rsimonian@x102c.uucp (Simonian RP 66449) (02/22/89)
This is in response to questions about the differences between Digitalk Smalltalk/V and Smalltalk-80. I have been using Tektronix Smalltalk-80 for over two years, and have just recently started using Smalltalk/V 286. Harris has been using Smalltalk for some substantial AI and simulation projects. At first, it seemed that Smalltalk V was a beginner's subset of Smalltalk-80 and not well suited for real development. However, as I became accustomed to V's MVC paradigm and the differences between V and 80, I saw that all the `hooks' for full Smalltalk are there, but they are left to the user. I miss the richness of the full 80 class hierarchy, and V's method cross-referencing leaves something to be desired. I have also found that it's very tricky to port Smalltalk-80 code to Smalltalk/V. I personnally prefer the full Smalltalk-80. However, for the price, V is an excellent package.