From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.2 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: fac41,b87849933931bc93 X-Google-Attributes: gidfac41,public X-Google-Thread: 109fba,b87849933931bc93 X-Google-Attributes: gid109fba,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,b87849933931bc93 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 1108a1,b87849933931bc93 X-Google-Attributes: gid1108a1,public X-Google-Thread: 114809,b87849933931bc93 X-Google-Attributes: gid114809,public From: Eric Clayberg Subject: Re: OO, C++, and something much better! Date: 1997/01/22 Message-ID: <32E68D40.65EC@parcplace.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 211558962 references: content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii organization: ParcPlace-Digitalk, Inc. mime-version: 1.0 reply-to: clayberg@parcplace.com newsgroups: comp.object,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.ada,comp.lang.smalltalk,comp.lang.eiffel x-mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (Win95; U) Date: 1997-01-22T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: Joachim Durchholz wrote: > In other words: I'd feel really embarrassed if the user ever saw a > "message not understood" error. What about if your program crashed because you tried to address a null pointer? Does this mean you shouldn't use C or C++? Almost all "message not understood" errors are simply messages sent to nil (the moral equivalent of a null pointer). This usually happens either when something isn't initialized yet or it has been prematurely released - certainly mot uncommon occurrences in the static typing world. Real type errors (e.g., those that a static typing system would actually catch) rarely ever occur in Smalltalk. The simplicity and consistency of the language drastically reduces the scenarios where a real type error would occur. On those rare occasions where a type error does occur, Smalltalk's excellent debugging facilities make them very easy to correct. But rather that guess about Smalltalk, why not give a try and see for yourself? You can download Smalltalk Express (a fully functional 16-bit Windows Smalltalk IDE) for free from http://www.objectshare.com. -Eric