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Notes
A number of idioms have been catalogued for C++ [Coplien1992]and Smalltalk [Beck1997]. Some of these patterns include those more generally concerned with design issues, whereas others are at the opposite end of the scale, being concerned instead with naming of variables and methods, such as Beck's Intention Revealing Message, and layout, such as Richard Gabriel's Simply Understood Code [Coplien1996]. Some idioms, such as those for naming, can be transferred easily across languages. Others depend on features of a language model and are simply inapplicable when translated, such as a strong and statically checked type system (e.g. C++ and Java) versus a looser, dynamically checked one (e.g. Smalltalk and Lisp). For instance, the Detached Counted Handle/Body idiom [Coplien1996] describes a reference counting mechanism for C++, the need for which is obviated in Smalltalk and Java by the presence of automatic garbage collection. Sometimes idioms need to be imported from one language to another, breaking a language culture out of a local minima. Idiom imports can offer greater expressive power by offering solutions in one language that exploit similar features as in the language of origin, but which have not otherwise been considered part of the received style of the target language. However, it is important to understand that this is anything but a generalisation and the forces must be considered carefully. For example, a great many C++ libraries have suffered from inappropriate application of Smalltalk idioms, and the same can also be said of many Java systems with respect to C++.
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