Okay, I didn't realize that Perl's objects were that refined.  Certainly
when most people talk about "Perl", they talk about features *other*
than it's OO support.

Anyway, that's great to hear that objects got grafted onto Perl in a
reasonable way.  I'd still prefer Python because of readability
concerns, myself, but to each their own.



Lex



merlyn at stonehenge.com (Randal L. Schwartz) wrote:
> >>>>> "Lex" == Lex Spoon <lex at cc.gatech.edu> writes:
> 
> Lex> "Lex Spoon" <lex at cc.gatech.edu> wrote:
> >> 
> >> FWIW, Python is basically Smalltalk without the GUI.
> 
> Lex> Ouch.  So it's not as similar as I thought.  But I'll back it up a
> Lex> little even so:
> 
> Lex> 	1. Compared to *Perl*.  Python is extremely like Smalltalk.  The
> Lex> subject said Perl, so it was at least worth pointing out.
> 
> I'll disagree even with that.  Perl has a rich support for OO.
> Through the "tie" interface, ordinary objects can be given definable
> access methods, and through "overloading", ordinary operators can be
> given arbitrary definitions when used on objects.
> 
> What does Python do that makes it "more like smalltalk"?  Both Perl
> and Python have primitive types distinct from objects.  Both use
> multi-precedence level algorithmic languages for expressions.  Both
> have high degrees of reflectivity and metaprogramming.  What are you
> looking at to give Python such an advantage?
> 
> Lex> 	2. Compared to other OO languages like C++ or Java, Python
> Lex> still has a lot of Smalltalk's charms.  It doesn't have static
> Lex> type checking.  It leaves everything as an object, even if you
> Lex> can't extend system classes--thus you can stick an integer into a
> Lex> generic collection.
> 
> Just like Perl. :)
> 
> Lex> Really, if you had to pick one language other than Smalltalk to work in,
> Lex> what would it be?  I haven't worked extensively in Python, but it was
> Lex> what I used before a good open-source Smalltalk became available (yay
> Lex> Squeak!).
> 
> I'd probably lean toward Perl, still.  Larger user base.  Better
> support.
> 
> -- 
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> <merlyn at stonehenge.com> <URL:http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/>
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