In this paper we take a rather unusual, non-technical approach and investigate object-oriented programming and the prototype-based programming field from a purely philosophical viewpoint. Some historical facts and observations pertaining to objects and prototypes are presented, and conclusions based on those observations are derived.

Efficiently entering information into a computer is key to enjoying the benefits of computing. This paper describes three intelligent user interfaces: handwriting recognition, adaptive menus, and predictive fillin. In the context of adding a person's name and address to an electronic organizer, tests show handwriting recognition is slower than typing on an on-screen, soft keyboard, while adaptive menus and predictive fillin can be twice as fast. This paper also presents strategies for applying these three interfaces to other information collection domains. 1. Introduction When you meet someone new, you often wish to get their name and phone number. You may write this in a small notebook or personal organizer. This takes a few minutes to do, so you put their business card or a small slip of paper in your organizer, promising to copy it over at a later time. 1 When that later time comes, you face the tedious task of finding where the nowseveral names should go in your organizer and r...

With prototype-based languages, concretization and abstraction are unified into a single concept a prototype. Prototype-based languages are based on a simple set of principles: object-centered representation, dynamic reshape of objects, cloning and possibly message delegation. However, they all differ in the interpretation and combination of these principles. Therefore there is a need to compare and understand. In this paper we present Prototalk, a research and teaching vehicle to understand, implement and compare prototype-based languages. Prototalk is a framework that offers a predefined set of language data structures and mechanisms that can be composed and extended to generate various prototype-based language interpreters. It presents a classification of languages based on different mechanisms in an operational manner. 1

This paper reports on the experience of providing Tcl/Tk for the ParcTab, a personal digital assistant built at Xerox PARC. The primary reason for supporting an extension language like Tcl/Tk for a PDA is to supply the same platform-independent infrastructure for user interface design and communication between the PDA and remote applications. The result was that Tcl/Tk enabled rapid prototyping and customization of applications for the Tab, most of which were extensions and interfaces to existing non-Tab applications. In addition, by using a platformindependent extension language, interfaces designed in Tcl/Tk for the Tab are able to be reused on other platforms that provide a Tcl/Tk implementation. The paper starts with a discussion of the decisions made during the process of porting Tk to the ParcTab, which were focused on maintaining the natural look and feel of the Tk widgets while exploiting the small area of the display as much as possible; then includes a description of some app...

This paper presents, in contrasts to the desktop metaphor, a content centric data surface interaction paradigm for graphical user interfaces applied to music creativity improvisation. Issues taken into account were navigation and retrieval of information, collaboration, and creative open-ended tasks. In this system there are no windows, icons, menus, files or applications. Content is presented on an infinitely large two-dimensional surface navigated by incremental search, zoom, and pan. Commands are typed aided by contextual help, visual feedback, and text completion. Components provide services related to different content modalities. Synchronisation of data surface content sustains mutual awareness of actions and mutual modifiability. The prototype music tool was evaluated with 10 users; it supported services expected by users, their creativity in action, and awareness in collaboration. User responses to the prototype tool were: It feels free, it feels good for creativity, and it’s easy and fun to use. Categories and Subject Descriptors (according to ACM CCS): H.5.2 [Information interfaces and presentation]: User Interfaces