Obliq
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Paradigm: | multi-paradigm: parallel, Prototype-based |
|---|---|
| Typing discipline: | strong, dynamic |
| Major implementations: | Obliq |
| Influenced by: | Modula-3, Self, Oberon |
Obliq is an interpreted, object-oriented programming language designed to make distributed, and locally multi-threaded, computation simple and easy for the programmer, while providing program safety and untyped variables. The interpreter is written in Modula-3, and provides Obliq with full access to Modula-3's network objects capabilities.
Obliq's syntax is very similar to Modula-3, the biggest difference being that Obliq has untyped variables (ie, any variable can hold any data type). The basic data types in the language include booleans, integers, reals, characters, strings, and arrays. Obliq supports the usual set of sequential control structures (conditional, iteration, and exception handling forms), as well as special control forms for concurrency (mutexes and guarded statements).
Obliq's large standard library provides strong support for mathematical operations, I/O, persistence, thread control, graphics, and animation. Distributed computation is object-based: objects hold a state, which is local to a particular process. Scope of objects and other variables is purely lexical. Objects can call methods of other objects, even if those objects are on another machine on the network. Obliq objects are simply collections of named fields (similar to slots in Self and Smalltalk), and support inheritance by delegation (like Self).
The common uses of Obliq involve programming over networks, 3D animation, and distributed computation. Obliq is included free with the DEC Modula-3 distribution, but other free versions exist elsewhere including pre-compiled binaries for several operating systems.
