Re: Which language pays most? Smalltalk, not C++ nor Java.

[Joshua Waxman <jwaxman@ymail.yu.edu>]

On Mon, 29 Dec 1997, Guillermo Schwarz wrote:

> very poorlanguage. You can't know how many bits does an int have. Or if long
> is actually bigger
> than int.
You can't? How about sizeof(int) and if(sizeof(int) < sizeof(long))

> You can't ask an structure how many fields does it have. 

True. But structures in C++ tend to have a constant number of fields, no?

> You can't tell an
> structure to write itself into a file.

Yes you can. You just have to include in the definition of the struction a
function the does output. Most overload the << with the ostream operator.

> You can't code an algorithm that works
> with any
> kind of numbers: int, double, big int, etc.

Ever hear of template functions?

> In C++ there is no way to handle overflow of integers.

Check after each addition to see if you reversed signs, and act
accordingly.

> Ask in runtime how many classes do you have in your image.

I'm interested what this means. What is an image that contains classes?

> Or try to figure out which classes descend from which.

I think it is possible to do this. RTTI. Also, can't you do a dynamic_cast
and check if the pointer is null, if not then the class descends?

> Try to make a single general program.

What does this mean?

> Try to create a Set of objects in C++.

#include <set>
using namespace std;
set <int> h; set <set<char> > k;

> Try to create a Bag of objects in C++.

ditto, just replace with multiset.

> Try to create a SortedCollection of objects in C++.

extend it from one of the base containers.

> Convert one collection into another. (SortedCollection as Bag or whatever).

The generic copy algorithm.

> Put a Set inside another Set.

set <set <char > > k;
or do you mean copy the contents? There is a copy.

> Try to create a Dictionary of pairs of objects in C++ using hashing to index
> the keys.

Your speaking about the map type. Maps aren't actually implemented using
hashes, I don't think, but in Stroustrup's book he shows how to quickly do
this.

> Then put a Dictionary and a Set inside a Dictionary with the Dictionary as
> the key.

Can do.

> If you can do a single thing of what I wrote here you are a good C++
> programmer.

Or a programmer who knows the Standard Template Library.

> All this can be done in 10 minutes in Smalltalk (if lazy).
> 
By all, do you mean that in 10 minutes you would have completed EVERY
item, of that each item in turn could be completed in 10 minutes?
In C++, most of the stuff you listed could be done in less than a minute
each. The hash is a bit more complicated, and might take 1/2 an hour. For
a more experienced programmer, possibly shorter.

> I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, but for the last 3 months I've been
> Smalltalking more than
> keeping up with the C crap.

C++, you mean. And apperently you haven't. :)

 (C++ being the cream of the crap and Java being coffe you  drink with
cream).
> 
> I mean no offense to other languages. Fortran had its time. C had it. C++ had
> it. Java is having it.
> Smalltalk deserves a little respect as the king of OOL. (Maybe CLOS guys will
> not agree with
> me), but trying to say that C++ object model is better than Smalltalk object
> model is saying
> GW BASIC is more structured than Pascal. And claiming you know C++ and
> Smalltalk more
> than me is something to prove, sir!
> 
I don't know Smalltalk at all. C++ did I prove?

Josh Waxman