Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wasatch!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!tektronix!tekcrl!tekgvs!jans
From: jans@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM (Jan Steinman)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: OOP for systems programming?
Message-ID: <5076@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM>
Date: 5 May 89 18:35:18 GMT
Organization: Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, Or.
Lines: 25

<<I am looking for honest educated opinions based upon practical experience 
regarding the applicability of Object-Oriented Programming in the areas of 
operating system and peripheral controller (subsystem) development...  Does OOP 
work below the application, particularly in real-time general-purpose operating 
systems and in event-driven peripheral controllers? >>

<Sure...  There are already several examples of OOP technology in system code: 
(examples deleted)>

On the Xerox Dorado, all those things were done in Smalltalk (with the 
exception of some really basic primitives, which were microcoded).

I routinely use Smalltalk for event-driven peripheral control in the 
sub-millisecond arena without resorting to primitives -- it keeps up with a 
9600 baud serial port in the background without noticeable slowing of the user 
interface.  Because it has a "just" scheduler, it is ideally suited for 
*modeling* real-time systems, although significant primitive support is needed 
to approach latency in the tens of nanoseconds.

It is particularly handy to rapidly whip a device driver up in Smalltalk, debug 
and refine the algorighms, then translate into C or C++.

:::::: Jan Steinman - N7JDB		   Electronic Systems Laboratory ::::::
:::::: jans@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM	      Box 500, MS 50-370 (w)503/627-5881 ::::::
:::::: jsteinma@caip.RUTGERS.EDU     Beaverton, OR 97077 (h)503/657-7703 ::::::