fogbugz entry for fixing the menu builder
13979 <https://pharo.fogbugz.com/default.asp?13979>
PragmaMenuBuilder relies on modifying a collection while iterating over it.




2014-09-03 22:59 GMT+02:00 stepharo <[email protected]>:

>  Clement we should fix the code of the menu :)
>
> Stef
>
>
> On 3/9/14 15:25, Clément Bera wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
>  Sven you are right, the old compiler was consistent in the sense that it
> always iterated over all the elements, including the ones added with #add:
> and #addLast: while iterating over the collection.
> On the other hand, VW is consistent with the Opal implementation for
> #to:do: in the sense that they iterate only on the elements of the
> collection excluding the ones added while iterating.
>
>  #add:after: and co do not work well if you edit the collection while
> iterating over it for sure :).
>
>  It's too late for "don't modify a collection while iterating it" because
> the system does it, for example, to build the world menu. So I think the
> solution is in two steps:
> - removing code which edit the collection while iterating over it. As most
> frameworks work both on Pharo and VW and that the behavior is different I
> think there shouldn't be that much, so fixing the Pharo image may be enough.
> - be consistent in our collection protocol, basically by rewriting do: and
> reverseDo: like that:
>
>  FROM:
>  do: aBlock
>  "Override the superclass for performance reasons."
>  | index |
>  index := firstIndex.
>  [index <= lastIndex]
>  whileTrue:
>  [aBlock value: (array at: index).
>  index := index + 1]
>  TO:
>  do: aBlock
>  "Override the superclass for performance reasons."
>  firstIndex to: lastIndex do: [ :index |
>  aBlock value: (array at: index) ]
>
>
>
>
>
> 2014-09-03 14:05 GMT+02:00 Camille Teruel <[email protected]>:
>
>>
>> On 3 sept. 2014, at 11:42, Clément Bera <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> > Hello guys,
>> >
>> > I was looking into the OrderedCollection protocols recently to see how
>> well the sista optimizer perform with it methods, and I realized that this
>> is completely broken.
>> >
>> > For example:
>> >
>> > col := #(1 2 3 4 5) asOrderedCollection.
>> > col do: [ :elem | elem trace .
>> >       elem < 4 ifTrue: [ col add: col size + 1 ]].
>> >
>> > => '12345678'
>> >
>> > However:
>> >
>> > col := #(1 2 3 4 5) asOrderedCollection.
>> > col collect: [ :elem | elem trace .
>> >       elem < 4 ifTrue: [ col add: col size + 1 ]].
>> >
>> > => '12345'
>> >
>> > This means that #do: and #reverseDo: iterate over all the elements of
>> the collection,*including* the ones that you are adding while iterating
>> over the collection, whereas all the other OrderedCollection protocols,
>> such as #collect:, #select:, iterates over all the elements of the
>> collection, *excluding* the ones you are adding while iterating over the
>> collection.
>> >
>> > Marcus argued that one should not edit a collection while iterating
>> over it, however this point is not valid as the World menu relies on this
>> feature, using #do: to iterate over the elements of the OrderedCollection
>> including the one it is adding while iterating over the collection.
>> Changing the implementation makes the world menu display half of its items.
>> >
>> > I don't like this difference because it is inconsistent. For example,
>> refactoring a #do: into a #collect: can simply not work because they do not
>> iterate over the same elements if you are editing the collection while
>> iterating over it.
>> >
>> > In VW, the protocols are consistent and iterating over a collection
>> never iterates over the elements one is adding while iterating over it.
>> Therefore, I believe most frameworks should expect this behavior (at least
>> the ones cross smalltalk) which sounds the most correct.
>> >
>> > I think we should fix the world menu implementation and make the
>> protocols consistent. Alternatively, we can let VW be a much more
>> consistent Smalltalk environment than Pharo. What do you think ?
>>
>>
>>  The thing is to find alternative implementations that are efficient
>> enough (no copy). Maybe we can get some inspirations from VW for that (how
>> do they do BTW?).
>> You should also check with other kinds of collection because they may act
>> differently than OrderedCollection.
>> So in the end it depends on the amount of effort needed to make all
>> collections consistent with this new requirement and on the resulting
>> overhead.
>> If it's too much, I think that following the old advice "don't modify a
>> collection while iterating it" is enough. If one really needs to do such
>> kind of things he should consider an alternative design like using a zipper
>> for example.
>>
>> Camille
>>
>> >
>> > Clement
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>
>

Reply via email to