TOM (programming language): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:25, 8 July 2002

Revision as of 10:40, 29 August 2002

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'''TOM''' is an [[object oriented]] [[programming language]] that can be considered as the ultimate incarnation of [[Objective C]]. The main purpose of TOM is to allow for "unplanned reuse" of code, via a well-developed extension mechanism. This a concept introduced seemingly by accident in Objective C, oneand later proved to be of wide use, thatand was applied with a vengance in TOM.

The primary changes in TOM are the addition of multi-inheritance, ''tuples'' as a first-class part of the language, cleaner syntax free of the [[C programming language|C]] requirements for header files and pre-compiler commands, and the ability to use ''categories'' (the re-use mechanism) to include anything.

It is this later ability that represents "the whole idea". Unlike Objective C's categories that includedallowed only new methods to be built onto existing classes, TOM allows you to add class and instance variables, new methods, even new superclasses. This results in the redefinition of "class" as "a class is defined by its main definition and any extensions", these extensions have become a first-class citizen of the language.

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