Object-Oriented Programming in the Beta Programming Language

Object-Oriented Programming in the Beta Programming Language

By Ole Lehrmann Madsen, Birger Moller-Pedersen, Kristen Nygaard,

Publisher: Assn for Computing Machinery
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: 1993-07
Sales Rank: 3700088
ISBN / ASIN: 0201624303
EAN: 9780201624304
Binding: Paperback
Manufacturer: Assn for Computing Machinery
Studio: Assn for Computing Machinery
Average Rating: 4

Review:

Interesting language, opaque writing

BETA is an instructive example in the history of OO programming, but never really took off.

The language does contain a few worthwhile ideas. In languages like Java or C++, subclass methods can over-ride superclass methods, and optionally dispatch to the superclass. In BETA, the "inner" form of dispatch means that the superclass always controls the caller's interface, and optionally dispatches to the subclass. That's very attractive when the superclass doesn't necessarily trust subclass over-rides to maintain important invariants. BETA also goes a big step beyond the getX/setX methods that commonly export attributes. In BETA, the same syntax is used for assignment to variables as for methods calls. You can't tell the difference, by looking at the caller, whether you're looking at a reference to an attribute or to an accessor method. Although odd in other respects, that's one case where the assignment/call unification can solve some problems. Constructs for parallel programming a strength, but exception handling is a weakness and the <> interface definitions go beyond just weak. Scoping for programming in the large is mostly in the writers' imaginations.

The language uses peculiar syntax. The least of the problems is that the "left hand side" of an assignment is on the right, and that many syntactic markers rival C trigraphs for ugliness. The Danish authors generally use very good English, but often choose inexplicable terms (like "pattern") for familiar notions (like C++ "class"). As noted elsewhere, this is the only BETA book around, so there's really nothing to compare it to.

I'm not aware of any current use of BETA, so this book is of historical interest only. It's instructive as a bad example in choosing syntax for a programming language, but also as a good example for some of its creative semantics. I look forward to seeing some of those good ideas enter the main stream.

//wiredweird

Review:

theoretical but very interesting

The Beta language is a relatively new OO language with some very innovative aspects. One of the key inventers of Beta was Kristen Nygard, the same person who invented Simula, the first OO language. However I wonder if Beta will ever be used for commercial projects. Beta is a very powerfull language, well designed, but is definitely not the most easy programming language. Reality shows that for commercial projects, more simple programming languages are the most popular ones.
This being said, this book is a very good intro to Beta and it can also serve as a more advanced book on OO programming concepts. The book does not only explain how to program in Beta, but also why the Beta language is designed the way it is. Also a lot of comparisons are made with other programming languages. This makes it an excellent book for understanding why OO languages are designed the way they are ...

I can strongly advice this book to anyone intersted in programming languages....

For people interested in Beta, you can download a compiler with IDE for free from the internet site : http://www.mjolner.com

Review:

Only book on BETA

Since this is the only book on BETA, the rating is meaningless. But this is a competent book technically, but it is a dry book. The prose is awkward in many places, probably due to that fact that the authors are all Danes.

The BETA language is conceptually more advanced than C++ or even Eiffel; it's sad that no one seems to be using it.

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