symbol table linking

7.14: 7.15: adda/symbol table linking:

. etrees (expression trees)
are tree nodes with pointers into
global and local dictionaries of symbols
(symbol tables).
. every etree module
implies access to a global symbol table,
and must specify any needed local symbol tables .
. there can be more than one local symbol table;
because, a dictionary can include procedures;
and, procedure definitions can have
local dictionaries:
the parent procedure becomes the
scope of its local dictionary,
hence the term "(nested scopes),
involving stacks of local symbol tables .
. each module has a tree of symbol tables .
. a typical scope path is:
module/subprog/nested sub/nested block/nested block .

. the 3 main uses of "(library) include
system, standard, and custom .
. the system library of an addx installation
is a service for organizing and linking
the modules that are available for reuse .
. a standard library is a module that is
declared by the system's language .
. a custom library is one added by the user .
. each module has a list of imported modules,
and a tree of symbol tables
to match its tree of nested scopes .

. when designing the pointer that is
going from etree nodes into symbol tables,
there must be an efficient coding,
and it should support efficient copying
even when it involves context changes
(re: adde/object copy & paste).

etree node variants for library symbols:
. there is first a bit to distinguish
symbol location type in {library, local}:
# library location:
. there may be many libraries in use (15-bit),
and many symbols per library (16-bit) .
# local location:
. there's often no more than
4 nested levels of locals (2bit);
and often less than 256 symbols per local (8bit).
but if node`size is in increments of 16bit chunks
that division could be 4 bits for 16 nested scopes,
and an 11-bit space for locals,
or less if the descriminant is more than 1 bit .
[7.30:
... in any case, the more space you save,
the less efficient it is to remap etree nodes
to a new symbol table after a context change .]

details of library location:
. there could be an infinity of libraries over time,
so the library codes in an etree node
don't represent specific libraries,
rather they represent a slot in the module's
list of imported or required libraries;
however, standard libraries can be specified,
since there are a finite number of them;
ie, if the code is in the range that is
reserved for standard lib's,
then that is the same code used by
the system library;
otherwise, we need to use the module's import list
to convert the symbol table's code
into one that the system library recognizes .

. the system library creates a custom lib's code
by taking a Secure Hash of its interface
. as long as that didn't change,
it would be considered the same library .