Design Principles Behind Smalltalk, Revisited
Blake
blake at kingdomrpg.com
Tue Dec 26 21:00:35 UTC 2006
On Tue, 26 Dec 2006 05:52:26 -0800, Paul D. Fernhout
<pdfernhout at kurtz-fernhout.com> wrote:
> In the case of both C and C++, one should not discount the wight of AT&T,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wight
Indeed. :-)
> Well, it is also true one big issue is that an Algol-like syntax with
> operator precedence (times over plus) is taught in K-12 school. That is
> a big advantage for a computer language to build on that, even as that
> precedence is arbitrary and Smalltalk is more consistent.
I learned operator precedence in programming, not in math. I'm sitting
among college graduates--in the IT department--right now who give me a
blank stare when I say "operator precedence". One guy knows it has to do
with parentheses. My favorite (tongue-in-cheek) response was "That means
the user comes first." (And as a professional programmer, my rule has
always been: Don't count on your ability to remember operator precedence.
C++ has, what, 17 levels of precedence?)
I guess my point is, I don't consider "operator precedence" to be a
significant advantage. Smalltalk works the way I think; I have to actively
(admittedly easily at this point) allow for operator precedence. And I
don't bury my Smalltalk code in parentheses, yeah!
> And you are right on how Java seemed an easy move for C++ programmers.
The prevalence of "C-like" syntax has convinced me over the years that C
programmers are wusses. They apparently won't try anything that doesn't
look like something they already know.
===Blake===
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