Jim writes:
> I agree, but until such time as there is support for late-binding/
> dyanamically-loaded shared libraries, that allow developers to simply
> "pick-up" a set of object tools, rather than re-invent them each time, then
> I reckon OO software will be relegated to specific-purpose applications
> which can justify their supporting environment, rather than used for general
> purpose development.
 
This only applies to 'pure' object environments like Smalltalk in which the
environment is almost totally isolated from the underlying system.  Several
OO languages support late-binding and/or dynamically-loaded libraries.
Python for example.
 
What you may find interesting is something new from Xerox PARC called ILU
(Inter Language Unification) which is a CORBA compatible destributed objects
facility which has language bindings to C, C++, Modula 3, Common Lisp, and
Python.  You can find out all about ILU at:
 
ftp://parcftp.parc.xerox.com/pub/ilu/ilu.html
 
G.