Well, something more than Eliza/Doctor, but something less than ST/TNG Data. :)

I see it as a big challenge, yes. Just parsing the code fragments, let alone the English, would be daunting.

Okay, here's a limited subset that I think might be do-able.
  1. Ignore anything outside of <c> </c> or <code> </code> tags
  2. ignore anything that uses modules
  3. ignore anything that writes the filesystem
  4. ignore anything that uses filehandles other than STD*
  5. eval perl code
  6. ponder error message and/or output
  7. look through k-base for similar code structures and error messages
  8. suggest a list of nodes with code similar to the code near the failure that might work
Eventually, I'd like it to do more, and to be allowed to post its own responses to real nodes, but that would be a long way away. This limited subset would allow us to experiment with parsing, pattern recognition, and k-base building, and I believe it could be made to have real utility, at least for the newbie errors.

UPDATE: added exclusions #3 and #4

In reply to Re^2: An Unreal Perl Hacker! by samizdat
in thread An Unreal Perl Hacker! by samizdat

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