On 01/03/20 1:41 AM, Vaidotas Didžbalis wrote:
Thank you for your explanations, but ... but we have characters in the image. Having a characters in the image means that Character has instances. If alInstances method cannot report about them, it shall fire exception perhaps, or, name allInstances must be changed to something else, isn't it?
Instance has two meanings.
* the first one is as you explain it. This is usually the meaning intended in all textbooks and applies to the overall object model (e.g. $a isKindOf: Object is true).
* The second one is an object allocated in memory and is the one of most interest in practice. Such objects need memory allocation, reference counting and garbage collection services. The method allInstances uses the word instances in the latter sense. Immediate objects don't need these services, so they are not considered. (e.g. $a class isImmediateClass is true).
This is like calling 45, 045 or 0045 as two digit numbers because leading zeros are not significant in practice.
Could you explain the context behind your question?
Regards .. Subbu