[Cuis-dev] Why can't you send to super on private (pvt*) methods?

[Juan Vuletich]

The last bunch of updates done today enable sending `super pvtMessage`. 
I also added a new, related way for initializers. Now, an instance 
creation method can do 'self new pvtInitializeStuff' or 'self basicNew 
pvtInitializeStuff', but no one else can call #pvtInitializeStuff. As a 
first example, I finally was able to make Point almost immutable. Please 
check it.

Cheers,

-- 
Juan Vuletich
www.cuis-smalltalk.org
https://github.com/Cuis-Smalltalk/Cuis-Smalltalk-Dev
https://github.com/jvuletich
https://www.linkedin.com/in/juan-vuletich-75611b3
@JuanVuletich


On 6/11/2019 2:43 PM, Phil B wrote:
> Ah, then count me as a firm 'yes' vote!  I've been in favor of that 
> forever as I agree making things explicitly pvt* removes any possible 
> misinterpretation.  The only problem is that many (most?) the senders 
> of those set* methods tend to come from class-side so pvt* visibility 
> would have to extend there as well for this to work. (What I tend to 
> do currently for those cases in my code currently is use a private* 
> prefix.)
>
> On Tue, Jun 11, 2019 at 1:28 PM Juan Vuletich <juan at jvuletich.org 
> <mailto:juan at jvuletich.org>> wrote:
>
>     On 6/10/2019 8:15 PM, Phil B wrote:
>>
>>         Why do you think the #privateSetX:setY: looks silly?  I think
>>         it's a decent placeholder that I read as saying 'we really
>>         want this to be immutable and are indicating this as private
>>         to reflect that fact until we can actually make it immutable
>>         via the VM'
>>
>
>     Because the comment begs you not to call it. If we just add the
>     pvt prefix, then it is way more robust. You need to add a new
>     method to set the ivars, and clearly you are on your own then.
>
>>
>>     Private categories are good for getting methods out of the way in
>>     the main browser but I'm not wild about them beyond that.  The
>>     main issue I have with private categories is that they are so
>>     easy to overlook in the browsers.  For example, if you're in the
>>     message finder and you do a search on 'set', the fact that it
>>     shows up as private* makes it very clear that it's not a method
>>     you should be using generally.  If the private prefix were
>>     removed, you'd have to be sure to select an implementor in the
>>     right pane (and hope that they are consistently categorized) and
>>     then be sure to look for the category buried in the method
>>     annotation below (which might be 'private' or 'private -
>>     someSubCategory' etc)... ugh!  Or if you see a raw selector (i.e.
>>     #setX:setY:) in code now you have to do the above as opposed to
>>     just looking at the selector name.
>>
>>     That said, if it really bugs you or others, I will live without
>>     the prefix.  But I do find it helpful.
>>
>>     Thanks,
>>     Phil
>
>     I'm suggesting the opposite! To start adding the pvt prefix to
>     methods we intend to be private (i.e. those already in a
>     'private*' category).
>
>     Cheers,
>
>     -- 
>     Juan Vuletich
>     www.cuis-smalltalk.org  <http://www.cuis-smalltalk.org>
>     https://github.com/Cuis-Smalltalk/Cuis-Smalltalk-Dev
>     https://github.com/jvuletich
>     https://www.linkedin.com/in/juan-vuletich-75611b3
>     @JuanVuletich
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.cuis.st/mailman/archives/cuis-dev/attachments/20190612/fa6019fe/attachment.htm>