AFAIK, the distinction between "eventual values" a...

2005-04-25T05:57:00.000+10:00

AFAIK, the distinction between "eventual values" and futures is typing. With MultiLisp's futures, you can't distinguish between an int or a "future int". Everything works the same. "Eventual value", however, are a distinct type that you have to extract the result from using a getter. Therefore, Java 1.5's implementation of Future is really an eventual value. Implementing real MultiLisp-style futures would require that the runtime magically hide futures from the programmer:

int a = future (expression) ;
x = a // runtime blocks until a is computed

MultiLisp gets credit for both ideas, but really they solved the harder problem.

Comments on David Kemp's Blog: Futures and Eventual Values Part 1

AFAIK, the distinction between "eventual values" a...