On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 10:02 AM askoh <as...@askoh.com> wrote: > This is a quote from Bob Martin of "Clean Code" fame. Enjoy, Aik-Siong Koh > > http://blog.cleancoder.com/uncle-bob/2016/05/01/TypeWars.html > > > > -- > View this message in context: > http://forum.world.st/Smalltalkers-will-eventually-win-So-says-this-old-C-programmer-tp4945895.html > Sent from the Pharo Smalltalk Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > > There is no war, nowadays you can mix languages together with ease, pick the one you prefer and do not make it a big deal.Personally I am indifferent when it comes to types, do not care if I declare them or not.
Furthermore the choice of a language is 99% its libraries why bother with the 1%. If the library you want is on Smalltalk you will pick Smalltalk sadly C++ wins here with its vastness of libraries that have allowed such an ugly language to exist for so long. I do not see why its necessary for the type to be embedded in the language why not be meta data using a popular format like JSON and that will give you the freedom to limit the types or not depending on the situation. I love the smalltalk attitude of shifting the focus from the language to the libraries and IDE. A gigantic syntax like C++ is a gigantic problem. But to be fair C++ has come a long way, smart pointers have lifted the pain of manual memory management, templates have helped with implementing dynamic types. There is also a lot of talk of replacing the header system with a module system like python. So C++ is definitely evolving. The game engine I am using Unreal C++ has even further boosted the language not only by using templates to offer dynamism but also offers manual GC and a limited reflection system. However the source of the popularity of C++ has been Microsoft and Microsoft has been pushing a lot lately of its own language C# more aggressively lately by open sourcing .NET and investing on cross platform development. C++ will of course keep being the choice of top performance apps and libraries. When a new feature in C++ performance comes first because that where the language focus on. We have a different goal. So no I do not think Smalltalk will ever win on this one when it comes to performance C++ has demonstrated that its syntax though very problematic and quite annoying , it still is the No 1 choice.
