Re: OO in Mathematica
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg37478] Re: [mg37458] OO in Mathematica
- From: "Hermann Schmitt" <schmitther at netcologne.de>
- Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2002 01:42:50 -0500 (EST)
- References: <4EDE40BF-ECCD-11D6-B0A7-00039311C1CC@tuins.ac.jp>
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
My point is, that Mathematica is not based on functional programming. Mathematica is essentially a set of instructions, which can be structured into programs in several ways. One method of structuring instructions into programs is the OO-Method. This method connot be used in Mathematica - for the time being - because pre-requsites are missing. Of course, everyone is free to structure the programs in the way it considers best. Besides, the tasks an application has to solve may make one method more suitable than others. Hermann Schmitt. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrzej Kozlowski" <andrzej at tuins.ac.jp> To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net Subject: [mg37478] Re: [mg37458] OO in Mathematica > But you are yourself describing precisely this "contrast"! Moreover, > the "contrast" between function oriented programming and object > oriented programming was not invented on this list but is well known > and quite often discussed. See for example the discussion in Part II of > "Mastering Mathematica" by J.W. Grey, particularly the section entitled > "The Duality between Functions and Data", or various discussions in > books on CLOS (object oriented common Lisp). What you are saying is in > fact exactly the approach taken in CLOS. But it is also pretty sure > that not everybody using Mathematica needs the kind of data and > program structuring that object oriented programming provides, in fact > I am pretty sure the majority of Mathematica users do not (the > majority of users do not even need the existing "package" mechanism). > It does not mean of course you should not develop your OOP package; in > fact I am quite keen to try it when it becomes available. > > Andrzej Kozlowski > > > > On Thursday, October 31, 2002, at 06:40 PM, Hermann Schmitt wrote: > > > Hello, > > There is a tendency to see a contrast between OO and Mathematica. In my > > opinion this makes no sense: > > OO descibes a method for structuring programs and the data related to > > the > > programs. Mathemtica describes the instructions with which programs > > may be > > built. > > Hermann Schmitt > > > > > > > > > > >