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As a counterexample to shoving bits I can point to two things mentioned by Bret: Morphic and Smalltalk. It just so happens that Morphic (referenced in it's orig
by klibertp 14y ago
As a counterexample to shoving bits I can point to two things mentioned by Bret: Morphic and Smalltalk. It just so happens that Morphic (referenced in it's original, Self implementation) was ported to/implemented in Smalltalk (Squeak, Pharo). These are things that exist and work today, I had a pleasure to work with them and have to say they live up to expectations. It's worth trying them out.
Another curious example is Erlang, which lets you update the code responsible for some behavior (I mean of an object) live, without any hassle at all. Then there's ClojureScript, which lets you do the same in browser (I think, don't know it very well).
Foundations of what Bret says are not new, and they are not purely theoretic either. The programmer of 2012 could have been using them for years if he wanted to.
I think Bret is right when he writes that technical possibilities are not a problem - programmers mentality is. Both Lisp and Smalltalk programmers would welcome - I imagine - Bret ideas without a shred of hesitation, because they are working in a similar way since times immemorial. It's just that there are so few of them and Bret wants to influence programming at large - that's why it seems to be difficult or novel.