On Thu, 2 Dec 2004 12:42:07 -0000, Frank Shearar  
<Frank.Shearar at rnid.org.uk> wrote:

> You mean something like
>
> caveman
>     light: fire
>     with: flintAndTinder
>     usingForFuel: twigsAndStraw
>
> ?

Yeah, exactly.

> I don't know when it was invented, but Kent Beck's (fantastic!)  
> "Smalltalk Best Practice Pattern" describes it in the Indented Control  
> Flow pattern on page 175.

I'll have to check that out.

> I've always figured it as analogous to doing this in Delphi:
>
> Caveman.Light(Fire,
>               FlintAndTinder,
>               TwigsAndStraw);
>
> at least where indenting's concerned.

Except, in Delphi, I'd do it this way:

Caveman.Light(Fire, FlintAndTInder, TwigsAndStraw);

I think it's less necessary in Smalltalk, but in more conventional  
(common?) languages, I favor conservation of vertical space. I believe  
(and I think studies have backed this up) that if I can see the entire  
method all at once, I can grasp it much more quickly.

It's one of those things that commends Smalltalk to me, I think, since  
most methods are relatively short. So much so that you don't need to  
conserve vertical space.