From: MikkelFJ <mikkelj-anti-spam@...1.dknet.dk>
Date: 2001-08-12T00:03:45+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:19534] Re: order and freedom in Ruby (was: Re:  Re: the way class variables work)


"David Alan Black" <dblack@candle.superlink.net> wrote in message
news:Pine.LNX.4.30.0108111014330.5875-100000@candle.superlink.net...

> > But then we should perhaps go in the other direction:
....
> Isn't that what happens if you manipulate a parent class (without
> having overridden the things you're manipulating)?
....
I have never tried, I just assumed that once you had created your class,
changes to parent would not be transparent. But if this is true (as I trust
it is), then there is no difference between ringing doorbells at night using
methods instead of class variables. Then it is just the natural state of
things in Ruby.

Is there a theory for these implications - for example through work on
SmallTalk - or is this new ground where we still need to evolve good models?

Can we find programming problems that Ruby can solve significantly different
from solutions of other languages by taking advantage of this behaviour?

Mikkel