RE: s-exprs + prototypes

["Christopher Barber" <address@hidden>]

> At the moment, imperative programmers use mutation without thinking about
> it, and they've mostly never learned any other way to program.  Most use of
> mutation is gratuitous, and simply arises from the design of imperative
> languages which actively encourage & require it.  I don't think eliminating
> these uses of mutation is in any way fundamentally difficult for humans, as
> long as languages provide constructs that support basic features like
> iteration and recursion in ways that are comfortable to use.

I disagree.  Not allowing objects to have mutable state would weaken the object
metaphor to the point where the average programmer would find it hard to grasp.
The way humans perceive the real world, objects can and do have mutable state.

- Christopher