Neo Class Talk

A New Smalltalk Kernel Allowing Both Explicit and Implicit Metaclass Programming

NeoClassTalk, a new class/metaclass kernel for Smalltalk that is based on explicit metaclasses.

In this system, end-users still deal with implicit metaclasses, but the full expressiveness of explicit metaclasses is provided to language designers. Dealing with explicit metaclass programming, NeoClassTalk proposes a new framework allowing dynamic composition of class properties such as MessageTracing, pre/post conditions, and Singleton instances.

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References:

An explicit metaclass kernel in Smalltalk, named NeoClassTalk [2] (a new version of Classtalk [1]). The complete implementation of this system is described in [3].

[1] JeanPierreBriot and PierreCointe. Programming with Explicit Metaclasses in Smalltalk-80.

In OOPSLA'89 Proceedings, pages 419-431. ACM Sigplan Notices, October 1989.


[2] FredRivard. A New Smalltalk Kernel Allowing Both Explicit and Implicit Metaclass Programming.

In OOPSLA'96 Wokshop : "Extending the Smalltalk Language", San Jose, California, October 1996.


[3] FredRivard. Evolution du comportement des objets dans les langages `a classes r'eflexifs. PhD thesis, Ecole des Mines de Nantes, France, June 1997.