Collection interfaces

[topmind]

>
> [snip snip]
> > What makes people confortable with code seems to vary
> > greatly per individual.
>
> True.
>
> > .......
> >> I mention C, Pascal, and Assembly because they are my usual tool set,
or
> >> were until I discovered Smalltalk.
> >
> > I used similar stuff at first, but was glad to leave them in the dust
when I
> > discovered the concepts of Table Oriented Programming.
> >
> > I never wanted to see another fricken array again (accept as
> > hashes/dictionaries to pass single records or parameter
> > lists or attributes. That is their best use, and not data collection
> > holding.)
>
> While I'm not familiar with table oriented programming, a long time ago I
> did read a book on decision tables in software engineering.
>

I actually saw such a book in a used book store. I should have purchased
it for the "Table Oriented Programming Museum" that will be built in
2080 :-)

Accept, it was mostly about boolean tables. I extend them to
include lots of other things.

> I wonder if your advocacy of TOP is because it's the paradigm that works
> best with how your mind works?

Probably. I think it deserves a run in the limelight like any other
paradigm. I get "fan mail" from other toppers; so I know I am
not alone.

Hopefully the next big fad will be Mindfit Oriented Programming where
an attempt is made to classify, or at least analyze how an individual
thinks and programs.

Some say that if you try language/paradigm X long enough, that you
will like it. I am a bit skeptical of this. If there is not an early
hint of affection, then more of the same will probably not cut it.
(Of course, there are exceptions. But, I think many of the
"long term OO conversions" are mostly due to the fact that
software engineering is no longer taught for procedural
programming. Thus, if you crave SE thinking, then OO is
the only place to really get such info these days. Sad.)


> I know people who can do wonderful things in
> RPG that I could never do in the language, and indeed I found that working
> in it gave me headaches. These same people, bright and capable, couldn't
> work in my prefered environment of assembly language. Some assembly
language
> programmers I worked with could not transition to 4GLs like Cincom's
MANTIS.
>
> We all have different thinking styles, and I think language/environment
> preference relates directly to this. I'm a non-linear non-verbal intuitive
> thinker and I like Smalltalk. I know one verbal linear type who I couldn't
> imagine working in Smalltalk, but she's a very sharp gal.
>
> >
>  ....
> Scripting tools are wonderful, but why write one with an ugly looking C
type
> of code? Yuck! :)  [re perl]
>

I agree. C has been over-extended in its influence. There are already plenty
of C/Unix-shell type languages floating around. Time to try something new.
Even Python has hangovers such as token case sensativity. What the h*ll were
they thinking? Scripting and case sens. do NOT go hand in hand IMSO.

Thanks for the feedback,  -tmind-