Newsgroups: comp.lang.cobol,comp.lang.smalltalk
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From: edwards@world.std.com (Jonathan Edwards)
Subject: Re: COBOL Programmers Transitioning to Smalltalk?
Message-ID: <D62rq0.FF0@world.std.com>
Organization: IntraNet, Inc.
References: <semrc-2103951656510001@winesap.rc.rit.edu> <3kudka$q44@icebox.mfltd.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 1995 01:20:23 GMT
Lines: 27
Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.lang.cobol:2274 comp.lang.smalltalk:22147

In article <3kudka$q44@icebox.mfltd.co.uk>,
Martyn Woerner  <mw@mfltd.co.uk> wrote:
>Object COBOL is COBOL 85 with OO syntax and language support added.
>This has been done along the lines of latest ANSI standard proposals with
>our own experience of OO in other languages to provide a meeting place for
>OO and COBOL. The Object Model in MF Object COBOL is similar to Smalltalk
>and provides a fully flexible OO environment with dynamic message 
>resolution,
>single inheritance, class objects etc.

Unfortunately, unlike C++ and Objective-C and ADA-95 and every other example
of the addition of objects to a conventional language, OO-COBOL has chosen not
to make the existing data structure syntax compatible with the new object
syntax. Thus the entire corpus of existing COBOL code has no simple path
into objects. 

Where now you say BALANCE IN ACCOUNT, you will have to say
INVOKE ACCOUNT "GET-BALANCE" RETURNING BALANCE.

Brilliant move. Game over.


-- 
Jonathan Edwards				edwards@intranet.com
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