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- Path: lou-pecora.nrl.navy.mil!user
- From: pecora@zoltar.nrl.navy.mil (Louis M. Pecora)
- Newsgroups: comp.lang.java,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.smalltalk
- Subject: Re: Will Java kill C++? (definition of strong typing)
- Date: 17 Apr 1996 13:34:00 GMT
- Organization: Naval Research Laboratory
- Message-ID: <pecora-1704960936190001@lou-pecora.nrl.navy.mil>
- References: <31682FFE.2781E494@bbn.com> <dbell-1 <3171810F.2E2@funsys.se> <4l0f6o$sec@nkosi.well.com> <Dpyro4.8o9@news.hawaii.edu>
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- In article <Dpyro4.8o9@news.hawaii.edu>, phinely@Hawaii.Edu (Peter Hinely)
- wrote:
-
- [cut]
- > Some languages have typing systems that don't fit in the conventional molds.
- >
- > For example in Dylan:
- >
- > define variable *my-variable* = 0;
- >
- > binds *my-variable* to the integer object 0.
- >
- > The binding of *my-variable* can be later be changed to refer to an
- > object of any class (i.e. floating point numbers, strings, collections, even
- > classes and functions).
- >
- > You can however specify type information for variables that you declare,
- > which limits their type:
- >
- > define variable *my-variable* :: <integer> = 0;
- >
- > In this case, the binding of *my-variable* can be only be changed to refer
- > to another integer.
- >
- >
- > This type system allows Dylan programs to be prototyped rapidly without
- > type information. Type information can later be added in, which the
- > compiler can use to optimize the program better, giving you the best of
- > both worlds: rapid development and good performance in your final program.
-
- All very nice. And truly Dylan sounded great when I read a short article
- about it in Byte. But isn't it dead? What will happen to all those
- Apple/IBM generated languages (Dylan, Denali, others?) as Java heats up?
- Only OpenDoc sounds viable (and very interesting).
-
- --
- Louis M. Pecora
- pecora@zoltar.nrl.navy.mil
-
- /* My views and opinions are not those of the U.S. Navy.
- If you want those, you have to start a war. */
-