn Feminella
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    1. COTo be clear, you want to dynamically change the instructions of an *existing* method? (i.e. not throw together the implementation of a *new* method on the fly?)
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      1. USKirk Woll
    2. CO@Kirk Woll: You raise a good point in that I don't particularly care about the implementation details of how the language might satisfy my goals. I've clarified my question a little to highlight the key properties I'm after.
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