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MUDDLE

  • noun A CAT for 'Multi-User Dungeon Definition LanguagE', the definition language of MUD2. MUDDLE is a 'proper' programming language, rather than the glorified table-lookup system of MUDDL. It was specifically designed (by Richard Bartle) to be used for writing MUAs, and as such comes with a built-in mechanism to handle a class hierarchy. Its interpreter was written in a hurry in Turbo Pascal, and was soon converted to VAX Pascal; much later, it was transformed from that (mostly via a translation program) into immensely confusing C. However, since DB changes should no longer involve changes to the interpreter itself, this will not be a great problem until Bartle is hit by a fast-moving train. MUDDLE comes replete with macro facilities, and is not split into section. Currently, it has two significant limitations: for speed, the class hierarchy is fixed at compile-time, so although objects can be added to it, classes cannot be removed or links in the hierarchy reassigned; there is no facility for separate compilation, so if you change one line of one component file, you have to recompile the lot. See function for an example of a MUDDLE definition.

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23rd September 1999: muddle.htm