On jan ziak wrote:

> hi. I've got a strange question: is squeak really an
object oriented
> system
> or it only claims it is? the point of the question
is that instead of
> working
> with objects, i work mostly with text.

Jorge Marcelo Campos wrote:

>  I think you always need a way to refer to objects,
as Sean Charles said
>  the two dimensional representation on the screen is
no better than a
>  textual representation is just another form of
representation.
>  
>  And when you say that you only want to use the
object, but not to name
>  it... how do you exactly plan to do that? I mean to
use the object...
>  perhaps you see an OrderedCollection as a box with
buckets in your
>  screen... but that's one form of representation,
perhaps others would
>  like it to "view" it as text or as a pixel... so,
as I see it, names are
>  only a way to represent/access/identify actual
objects.

Good point. 

Also, as to Jan's question...

When you read a novel or story do you think of it as a
bunch of text? Or do you see characters (as in
players/actors) and the objects the people interact
with in the story? 

A computer language should be a method of
communication, like other written Human languages,
aimed at communicating with other people rather than
instructions sent to a computer.

Human languages bring to one's mind images of objects
and people in spite of the fact they are not even
representations of those physical items in a visual
form. Human languages are also full of stories of
other physical forms interacting with other physical
forms (i.e.- sending messages to).

Visual images also often illicit metaphors in people's
minds.

If one strive's to tell stories with one's code (and
tests) then one stands a better chance of
communicating the code's intent. 

Just my thoughts on this somewhat existential matter
on perceiving objects,

Anthony

“If you don’t think carefully, you might think that
programming is just typing statements in a programming
language.” -Ward Cunningham

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