Whither SmallScript? (was Re: Integer micro-benchmarks)

[Andrew Hunt]

On 27 Apr 2001 11:32:15 -0700, Johann Hibschman 
<johann at physics.berkeley.edu> wrote:

> 
> The real difference here is that the file object "f" is closed upon
> exit from File_new, even if block_function stashed a reference to "f"
> somewhere else.  

But only because the block-form of new is written to provide that as
a convenience.  You can use the same sort of transactional control to
put up bust cursors, or for database transactions, or whatever.  It's
not an intrinsic feature of files, just a handy thing.

> Parts of it are icky, but it's not as bad as it seems at first glance.
> The '$' only appears on global variables, while '@' is a shortcut for
> "self.", which I don't mind having.  "sqrt(@b**2 - 4*@a*@c)" is a bit
> more readable for me than "sqrt(self.b**2 - 4*self.a*self.c)".
> 
> Anyway, I like Ruby.  I don't like it enough to recode all of my
> existing python modules in Ruby, but I do like it enough to keep
> playing with it.

I don't like *any* language enough to go back and rewrite stuff :-)

/\ndy