Special Support for OOP via Object Maps ====================================== {{#include ../links.md}} [Object maps] can be used to simulate object-oriented programming ([OOP]) by storing data as properties and methods as properties holding [function pointers]. If an [object map]'s property holds a [function pointer], the property can simply be called like a normal method in method-call syntax. This is a _short-hand_ to avoid the more verbose syntax of using the `call` function keyword. When a property holding a [function pointer] is called like a method, what happens next depends on whether the target function is a native Rust function or a script-defined function. If it is a registered native Rust method function, then it is called directly. If it is a script-defined function, the `this` variable within the function body is bound to the [object map] before the function is called. There is no way to simulate this behavior via a normal function-call syntax because all scripted function arguments are passed by value. ```rust fn do_action(x) { print(this.data + x); } // 'this' binds to the object when called let obj = #{ data: 40, action: Fn("do_action") // 'action' holds a function pointer to 'do_action' }; obj.action(2); // Short-hand syntax: prints 42 // To achieve the above with normal function pointer calls: fn do_action(map, x) { print(map.data + x); } obj.action.call(obj, 2); // this call cannot mutate 'obj' ```