Preface
Event based programming is a programming paradigm.
Some things in computing
are continually changing. There always seem to be a new language or a
new software product that must be studied. By contrast,
programming paradigms change very little. For
example, the procedural
programming paradigm – with its while loops, if statements, and
procedure calls – has remained largely unchanged since the
1970s. Similarly, the concepts behind object-oriented programming have
been relatively stable for over 20 years. Procedural programming and
object-oriented programming aren’t about
any particular language. Instead, they give the programmer problem
solving techniques and methodologies that are applicable in a variety
of languages.
Event based programming is its own
distinct paradigm. Its notions of runtime association of sources
and
handlers, and minimal timing assumptions apply, and will continue to
apply, no matter how many new event based languages are released. The
fundamental ideas behind the paradigm are stable. Our goal is to teach
you about the paradigm. By doing so, we will lay a foundation
that will let
you easily pick up new event based languages as they emerge.
preface.pdf