Prototype-Based Programming: Concepts, Languages and Applications

Rating:
Summary: An interesting avenue in language research
Review: I've been meaning to write this review for a while, because this book is sorely under-recognized and underappreciated.

Prototype-based programming languages were a hot research topic in the 1990s. The idea that one could create software objects directly at runtime, without classes, by piecing together data and behavior was very interesting to many, but somehow lost in the mad rush towards C++ and Java. JavaScript is one of the few prototype-based languages that survives in widespread use, yet it is really just a poor step-cousin to direct manipulation-based prototype languages like Self.

This book is a collection of papers (some of which are hard to find via other channels) that provide a good overview of the field. Philosophy, implementation techniques, and esoterica, it is all here. I suspect that we may find one day, as Integrated Development Environments become more powerful, that the idea of prototype-based development should be revisited. If you are a programming language researcher, designer or enthusiast, this book is a very good place to begin learning about prototype-based development.