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Generic programming: APL and Smalltalk

Author:

Alan C. KayAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, Volume 12, Issue 1

Page 180

https://doi.org/10.1145/390007.805355

Published: 01 September 1981 Publication History

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Abstract

Early generic concepts in programming languages were mixed-type arithmetic (e.g., “+” used with any combination of fixed- and floating-point numbers) and “print” functions which could be applied to any of a language's objects. Generic concepts reduce the number of terms which must be remembered and permit considerable condensation of language design. Three different paths in the development of generic-concept languages have been followed by APL, Algol 68, and object-oriented languages such as SIMULA 67 and Smalltalk. APL was the earliest and one of the most interesting applications of generic-concept methods, but now makes the weakest use of these ideas.

My talk will use slides and movies to show how the message-object programming system Smalltalk makes use of generic concepts embedded in class descriptions to give rise to a wide variety of simply programmed dynamic simulations including graphic animation, music synthesis, document layout and retrieval, and APL-like calculation features. Many of these systems have been brought to life by child and adult novice programmers.

A short list of references is given for those wishing more introductory information about Smalltalk.

References

[1]

A. C. Kay. "Microelectronics and the Personal Computer". Scientific American, vol. 237 (September 1977), pp. 230-244.

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[2]

D. Ingalls. "The Smalltalk-76 Programming System, Design and Implementation." Proceedings, Fifth Annual Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages.

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[3]

A. C. Kay and A. Goldberg. Personal Dynamic Media Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. 1975. Also, excerpts in IEEE Computer, March 1977.

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Index Terms

Generic programming: APL and Smalltalk
1. Software and its engineering
  1. Software notations and tools
    1. General programming languages
      1. Language types
        Object oriented languages

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Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad Volume 12, Issue 1

September 1981

354 pages

ISSN:0163-6006

DOI:10.1145/390007

Issue’s Table of Contents

APL '81: Proceedings of the international conference on APL
October 1981
354 pages
ISBN:0897910354
DOI:10.1145/800142
Chairman:
Richard J. Orgass,
Editors:
William L. Anderson,
David G. Smith

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 September 1981

Published in SIGAPL Volume 12, Issue 1

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Abstract

References

Index Terms

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Smalltalk and generic concepts in programming languages