jeh@ritcv.UUCP (07/20/84)
Yes, Smalltalk has a very large virtual machine, and it's tightly bound in to
an environment which contains, most importantly, a hi-res bitmapped display,
and also a pointing device.
I'd like to hear people's opinions on this alternative -- taking all
the graphics/window stuff away. What do you have left? A lisp-like system
where you enter a piece of code, possibly compile it, and store it away
in your workspace for anyone to use. Since ST is so big in terms of the
software that is built in, it seems you lose a lot by not having the ability
to "browse", and to view several components of your system at once.
...Which for me brings up a more basic question. What is Smalltalk good
for? I'd be very surprised if someone someday "OEM'd" a product with all
the soft/firm ware written in Smalltalk. The only things I can think of
is (a) education and (b) an environment in which you can work out some
rough designs without worrying yet about the details of the final
implementation.
Jim Heliotis
{allegra,seismo}!rochester!ritcv!jeh
rocksvax!ritcv!jeh
ritcv!jeh@Rochesterandrew@orca.UUCP (07/20/84)
[]
"What is Smalltalk good for? I'd be very surprised if someone
someday "OEM'd" a product with all the soft/firm ware written
in Smalltalk."
Surprise! There's at least one company here on the West Coast which is
producing a major software product, written entirely in Smalltalk.
You'll be hearing from them when they're ready to announce, but the
fact that the product is written in Smalltalk is incidental, similar
products have been written in conventional languages.
-- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!orca!andrew) [UUCP]
(orca!andrew.tektronix@rand-relay) [ARPA]