Python vs. Io

[Sean Ross]

"Daniel Ehrenberg" <LittleDanEhren at yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:711c7390.0401301726.3e38da27 at posting.google.com...
[snip example]
> Does that illustrate it well? I know the difference between := and =
> is annoying, but you'll get used to it, and it allows really cool
> things to be done with scopes and inheretance.

I think I get the idea. Let's see:

P = Object clone do(  # saw do() used in iolanguage mail archive
    allocated = 0
    init = method(
        id := allocated    # semi-colons required?
        allocated += 1
    )
    howMany = method(return allocated)
)

x := P clone
y := P clone
write("allocated? ", P howMany())
# output ...
# allocated? 2

Correct?

Thanks for making me aware of this language, it has some
interesting ideas. I'm not annoyed by the difference between :=
and =. I understand the issue(s) they're trying to solve: you don't
need to declare local variables, or use self, explicitly. I don't have
a problem with that. I imagine it could lead to subtle bugs (if you
update a slot when you meant to set a new one), but that is only
speculation on my part.

I'm not a fan of the parenthesis (which might be expected from
a Python user - love that significant whitespace ;). I'm also not a
big fan of 'clone', I'd rather see 'new', but I do understand why
'clone' is more apt. Of course, in this language, you could always
just say

Object new = Object getSlot("clone")
P = Object new
...

I can appreciate the flexibility of that.