From: Tim X <timx@...>
Date: 2007-04-20T11:45:09+09:00
Subject: Re: IDEs, syntactic vs. semantic highlighting, etc.

Chad Perrin <perrin@apotheon.com> writes:

> 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.
>

Since you mentioned common lisp, I would highly recommend looking at CLOS
(Common Lisp Object System). I found it a very refreshing approach and
extremely convienient/fast to develop in. It is one of those things that made
me a little excited, but at the same time, I felt it would take me years before
I really appreciated the power it presented. I've found it a fun way to
prototype and experiment with ideas. 

Tim


-- 
tcross (at) rapttech dot com dot au