Colin,
I respectfully disagree. Exceptions shine when a problem is detected (e.g. end of stream) in code that cannot be expected to know how to handle it. Exceptions both propagate the information to a level that can be expected to cope with it, and prevent silent failures by faulting if the exception is not handled. That is exactly what is required in my medical data parsing example. In the case of the compiler, it can (and I submit should) all be handled with messages to a context since the scenario is fairly focused.
This is both a concern of mine (ensuring robust stream behavior in a critical and complex system) and something of a long-term agenda to avoid wasteful programming. Bloatware happens a few bytes and microseconds at a time.
Again, in the compiler example, I agree with the plan, but see it as a clever way of compensating for configuration management deficiencies rather than being an appropriate technological choice.
Bill
Wilhelm K. Schwab, Ph.D. University of Florida Department of Anesthesiology PO Box 100254 Gainesville, FL 32610-0254
Email: bschwab@anest.ufl.edu Tel: (352) 846-1285 FAX: (352) 392-7029
cputney@wiresong.ca 11/13/07 7:14 PM >>>
On 13-Nov-07, at 2:47 PM, Bill Schwab wrote:
Agreed, with the caveat that I am currently thinking contexts are preferred to exceptions in this case (for speed). Of course, that would require changing a LOT of code, where the exception solution can be stealthy. Changing default actions is a worthy compromise. I will take a shot at it.
Tim is right, speed is just not an issue here. Exceptions only get raised if the compiler is in "interactive" mode, as when invoked from a browser. In that case, compilation takes milliseconds, and adding a few microseconds doesn't matter. Further, if the exception handler interacts with the user, the time to raise an exception is dwarfed by the time spend waiting for the user to react.
Colin _______________________________________________ UI mailing list UI@lists.squeakfoundation.org http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ui
It will be a quite intrusive set of modifications... Currently, themed menus are available when using the Theme directly (or via the TEasilyThemed trait). This will be about some extensions to UIManager to indirect the creation of menus. Of course, the PSUIManager will use the theme support while the extensions will leave things open.