Part 4. Advanced Topics

Multiple Inheritance, describes how multiple inheritance works in Dylan. It describes how method dispatch is affected by multiple inheritance. It gives an example of using the mix-in style of designing classes with multiple inheritance.

Performance and Flexibility, describes the fundamental tradeoff between performance and flexibility. You can take advantage of Dylan’s dynamic nature during the initial stages of development. Later on, when your application is nearing completion, you can optimize the performance of the program (and sacrifice flexibility, which presumably is no longer needed).

Exceptions, describes how to use Dylan facilities to help create reliable programs in the face of exceptions — unexpected events that occur during program execution.

Macros, describes how to define macros in Dylan. Macros can be used for abbreviation, abstraction, simplification, or structuring. They are also useful for delaying evaluation of arguments.