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The venerable master Qc Na was walking with his student, Anton. Hoping to prompt the master into a discussion, Anton said "Master, I have heard that objects ar
by lloeki 2y ago
The venerable master Qc Na was walking with his student, Anton. Hoping to prompt the master into a discussion, Anton said "Master, I have heard that objects are a very good thing - is this true?" Qc Na looked pityingly at his student and replied, "Foolish pupil - objects are merely a poor man's
closures."
Chastised, Anton took his leave from his master and returned to his cell, intent on studying closures. He carefully read the entire "Lambda: The Ultimate..." series of papers and its cousins, and implemented a small Scheme interpreter with a closure-based object system. He learned much, and looked forward to informing his master of his progress.
On his next walk with Qc Na, Anton attempted to impress his master by saying "Master, I have diligently studied the matter, and now understand
that objects are truly a poor man's closures." Qc Na responded by hitting Anton with his stick, saying "When will you learn? Closures are a poor man's object." At that moment, Anton became enlightened.
https://people.csail.mit.edu/gregs/ll1-discuss-archive-html/msg03277.html https://people.csail.mit.edu/gregs/ll1-discuss-archive-html/...
- gavmor 2y agoI've often wondered if "Qc Na" were a pun of some kind.
- dartos 2y agoIn the link they posted: > I'll take some koanic license and combine Norman Adams (alleged source of "objects are a poor man's closures") and Christian Queinnec ("closures are a poor man's objects") into a single great Zen language master named Qc Na.
- gavmor 2y agoAnd maybe an unconscious play on Viet phonemes like Thích Quảng Đức or the Chùa Quốc Ân of Huế.