On Feb 12, 2008 12:38 AM, Igor Stasenko <siguctua at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> 3. The main barrier in making multiple versions of same class/package
> to live is support of  dev tools (browser/compiler). VM don't require
> groundbreaking changes to support this.
> The exception is tagged oops (smallintegers) and well known
> singletons: nil/true/false objects.  Even if you will have multiple
> SmallInteger classes, instances will be able to use only one of them.
> This is a sacrifice.. Well, but you can always make boxed integers :)



Sorry, I didn't catch the parent post to this.

My namespaces design[1] will allow the developer to load different versions
of the same package into the image, and instantiate classes from either.

The issues are:
- Class comparison, because although two classes might have the same name,
they'll be different classes.
- Objects in the VM's special objects array. These are discussed in the last
section of [1].

In a few weeks once I've got my package management system[2] working, I'll
be making a new Metaclass hierarchy which will exist in the image alongside
the existing Metaclass hierarchy. This will allow me to make radical changes
to it without worrying about breaking the image.

Note that these are brain dumps rather than documentation, and that they
constantly change:
[1] http://gulik.pbwiki.com/Namespaces
[2] http://gulik.pbwiki.com/Packages


Also, i noticed that Mike's view on many things in different areas are
> very similar to mine, which is good :) Who knows, maybe we'll join our
> efforts someday.
>


My plans are to design a secure kernel myself and then invite other
developers to help when it is usable. I'm only working on this a couple of
hours a week as a hobby, so don't hold your breath waiting. I'm usually on
IRC when I'm working on it (yay broadband!).

Gulik.


-- 
http://people.squeakfoundation.org/person/mikevdg
http://gulik.pbwiki.com/
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