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History of #inject:into: and #do:separatedBy:

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Louis LaBrunda

History of #inject:into: and #do:separatedBy:

Hi,

Does anyone know anything about the history of #inject:into: and/or
#do:separatedBy:? I would like to know when they first appeared in
Smalltalk. Were they present from the beginning?

I ask because I get into conversations with my two sons about the pros and
cons of programming languages. My oldest son, knows (some) and likes
Smalltalk but programs in C++ and Java for Google. My younger son is
learning Java. I help him with some of his homework (I don't know Java but
I can still help) and when doing so, try to point out how things might be
done in Smalltalk. Don't get me wrong, I want him to learn Java but would
also like to let him know that there are other languages out there.

I think #inject:into: and #do:separatedBy: are good examples of how things
can be added to Smalltalk after the syntax of the language has been defined
because Smalltalk has so little syntax (and because blocks of code are
objects). I think adding something like these to Java would probably
require modifying the Java compiler and maybe the VM.

Another example might be #injectWithIndex:into:. I don't know if a method
like that is all that valuable but if I needed it, I could add it without
much trouble.

Thanks in advance for anything anyone can tell me.

Lou
-----------------------------------------------------------
Louis LaBrunda
Keystone Software Corp.
SkypeMe callto://PhotonDemon
mailto:[hidden email] http://www.Keystone-Software.com

Eliot Miranda-2

Re: History of #inject:into: and #do:separatedBy:

Hi Louis,

inject:into: is present in Smalltalk-80 version 2 and so has been there since Smalltalk-80 was released to the world. I think do:separatedBy was introduced in VisualWorks some time in the 90's. It wasn't present in the late 80's images such as VW 2.5.

HTH
Eliot

On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 10:56 AM, Louis LaBrunda <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi,

Does anyone know anything about the history of #inject:into: and/or
#do:separatedBy:? I would like to know when they first appeared in
Smalltalk. Were they present from the beginning?

I ask because I get into conversations with my two sons about the pros and
cons of programming languages. My oldest son, knows (some) and likes
Smalltalk but programs in C++ and Java for Google. My younger son is
learning Java. I help him with some of his homework (I don't know Java but
I can still help) and when doing so, try to point out how things might be
done in Smalltalk. Don't get me wrong, I want him to learn Java but would
also like to let him know that there are other languages out there.

I think #inject:into: and #do:separatedBy: are good examples of how things
can be added to Smalltalk after the syntax of the language has been defined
because Smalltalk has so little syntax (and because blocks of code are
objects). I think adding something like these to Java would probably
require modifying the Java compiler and maybe the VM.

Another example might be #injectWithIndex:into:. I don't know if a method
like that is all that valuable but if I needed it, I could add it without
much trouble.

Thanks in advance for anything anyone can tell me.

Lou
-----------------------------------------------------------
Louis LaBrunda
Keystone Software Corp.
SkypeMe callto://PhotonDemon
mailto:[hidden email] http://www.Keystone-Software.com

Louis LaBrunda

History of #inject:into: and #do:separatedBy:

Hi Eliot,

> inject:into: is present in Smalltalk-80 version 2 and so has been there
>since Smalltalk-80 was released to the world. I think do:separatedBy was
>introduced in VisualWorks some time in the 90's. It wasn't present in the
>late 80's images such as VW 2.5.

Thanks for this bit of history, it does help. Not that this topic is all
that important but I do think it is valuable to understand how to judge
things by other than their popularity.

Lou
-----------------------------------------------------------
Louis LaBrunda
Keystone Software Corp.
SkypeMe callto://PhotonDemon
mailto:[hidden email] http://www.Keystone-Software.com