Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!lll-tis!ames!sri-spam!rutgers!gatech!mcnc!uvaarpa!umd5!cvl!elsie!nih-csl!keith
From: keith@nih-csl.UUCP (keith gorlen)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: OOPS gripes (was: Generic Object Oriented Libraries)
Message-ID: <303@nih-csl.UUCP>
Date: 29 Jan 88 16:48:01 GMT
Organization: NIH-CSL, Bethesda, MD
Lines: 44
Keywords: OOPS,C++,class libraries,exception handling,processes


>Nf-From: uiucdcsm.cs.uiuc.edu!grunwald    Jan 28 00:01:00 1988
>
>Can we gripe about OOPS in here? I'd like some general feedback from others
>who use OOPS.
>
>1) I think that the OOPS names should be more long-winded for internal
>   functions. I'm mainly thinking of 'release'.
>
>   I've got a set of routines for OOPS/Extentions for a Discrete Event
>   Simulation Evenvironment (OOPS/EDASE), and 'release' as a very different
>   meaning in simulation programs.
>
>   'releaseInternalObjects' might be better.

I just used Smalltalk-80 names for similar functions in OOPS.  The
whole dependent objects business doesn't work out that well in OOPS
anyway. Since there isn't garbage collection, it's difficult to know
when to delete dependent objects.  Maybe the whole mechanism should be
removed, or at least re-thought out.

>2) There's too much of a tie-in to the provided 'process' notion -- it should
>   be possible to not have the Exception stuff loaded. I'm using a thread
>   notation which is cheaper than the process notation, primarily because
>   it's designed for DAS, where I don't use any exceptions.
>

Not sure what you mean by this.  If you don't use the Process, Semaphore,
SharedQueue, Scheduler classes, I don't think anything to do with them
gets loaded -- at least that was the intent.

The Exception stuff is a failed experiment, in my opinion.  It's too
difficult to use and error-prone.  Exception handling really needs to
be added to C++ to do this right, so this is another thing that could
be removed from OOPS.

>dirk grunwald
>univ. of illinois


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