Arc Forum | I'm sure this doesn't surprise you, but here's a quick version of 'defclass that...

Arc Forum

2 points by rocketnia 5182 days ago | link | parent

I'm sure this doesn't surprise you, but here's a quick version of 'defclass that uses a syntax similar to your first example and an implementation similar to your second example:

  (mac defclass (name constructed-fields derived-fields . defs)
    (let mt (sym:string name '-mt)
      `(do (= ,mt (obj ,@(mappend
                           [do (case car._
                                 def  (let (name parms . body) cdr._
                                        `(,name (fn ,(cons 'self
                                                       (cons 'o parms))
                                                  ,@body)))
                                  (err:+ "An invalid 'defclass "
                                         "declaration was "
                                         "encountered."))]
                           defs)))
           (def ,name ,constructed-fields
             (let o (withs ,derived-fields
                      (obj ,@(mappend [list _ _]
                               (join constructed-fields
                                     (map car pair.derived-fields)))))
               (afn (method-name)
                 (fn args
                   (apply (,mt method-name)
                          (cons self (cons o args))))))))))
  
  (defclass Bank-Account (password)
    (money 0)
    (def check-pass (pw)
      (unless (is pw o!password)
        (err "Wrong password!")))
    (def deposit (x pw)
      self!check-pass.pw
      (++ money x))
    (def withdraw (x pw)
      self!check-pass.pw
      (when (< o!money x)
        (err "Not enough money."))
      (-- o!money x))
    (def check (pw)
      self!check-pass.pw
      o!money)
    (def change-pw (new-pw pw)
      self!check-pass.pw
      (= o!password new-pw)))

1 point by bogomipz 5181 days ago | link

Nice, and you even changed it so x!deposit returns a function again! This does of course add some overhead since a closure is constructed every time you call a method, but still.

One thing I'm not quite happy with is that one has to write o!money. Would it somehow be possible to hide the o? Would it be possible to use !money or .money, or does the parser not allow that? And how to pass the hash table from the afn to the methods without polluting their namespaces? It could be done using a gensym, but then it is not possible to add methods to the method table outside defclass.

Perhaps doing something like this:

  (= bank-account-mt
    (obj check-pass (fn (self pw)
                      (unless (is self!ivars!pw pw)
                        (err "Wrong password!")))
         deposit (fn (self x pw)
                   self!check-pass.pw
                   (++ self!ivars!money x))
         withdraw (fn (self x pw)
                    self!check-pass.pw
                    (if (< self!ivars!money x)
                        (err "Not enough money.")
                        (-- self!ivars!money x)))
         check (fn (self pw)
                 self!check-pass.pw
                 self!ivars!money)
         change-pw (fn (self new-pw pw)
                     self!check-pass.pw
                     (= self!ivars!pw new-pw))))

  (def bank-account (password)
    (let ivars (obj money 0 pw password)
      (afn (selector)
        (if (is selector 'ivars)
            ivars
            (fn args
              (apply (bank-account-mt selector)
                     (cons self args)))))))

Then make defclass turn .foo into self!ivars!foo. Another macro could exist for (re)defining methods after the fact:

  (defmethod bank-account steal-money (x)
    (-- .money x))

Or even redefine Arc's def so you could do:

  (def bank-account!steal-money (x)
    (-- .money x))

since (bank-account 'steal-money) is not an atom and 'def could thus recognize it as different from an ordinary function definition.

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