[plt-scheme] Re: Rationale of the object system?

If you read the paper (and some of the references) you may realize  
that PLT Scheme's class library makes it easy to enter if you are a  
Java programmer (or C++ to some extent) but then there is lots more  
and that the extras aren't as conventional as you may have thought  
(based on your original email).

Our class system grew up in parallel to our needs for a GUI system  
(wx), which came in C++. The key has always been to introduce  
abstractions THAT WE FIND USEFUL and to REDUCE COST where possible.  
For example, this suggested a switch from multiple inheritance to  
mixins. Your insight of "pay as you go" is correct but as you may  
also know, language designers and implementors have struggled with  
this guideline for as long as they have designed and implemented  
languages.

Finally, coming from Ruby you may find that the warts are gone and  
the dynamic nature remains. Ask away when you need help and welcome  
aboard. -- Matthias






On Aug 11, 2008, at 4:06 AM, Michael Schuerig wrote:

> On Monday 11 August 2008, Sam TH wrote:
>> I recommend looking at this paper:
>>
>> Scheme with Classes Mixins and Traits, from
>> http://www.cs.utah.edu/~mflatt/publications/index.html
>>
>> in which the designers discuss many of these questions.
>
> Sam, thanks for pointing out this paper, it was an interesting read  
> and
> I found more stuff to read along the way.
>
> Michael
>
> -- 
> Michael Schuerig
> mailto:michael at schuerig.de
> http://www.schuerig.de/michael/
> _________________________________________________
>   For list-related administrative tasks:
>   http://list.cs.brown.edu/mailman/listinfo/plt-scheme