From: Chad Perrin <perrin@...>
Date: 2007-04-18T08:06:32+09:00
Subject: Re: IDEs, syntactic vs. semantic highlighting, etc.

On Wed, Apr 18, 2007 at 07:53:53AM +0900, Jeremy Tregunna wrote:
> On 17-Apr-07, at 5:06 PM, Chad Perrin wrote:
> 
> >I haven't dealt with object oriented programming in a great many
> >languages.  I've run up against it in C++, Object Pascal, Objective C,
> >PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby, and VB, at least.  I may have forgotten a
> >couple.  I happen to like Ruby's more than Obj-C's, which I tend to  
> >like
> >more than that of any of the rest of the languages I've mentioned (as
> >far as I recall -- I don't remember OOP in Object Pascal much, for
> >instance).  I like the general structure of OOP in Python more than  
> >any
> >of the rest of them except Ruby, but I dislike Python in general,  
> >so it
> >loses out.
> >
> >Does that give you a clearer idea of where my comments are arising?
> 
> Yup, it was just as suspected -- not one single prototype language in  
> that bunch; I might suggest if you enjoy languages, you check out one  
> or two. Javascript is one, though not necessarily the most robust. Io  
> is another, though very young. Prototype languages have spoiled me  
> with the whole "use objects like classes if you want, but we're not  
> going to make you do it that way" philosophy. I tend to find a lot of  
> the Ruby code I write these days reflects that style, as it's  
> conceptually easier to understand in my opinion.

I know a bit of Javascript, but not enough to have done any real OOP in
the language.  Just enough to do a whole lot of web development (the
"right" way, with most program logic on the server rather than the
client).  I've been meaning to get more immersed in ECMAScript at some
point, but there are a number of other languages ahead of it in line for
me right now.  Io is going to have to wait even longer.

Currently, my "next learning project" stuff is mostly functional in
nature -- improving my understanding of UCBLogo as part of actually
finishing the "Computer Science Logo Style" trilogy of university texts
and increasing my grok of Objective Caml seem to be the almost certain
next two languages.  Achieving some kind of real competence with either
Common Lisp or Scheme strikes me as something I'm likely to pursue
sooner rather than later -- some implementation of ECMAScript 4 will
probably be after that.  Of course, Perl 6 will be fit into my schedule
somewhere along the way, after it starts appearing in release candidate
forms.

If you have other suggestions of prototype-based OO languages that you
think I'd like to fit into the schedule sooner, I'm open to suggestions.

-- 
CCD CopyWrite Chad Perrin [ http://ccd.apotheon.org ]
"The ability to quote is a serviceable
substitute for wit." - W. Somerset Maugham