Question

What languages are there with a message-passing syntax similar to Smalltalk’s? Objective-C is the only one I’m familiar with. Specifically, I was wondering if any other language implementations exist which allow for syntax in a form like: [anObject methodWithParam:aParam andParam:anotherParam], having messages that allow for named parameters as part of method definitions.

In general I find that this syntax can be conducive to more consistent method names that more clearly show the methods’ intent, and that the price you pay in wordiness is generally worth it. I would love to know if there are any other languages that support this.

Answer 1

Here is a list of languages supporting keyword messages syntax similar to Smalltalk:

• Objective-J, Objective-Modula-2. These are language extensions similar to Objective-C.
• Strongtalk, a Smalltalk dialect with optional strong-typing
• F-script, an embeddable Smalltalk dialect with APL-inspired array operations extensions.
• Self
• Newspeak
• Slate
• Atomo, an embeddable language for Haskell