> ** Original Sender: Duane Maxwell <dmaxwell at launchpados.com>
>
> Alan Lovejoy writes:
> 
> >It must be about nine years ago I now that I first modified the ParcPlace
> >compiler.  I made it evaluate code between braces at compile time, and
> >insert the string value of the last statement eclosed by the braces as source
> >code to be compiled.
> 
> [SNIP]
> 
> Unfortunately, this would have the effect of making the image based on
> compile-time conditions, which could include things not true about the
> runtime environment.  In your code example, the image would be
> Windows-specific, with no obvious way to detect the methods which would
> require recompilation.

Exactly so, at least for the example I used.

That's why I ended up never using the extension.  Had it been a "standard"
part of all Smalltalk dialects, it would have been useful, perhaps, as a way to
make code portable between Smalltalk dialects.  Other than that, there always
seem to be better ways to deal with things than what are essentially macros.

--Alan


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