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From: bobo@avogadro.arc.nasa.gov (Mark Friedman)
Subject: Re: C++ not OOP
In-Reply-To: timd@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM's message of 25 May 1995 09:50:27 -0500
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Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 23:15:59 GMT
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In article <3q25fj$b8c@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM> timd@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM
(qwerty) writes:

*  >Dynamic languages also let you redefine a function in an executing
*  >program so that you don't have to start afresh in order to test its
*  >effects.
*  
*  I'm sure this is beneficial, but I've never felt the need to do
*  this.  Can someone point out a good example of when this would
*  be desirable?

Consider a long running complex program such as an operating system or
a transaction processing system or a telephone switching
system. Consider that a error occurs and you would like to redefine
the buggy function. It might be virtually impossible recreate the
state leading up to error, so you would like to redefine the function
on the executing program to test it. 

Even if you could test the redefined function independently of the
executing program you might have to redefine it in the original
executable because you can't (for practical or economical reasone)
stop and restart the original executable.

-Mark
-- 
--
Mark Friedman
NASA-Ames Research Center
MS 269-2
Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000

vmail: (415) 604-0573
email: bobo@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov
