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HOW DID WE GET HERE? WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Why is the chapter on history at the end of the text? Shouldn’t it be first? Not necessarily. The purpose of this chapter is to consider “the past as prologue” and “possible histories from this point on.”
It would be tempting to think that the current state of the art in programming languages is the pinnacle of development. It would be tempting to believe that the object paradigm is the last improvement in programming language design. Technology has a way of making a mockery of such thoughts. The purpose of this chapter is to consider “What’s past is prologue” (William Shakespeare, The Tempest).
This chapter models how historical studies are conducted. You might call this the “follow the string” ...
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