I think "inconvenience" is the correct term! I'm still confused about your hangup on a subroutine. Is this wrong: (?)
void swap(Object a, Object b) { Object temp = a; a = b; b = temp; // (only change SomeClass to Object) } Also, you may want to remember the System.lang.reflect tools when you need a handle ( = For example, with an object o: Class c = o.getClass(); //then later c = c.getComponentType(); //these examples are expounded upon on p.147-148 of //O'Reilly's Java In a Nutshell, 3d ed. Im sure you can find some interesting bits by searching the newsgroups and mailing list archives for java reflection code and discussion. There are many hacks in the API, and well-designed code should of course use the calls which provide the best-time implementation, in terms of complexity. Unfortunately, some things change with JDK from version to version, and Java's reliance on Sun is another issue for debate... I can report that the country fair site is coming along nicely -- there's a *lot* of activity out there, and the fair itself is just around the corner. I have some new pictures of treeclimbing to help setup the wireless network out there; and if anyone in the group has suggestions for techie projects (which might help link the rest of euglug's members with the event?) relating to the oregon country fair. have a great sunday, shanti, Ben Barrett On Fri, 20 Jun 2003 23:10:11 -0700 (PDT) Neil Parker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: | On Fri, 20 Jun 2003, Ben Barrett wrote: | >So, what is the problem we are really looking at? | >There are so many negative sentiments regarding Java, | >but I think it has its benefits, and is worth knowing | >what it is good for... right tool / right job, after all. | | The original problem, as stated to me a couple of years ago, is this: | | Given two Java objects, a and b, write a function that swaps them, | i.e. after executing | | swap(a, b); | | a should contain the former contents of b, and b should contain the | former contents of a. | | The point, I think, is to illustrate how pointers are more restricted | in Java than in C, and to provide fodder for those who like to | complain about the inconvenience of languages that try too hard to | protect you from yourself.[*] | | The task is, of course easy to do in Java: | | {SomeClass temp = a; a = b; b = temp;} | | What's hard is writing a Java SUBROUTINE to do it. It has to be a | subroutine...i.e. something that looks like this: | | void swap(Object a, Object b) { | // (put your code here) | } | | - Neil Parker | | [*] See | http://catb.org/esr/jargon/html/B/bondage-and-discipline-language.html | _______________________________________________ EuG-LUG mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.efn.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/eug-lug