<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>We want to make things clear in our heads by casting them as binaries. Thus, we think about shallow and deep copy.</div><div>But, depending on the intended purpose, and the specifics of the problem at hand, the implementations of the object, etc., </div><div>there are many many many possible "copy" operations that one might want to express.</div><div><br></div><div>Even languages such as Beta, that offer linguistic support for a part-whole hierarchy fail to express situations in which what is to be </div><div>considered as a part depends on one's perspective. Is the side-view-mirror a part of the door or not? Or is it a part of the electrical system??</div><div><br></div><div>Does deep copy mean that I get a whole new world of objects? A whole second computer I could give to Randy Smith to play with??</div><div>If I deep copy a collection, should I get "copies" of immutable objects?? What about reflective operations?</div><div><br></div><div>Self offers great support for copying: just write whatever kinds of copies you need, whether they be one, two, or 17.</div><div>If you want a part-whole hierarchy, you can add (at the Self level) to annotations information about part-whole.</div><div>Or you can program it at the base level however you like.</div><div><br></div><div>Self was designed to support creativity. Don't blinker yourself by lamenting its lack of support for a few myopic features found in</div><div>today's grab-bag languages. Invent something new and better, and you will find it easy to do in Self.</div><div><br></div><div>- David</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><br><div><div>On Dec 26, 2010, at 3:20 PM, Jan-Paul Bultmann wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite">
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<div id="ygrp-text"><p>I think I deserved it :D hrhr</p><div>cheers<br><div><div><div>On Dec 27, 2010, at 12:18 AM, <a href="mailto:ungar@mac.com">ungar@mac.com</a> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate;font-family: Helvetica;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;text-indent: 0px;text-transform: none;white-space: normal;word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia;font-size: 13px;">Deep copy is a fallacy.</span></span></blockquote></div><br></div></div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>
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