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RE: Y Store /Closures



> >Avi commented:
> >The effect this all has on the maintainability of the code base is
> >unbelievable.  And there is simply no way to get the same results
> >without either having first class continuations in your language, or
> >doing an automated transformation on all of your code to 
> simulate them.
>
> Sundar replied:
> What you seem to be talking about is simply maintaining and traversing
> session state, no? Most frameworks I've used (struts, zope etc.) have
> facilities for unwinding transactions and action chaining. (In fact,
> in some of our applications using the back button in the manner you
> suggest -- for example, after you've confirmed a purchase, 
> would perhaps be frowned upon :) 

I'm going to have to throw my support behind Avi's comments.  I've just
spent the last year running the development of a (for us) large C#/.NET
web application that's now going into full release/maintenance mode.
My personal opinion of this experience is that the Java/C# OO paradigm
is not well-suited for web development, precisely because of the lack
of first-class continuation.

Perhaps our experiences differ, but I found problems in both quality and
functionality in the COTS "best-of-breed" flow control tools, and was not
able to use any of the Open Source varients due to upper management
requirements.  The end result of this was the implementation of a very
limited form of continuation built using the native features of the
C# language.  (Greenspun's 10th Law)
 
> In classical client-server GUI programming/literature -- the point you
> raise was called the "event-driven vs. modal input" debate. We all
> know who won that one now, don't we .. :)

This comment surpises me, as the behavior and design of web applications
are fundamentally different from client-server GUI programming.  You
are comparing apples and oranges.

Regards,

-Brent