On 5/2/06, Todd Blanchard <tblanchard at mac.com> wrote:
>
>
> On May 2, 2006, at 12:02 AM, SmallSqueak wrote:
>
> >       In C++ and its derivatives if I have the source for the whole
> > system,
> >       can I just add methods to any class I want to then rebuild the
> whole
> >
> >       system?
>
> Sure
>
> >       Would the effect be the same as what you are saying for Smalltalk?
>
> Yes


Well not quite the same. In Smalltalk all existing objects in the
environment would get the new behavior so one can add new methods to "live"
objects. This distinction can't be overstated.  Language to language
comparisons can be useful but comparing a grove of orange trees to an
individual apple often isn't very helpful and can sometimes be very
misleading. If you take time to wander in the grove of the Smalltalk
environment for a bit, you'll start to see things differently. You may in
fact find  situations for which  Smalltalk isn't the best tool to employ,
but it probably won't be because of a language feature. In my experiences,
it usually is because of a schedule/level of expertise factor or  something
to do with the politics of the decision-makers.

Cheers,
Laurence
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