Squeak-dev Digest, Vol 22, Issue 20

Andres Valloud sqrmax at cox.net
Sat Oct 16 23:09:06 UTC 2004


Hello Andreas,

Saturday, October 16, 2004, 12:55:54 PM, you wrote:

AN> If a compiler (because that's what it is, whenever it's run) could
AN> save you some trouble, why not let it?

If the compiler could do that all by itself, great.

However, static type systems usually require developer keystrokes and
litter code with extraneous artifacts.  I do not think this is
desirable.

AN> Simply stating that the problem is the code doesn't really help
AN> anyone

I do not think we need static types to do better - in fact, I think
static types will make it worse.

I think there are enough tools to do better already, and these tools
can help us to the point that asking for class comments becomes
unnecessary.  We have the RefactoringBrowser and SUnit, plus a variety
of versioning tools that are getting better at making development
possible without resorting to changesets.  There is a nice pile of
literature on patterns and modular design.

The raw materials are there, it's just a matter of spending the time
and effort it takes to write simple code to solve simple problems.

While practice helps, writing simple code all the time is not easy.
Nevertheless, I firmly believe it's impossible to be creative
while sorrounded by years of code screaming to be rewritten.

Andres.




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