Serialized make-account
Ben Bitdiddle worries that it would be better to implement the bank account as follows (where the commented line has been changed):
(define (make-account balance)
(define (withdraw amount)
(if (>= balance amount)
(begin (set! balance (- balance amount))
balance)
"Insufficient funds"))
(define (deposit amount)
(set! balance (+ balance amount))
balance)
(let ((protected (make-serializer)))
(define (dispatch m)
(cond ((eq? m 'withdraw) (protected withdraw))
((eq? m 'deposit) (protected deposit))
((eq? m 'balance)
((protected (lambda () balance)))) ; serialized
(else (error "Unknown request -- MAKE-ACCOUNT"
m))))
dispatch))
because allowing unserialized access to the bank balance can result in anomalous behavior. Do you agree? Is there any scenario that demonstrates Ben's concern?