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12: Classes and Metaclasses

  • Page ID
    36323
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    As we saw in Chapter 5, in Smalltalk, everything is an object, and every object is an instance of a class. Classes are no exception: classes are objects, and class objects are instances of other classes. This object model captures the essence of object-oriented programming: it is lean, simple, elegant and uniform. However, the implications of this uniformity may confuse newcomers. The goal of this chapter is to show that there is nothing complex, “magic” or special here: just simple rules applied uniformly. By following these rules you can always understand why the situation is the way that it is.


    This page titled 12: Classes and Metaclasses is shared under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Andrew P. Black, Stéphane Ducasse, Oscar Nierstrasz, Damien Pollet via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.