Notes on Project Oberon

8 hours ago

Abstractions are key to modularization, which is essential for reliability and correctness in software.
Abstractions hide implementation details, which can prevent understanding the whole system's behavior.
To guarantee system-wide reliability, one must look beyond abstractions to actual component behaviors.
Performance properties cannot be studied through abstractions alone; implementation details are necessary.
Modularization can exist without hiding details, aiding human understanding without abstracting.
System evolution often requires changing or bypassing abstractions to accommodate new features.
Extending abstractions can lead to 'sparse' interfaces, weakening their purpose.
Creating new abstractions for new features is preferable to modifying existing ones.
Oberon's approach allows multiple abstractions to coexist, enabling system evolution without breaking changes.
Naming conventions in code (e.g., plural module names) reflect attempts to add meaning through plaintext.

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