Thinking about a better UI
Randal L. Schwartz
merlyn at stonehenge.com
Sat May 15 16:12:14 UTC 1999
>>>>> "Joachim" == Joachim Durchholz <joachim.durchholz at munich.netsurf.de> writes:
Joachim> This was one of my initial grudges against Smalltalk: Lots of new words
Joachim> meaning just the same old stuff, making it difficult to understand what
Joachim> was really new about Smalltalk. Just try it:
Joachim> Smalltalk terminology Standard terminology
Joachim> method subroutine
Joachim> message send subroutine call
Joachim> object data structure
Joachim> self first parameter
Saying a message send is a subroutine call is akin to calling "a car"
just "a slightly faster horse". You damage the ability to grok the
differences by misnaming it. If I had thought of a car as an
extension of a horse, I would never have considered taking my car
somewhere and parking it for a week without care, or driving it day
and night using two drivers.
The wrong model is deadly. It limits thinking -- you won't even know
to ask questions about what you don't know, in terms of the
differences.
A "message send" is NOT a subroutine call. Even calling it one
doesn't make it one. :)
--
Name: Randal L. Schwartz / Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095
Keywords: Perl training, UNIX[tm] consulting, video production, skiing, flying
Email: <merlyn at stonehenge.com> Snail: (Call) PGP-Key: (finger merlyn at teleport.com)
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