they work the same as in C++
maybe, I wouldn't know since I don't program in C++. No disrespect intended but we are talking bmax here. However I do remember a little C++ and I don't think using C++ prevents the programmer from storing data in the form most appropriate for the task and in many cases in 3d gfx this will still be packed c-type arrays. Imangine a detailed model with 1000's of verts - would you want to store each vert as an object? Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the use of objects and think bmax's implementation is about right for what still is BASIC (at it's heart). But if this is at the expense of allowing direct efficient data access/ manipulation then bmax will be a good stepping stone to a more "serious" language... but not much else.