Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!microsoft!bobatk
From: bobatk@microsoft.UUCP (Bob ATKINSON)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: libraries, compilers, class info, exceptions
Message-ID: <57751@microsoft.UUCP>
Date: 26 Sep 90 15:15:50 GMT
References: <995@halley.UUCP> <CLINE.90Sep25002931@cheetah.ece.clarkson.edu>
Reply-To: bobatk@microsoft.UUCP (Bob ATKINSON)
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA
Lines: 17

Marshall Cline writes:

>In article <995@halley.UUCP> kelley@halley.UUCP (Michael Kelley) writes:
>>What are your views on an appropriate name for a run-time function to return 
>>class information?

>Runtime (weak) typing is wonderful if you want a toy language that will
>solve toy problems.  Strong typing is nearly essential for programming in
>the large.  

Static typing is *orthognal* to being able to query an object to learn about
some of the characteristics of its type, which is often done by returning
a class-related object. It is a perfectly reasonable thought to consider
adding a member fn to C++ objects, say, to return such a CRO.

	Bob Atkinson
	Microsoft