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interpreter
- noun The part of the MUD system which executes commands in
the context of the current world model (commands can also
be said to be 'interpreted', which is basically synonymous with 'executed' in this
definition). Commands arrive non-deterministically from
FEs, and are queued up on arrival. They are taken in turn,
processed in full, and the results passed back to the FEs for
the attention of the players. The manner in which a (MUD2)
command is processed is defined in MUDDLE, but essentially it
is first passed through a binder to tie the nouns to objects,
then actually executed, and then output streams are examined
and text despatched as necessary.
NB: this description if for the
operation of MUD2's interpreter, which is synchronous; MUD1
uses a synchronous approach, fusing the FE and interpreter into
a single program and employing a system of signals and waits to
guarantee single-user access to critical areas of memory. The
use of the word 'interpreter' comes from the fact that the
program interprets intermediate code derived from the
definition language rather than executing a compiled version
directly. However, as it can also be seen to 'interpret' the
language of commands, the term can be applied to all such
programs whether they interpret the definition language or not.
The interpreter is also sometimes known as the driver. See
C.
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