Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns (2006)
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Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns (2006)
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Re: Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns (2006)
#2It's nice to see this classic appearing on HN. Certainly worth a reread. (Edited, thx tikhonj)
The first time I read this article was about one year after leaving University. I graduated as a near pure Java developer and worked in a pure java consultancy. I could have recited various GOF design patterns from memory. By pure luck I was hacking about in Erlang in my spare time.
In Erlang I was managing to piece together a pretty mind bending (for me) application for distributing depth-first search algorithms over a network. I was neck deep in learning about all sorts of hard problems and it was only afterwards that I noticed that I had barely missed the lack of Java-style object orientation. I was a changed man :) I am still a Java dev but I preach OO moderation.
Objects are great, but 90% of the time you probably wouldn't miss them if they weren't there. Now I program Go in my spare time :)
Re: Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns (2006)
#3Too long. An idea could be stated in a few sentences.)
Java:
This is an instance of an mammal of an animal kingdom which doesn't include dolphins and whales, which has a..., placed within the instance of a class Plain of polymorphic shape which has some private attributes...
ML-family:
This is a member of a set of only mammals of animal kingdom, excluding dolphins and whales, of small size, which has a..., located on the member of a set of geometric figures....
Lisp:
The cat sat on the mat.
Re: Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns (2006)
#4It's nice to see this classic appearing on HN. Certainly worth a reread. (Edited, thx tikhonj) The first time I read this article was about one year after leaving University. I graduated as a near pure Java developer and worked in a pure java consultancy. I could have recited various GOF design patterns from memory. By pure luck I was hacking about in Erlang in my spare time. In Erlang I was managing to piece togethe…
A "reread if you haven't read it before", eh? :P
That said, I certainly agree with you--it's a great article. It gives a very good perspective on the issue, and hopefully convinces people who have only ever worked with nouns to broaden their gaze.
I don't entirely agree with everything Yegge writes--like the most recent liberal/conservative stuff--but I do agree with this article wholeheartedly. But then again, I am very clearly the sort of person to verb nouns and then to lambda :).
Re: Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns (2006)
#5Too long. An idea could be stated in a few sentences.) Java: This is an instance of an mammal of an animal kingdom which doesn't include dolphins and whales, which has a..., placed within the instance of a class Plain of polymorphic shape which has some private attributes... ML-family: This is a member of a set of only mammals of animal kingdom, excluding dolphins and whales, of small size, which has a..., located on…
Well, with CLOS you really define your verb behaviour on tuples of nouns (methods) and the verbs (generic functions) are separate and you can, if you want, get as creative as you want as to how your methods get invoked by your generic functions.
[Mind you, it's been a while since I developed in CLOS, so apologies in advance if this is incorrect].
Re: Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns (2006)
#6It's nice to see this classic appearing on HN. Certainly worth a reread. (Edited, thx tikhonj) The first time I read this article was about one year after leaving University. I graduated as a near pure Java developer and worked in a pure java consultancy. I could have recited various GOF design patterns from memory. By pure luck I was hacking about in Erlang in my spare time. In Erlang I was managing to piece togethe…
A "reread if you haven't read it before", eh? :P That said, I certainly agree with you--it's a great article. It gives a very good perspective on the issue, and hopefully convinces people who have only ever worked with nouns to broaden their gaze. I don't entirely agree with everything Yegge writes--like the most recent liberal/conservative stuff--but I do agree with this article wholeheartedly. But then again, I am…
It is probably the most entertaining of all Yegge's articles. And I think it actually gives a really useful overview of the alternatives that are available.
Re: Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns (2006)
#7The problem with verbs is that they are black boxes. With objects you can subclass and override methods - do stuff like the Universal Design Pattern - basing something on prototypes that you tweak here and there. Functions you can only apply, objects have parts that have names.
Re: Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns (2006)
#8Too long. An idea could be stated in a few sentences.) Java: This is an instance of an mammal of an animal kingdom which doesn't include dolphins and whales, which has a..., placed within the instance of a class Plain of polymorphic shape which has some private attributes... ML-family: This is a member of a set of only mammals of animal kingdom, excluding dolphins and whales, of small size, which has a..., located on…
Well, with CLOS you really define your verb behaviour on tuples of nouns (methods) and the verbs (generic functions) are separate and you can, if you want, get as creative as you want as to how your methods get invoked by your generic functions. [Mind you, it's been a while since I developed in CLOS, so apologies in advance if this is incorrect].
CLOS is really required in about 5% of very specialized tasks, such as simulations.
Re: Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns (2006)
#9Too long. An idea could be stated in a few sentences.) Java: This is an instance of an mammal of an animal kingdom which doesn't include dolphins and whales, which has a..., placed within the instance of a class Plain of polymorphic shape which has some private attributes... ML-family: This is a member of a set of only mammals of animal kingdom, excluding dolphins and whales, of small size, which has a..., located on…
This metaphor can be the new "how programming language X shoots yourself in the foot." (http://www.toodarkpark.org/computers/humor/shoot-self-in-foo...)
I would love to see how C/C++/ObjC would also express a feline upon a fabric.
Re: Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns (2006)
#10The problem with verbs is that they are black boxes. With objects you can subclass and override methods - do stuff like the Universal Design Pattern - basing something on prototypes that you tweak here and there. Functions you can only apply, objects have parts that have names.
That's why functional aficionados love to work with higher-order functions!