copy yourself ?

diegogomezdeck at consultar.com diegogomezdeck at consultar.com
Thu May 22 20:05:03 UTC 2003


If you put yourself between TWO glasses, the object "image of you" is
copied several times... isn't it?

Diego

> hi. i would like to ask whether some squeaker has ever seen an object
> which  is capable of copying itself. for example, i have a glass in
> front of me -  certainly an object - but i have never seen any glass
> copying itself in front  of me when i say "copy yourself" to it. in
> contrary, i have only seen people  or machines capable of copying a
> glass. the point is that i do not believe  that any object could copy
> itself. even DNA which is said to have replicating  capabilities does
> not replicate itself as such, but requires a niche capable  of
> replicating it. so why, in smalltalk, almost every object can copy
> itself  when i send a message to it - it seems absurd to me. doesn't it
> also to you?
>
> a second problem is that the copying process depends on particularities
> of  situation in which someone or something want's to copy an object.
> copying is  context dependent. so why has every object in smalltalk
> only one method for  copying (well it has three types of copy-methods
> but the point is that the  number and meaning of them fixed).
>
> wouldn't it be more rational to have objects capable of constructing
> copies  of objects?





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