Teaching Smalltalk

> Cool. I've just understood the 100 doors problem looking at your code. I was
> too lazy to try to understand the original one on
> http://programming.dojo.net.nz/languages/smalltalk/index :)
>
> Laurent Laffont
>
>
> On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 5:55 PM, John McKeon <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>> Looking at rosettacode <http://rosettacode.org/wiki/100_doors> most
>> languages look nearly identical (or, at the very least, ugly/crappy) when
>> written out procedurely so that one might end up deciding to just stick
>> with
>> C.
>>
>> I know I am going off the deep end a bit, but the whole answer to "why
>> Smalltalk?" lies in the fact that problems should/would be approached in a
>> completely different manner. As I am sure they would in most of the other
>> languages if one were not restricted to 20 or so lines of code.
>>
>> Since it is example code, at least in the case of Smalltalk, an object
>> oriented solution would be in order - i.e. show how it would be solved
>> using
>> "everything is an object". Unfortunately, it doesn't really fit into "a
>> few
>> lines of code" to display on a page (even though the classes/objects and
>> code required to implement them is little more than a few lines). And you
>> also don't get any feel for the great tools. Perhaps, some insight into
>> how
>> one would run the code in Java/Eclipse, or Visual C <chuckle> with all the
>> includes and project setup, etc might be a useful addition to the
>> comparisons...
>>
>> Object subclass: #Corridor
>>     instanceVariableNames: 'doors count'
>>     classVariableNames: ''
>>     poolDictionaries: ''
>>     category: '100Doors'
>>
>> initialize: anInteger
>>     "initialize the receiver with the given number of doors"
>>     count := anInteger.
>>     doors := OrderedCollection new.
>>     anInteger timesRepeat: [ doors add: Door new ]
>>
>> pass
>>     "iterate over the doors"
>>     1 to: count do: [ :i | self passBy: i ]
>>
>> passBy: anInteger
>>     "if the nth door is open close it otherwise open it"
>>     doors by: anInteger do: [ :door | door toggle ]
>>
>> printOn: aStream
>>     "print  the open doors"
>>     aStream cr.
>>     doors withIndexDo: [ :door :i | door isOpen ifTrue: [ aStream
>> nextPutAll: i asString, ' is open'; cr ]]
>>
>> Corridor class
>>
>> pass: anInteger
>>     "return a new Corridor with the given number of doors that has been
>> passed thru"
>>     ^self new
>>         initialize: anInteger;
>>         pass
>>
>>
>> ==================================================================
>>
>> Object subclass: #Door
>>     instanceVariableNames: 'isOpen'
>>     classVariableNames: ''
>>     poolDictionaries: ''
>>     category: '100Doors'
>>
>> isOpen
>>     "Answer the value of isOpen"
>>     ^ isOpen
>>
>> toggle
>>     "if the receiver is open close it else open it"
>>     isOpen := isOpen not
>>
>> initialize
>>     "initialize the receiver to be closed"
>>     super initialize.
>>     isOpen := false
>>
>> ===========================================================
>> Patch to iterate over a collection by each nth item
>>
>> OrderedCollection>>by: anInteger do: aBlock
>>     | index |
>>     index := anInteger.
>>     [index <= lastIndex]
>>         whileTrue:
>>             [aBlock value: (array at: index).
>>             index := index + anInteger]
>>
>>
>> Probably silly for the problem given but just my 2 cents
>> John
>>
>>
>> --
>> http://john-mckeon.us/seaside
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Beginners mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/beginners
>>
>>
>

> Yes, the documentation value of the OO solution is much higher
> (assuming that you are aware of the concepts and know Smalltalk in
> this case). It is actually a simple simulation.
>
> --Hannes
>
> On 5/4/10, laurent laffont <[hidden email]> wrote:
>> Cool. I've just understood the 100 doors problem looking at your code. I was
>> too lazy to try to understand the original one on
>> http://programming.dojo.net.nz/languages/smalltalk/index :)
>>
>> Laurent Laffont
>>
>>
>> On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 5:55 PM, John McKeon <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>>> Looking at rosettacode <http://rosettacode.org/wiki/100_doors> most
>>> languages look nearly identical (or, at the very least, ugly/crappy) when
>>> written out procedurely so that one might end up deciding to just stick
>>> with
>>> C.
>>>
>>> I know I am going off the deep end a bit, but the whole answer to "why
>>> Smalltalk?" lies in the fact that problems should/would be approached in a
>>> completely different manner. As I am sure they would in most of the other
>>> languages if one were not restricted to 20 or so lines of code.
>>>
>>> Since it is example code, at least in the case of Smalltalk, an object
>>> oriented solution would be in order - i.e. show how it would be solved
>>> using
>>> "everything is an object". Unfortunately, it doesn't really fit into "a
>>> few
>>> lines of code" to display on a page (even though the classes/objects and
>>> code required to implement them is little more than a few lines). And you
>>> also don't get any feel for the great tools. Perhaps, some insight into
>>> how
>>> one would run the code in Java/Eclipse, or Visual C <chuckle> with all the
>>> includes and project setup, etc might be a useful addition to the
>>> comparisons...
>>>
>>> Object subclass: #Corridor
>>>    instanceVariableNames: 'doors count'
>>>    classVariableNames: ''
>>>    poolDictionaries: ''
>>>    category: '100Doors'
>>>
>>> initialize: anInteger
>>>    "initialize the receiver with the given number of doors"
>>>    count := anInteger.
>>>    doors := OrderedCollection new.
>>>    anInteger timesRepeat: [ doors add: Door new ]
>>>
>>> pass
>>>    "iterate over the doors"
>>>    1 to: count do: [ :i | self passBy: i ]
>>>
>>> passBy: anInteger
>>>    "if the nth door is open close it otherwise open it"
>>>    doors by: anInteger do: [ :door | door toggle ]
>>>
>>> printOn: aStream
>>>    "print  the open doors"
>>>    aStream cr.
>>>    doors withIndexDo: [ :door :i | door isOpen ifTrue: [ aStream
>>> nextPutAll: i asString, ' is open'; cr ]]
>>>
>>> Corridor class
>>>
>>> pass: anInteger
>>>    "return a new Corridor with the given number of doors that has been
>>> passed thru"
>>>    ^self new
>>>        initialize: anInteger;
>>>        pass
>>>
>>>
>>> ==================================================================
>>>
>>> Object subclass: #Door
>>>    instanceVariableNames: 'isOpen'
>>>    classVariableNames: ''
>>>    poolDictionaries: ''
>>>    category: '100Doors'
>>>
>>> isOpen
>>>    "Answer the value of isOpen"
>>>    ^ isOpen
>>>
>>> toggle
>>>    "if the receiver is open close it else open it"
>>>    isOpen := isOpen not
>>>
>>> initialize
>>>    "initialize the receiver to be closed"
>>>    super initialize.
>>>    isOpen := false
>>>
>>> ===========================================================
>>> Patch to iterate over a collection by each nth item
>>>
>>> OrderedCollection>>by: anInteger do: aBlock
>>>    | index |
>>>    index := anInteger.
>>>    [index <= lastIndex]
>>>        whileTrue:
>>>            [aBlock value: (array at: index).
>>>            index := index + anInteger]
>>>
>>>
>>> Probably silly for the problem given but just my 2 cents
>>> John
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> http://john-mckeon.us/seaside
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Beginners mailing list
>>> [hidden email]
>>> http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/beginners
>>>
>>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Beginners mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/beginners