Inside Merlin's Cave - Programming in Self

Though we will use several tools, here, tinySelf is the main one. It is not yet ready for the use you will make of it and there is much else that needs cleaning up in here. Please ignore the mess for now.

I will not suppose, as many wizards often do, that you already know other forms of magic and must merely be presented with the differences. If this is not your first contact with the art of programming, remembering the basics will not hurt.

The First Steps

We start with a simple introduction to objects and messages. The student first learns to do neat things with existing objects, then moves on to cloning and editing to create new kinds of objects. Error messages and simple debugging are presented at this point.

The Adventure Begins!

When we are ready to move on, you will be awarded two very special tomes: Magic Spells (Patterns) and Magic Potions (Bundled Objects). These will be your constant companions in the adventures that lie ahead. You may want to at least take a good look at them before you actually need them, but they are best used as references for each occasion.

From here on there are four areas that you can explore in any order you prefer. They are very much linked to each other, so you will only fully appreciate them after visting all four.

To the east we have the dark Object Decomposition mountains. Though the problems there seem to be unsolvable, the time tested strategy of "divide and conquer" will bring in results every time.

Just to the north we find Algorithm valley. So full of twists and turns is it, that many never find their way through it. The secret, of course, is to take just one step at a time while keeping the whole lay of the land in mind at the same time.

Beneath us and to the west are the huge Generalization caverns. There is great danger, here, of going too deep without ever noting when it is time to stop. With proper care, however, it is the most beautiful part of the journey.

The Factoring forest lies just to the south. It is not easy to find your way in it, at first. Only as you learn to group similar trees together will it make any sense.


see also:
| new3 | | intro | | faq | | history | | runtime | | tutorial | | tiny | | plan |
back to:
| merlin |
| LSI | | USP |
please send comments to jecel@lsi.usp.br (Jecel Mattos de Assumpcao Jr), who changed this page on Dec 9, 13:36 .