In programming, you can create an instance of a class by calling its init method. This method performs actions to initialize the instance, including providing initial slot values. The initialize method can perform complex computations on the instance. If you want to add a keyword argument, you can declare it using the init-keyword option. The value of this keyword becomes the value of the slot.
If you want to access the values of a slot, you can define getter and setter methods. The compiler will typically optimize the method dispatch and function call, so that your slot access code will be as efficient as C code. You’ll also find that the compiler automatically provides a setter method. This will ensure that your code runs faster because there’s no need to create an instance with uninitialized values.
A slot is a virtual object that can be defined in a class. Its name, or getter, is visible to all client modules, and method dispatch handles reconciliation of the instances. If you create a virtual slot, be sure to use a name shorter than the class’ name.