Is classless worth consideration

[David MacQuigg]

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 18:40:07 -0700, Erik Max Francis <max at alcyone.com>
wrote:

>David MacQuigg wrote:
>
>> The problem we Python programmers are having is understanding the
>> fundamental advantage of eliminating classes and working only with
>> instances.  The theoretical discussions put me to sleep.  I can't see
>> the point of the examples above.  What we need is a simple use case.
>
>I certainly don't see the point in having a prototype-based system if
>the declaration for defining a prototype (`proto' in your examples)
>looks very much like the way you build a class.  All that seems to
>accomplish is a semantic change of "class" to "proto," which doesn't
>gain anything.
>
>Compare that to, say, Io -- a prototype-based system -- where there is
>no syntax at all for defining a "class" or "prototype."  You simply
>clone and attach messages as you go.

I'm not familiar with Io.  The syntax I am proposing will allow
cloning instances and attaching attributes as you go.  What do
"messages" provide that are lacking in normal attributes?

-- Dave