Author Archives: charles

Redline Smalltalk

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Scheduled for Thursday March 17th , 2011

Redline Smalltalk is Smalltalk for the Java Virtual Machine, because nothing is as productive as Smalltalk and the app has to run on the Java Virtual Machine.  Redline compiles from source code directly to bytecode and is compatible with Pharo syntax. While Smalltalk on the JVM has been tried before there are some significant innovations coming with Redline, which will be detailed. These are:   1. Tight integration with Java (call Java from Smalltalk and Smalltalk from Java). This brings a wealth of libraries into Smalltalk including good Concurrency support which some Smalltalks have been lacking.  2. New tooling to support faster development and testing: stir – Smalltalk interactive command line, with the ability to connect to local and remote servers. stake – Smalltalk make tool (like Make and Rubys Rake) cucumber – Smalltalk port of the popular BDD tool Cucumber.  3. Eclipse plugin and hopefully soon an IntelliJ plugin.  The talk will also detail the journey from an idea of Smalltalk on the JVM and various attempts at building it, through to Redline now.   It will present that Smalltalk is not dead nor dying but in fact about to take on a new life on a platform where it can gain more traction and wider adoption. The presentation will also call for people to participate in the further development and support of Redline. Redline is free and open source under the MIT license. See http://redline.st.

Bio:
James Ladd has been developing software for 25+ years, using most core languages from Assembler through Smalltalk and now Java and Ruby.

I’m keen to help others learn how to be better developers as well as improving my own skills. My mission is to see Smalltalk make a comeback in a big way.

Getting more from your Multicore, with Polycephaly

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arden

This presentation discusses some basic strategies for how Smalltalk can leverage multi-core computers, and the results of using a new simple framework that is now included with Cincom’s VisualWorks and ObjectStudio.

Bio:

Arden Thomas started using Smalltalk in 1986, when he was exploring better ways to do software development.  He found it.  Arden has worked with Smalltalk as a developer, trainer, consultant, and field SE.  Arden Thomas is currently the product manager of Cincom Smalltalk.

Please join us on Thurs Feb 24th for this interesting discussion with Cincom Smalltalk’s product manager.  Open house starts at 6:30 followed by the presentation at 7pm. Beverages will be available. Bring a friend !

“Visual Studio, Ruby on Rails, and Old Dudes Who Know Smalltalk” at 40withegg: a tasty, filling meal for your mind

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I love this article. I’ve been playing/working with Ruby for a while but man I just can’t get past the stone age tools that they have. The other real hard thing about is that when I compare something like Seaside/Gemstone to Ruby on Rails , its hands down not Ruby on Rails. The only thing that makes me pause is of course that Ruby is hot and well Smalltalk is just there. Then again its been “there” for a while. It doesn’t seem to quite go away. It survives , and I still survive making a living with it. But learning is good, and having more tools on your resume can’t hurt. If I have to go anywhere else than Smalltalk I guess that Ruby might be ok, notwithstanding the better tool support in Java. I’m a dynamic languages type of guy.

Anyhow, this guy wrote a  real cool and to the point article on Ruby and why people should listen to “old dudes that know Smalltalk” , I of course agree.

“Visual Studio, Ruby on Rails, and Old Dudes Who Know Smalltalk” at 40withegg: a tasty, filling meal for your mind.

LargeViewer 1.0 for iOS Displays Documents Up to 10,000 x 8,000 Pixels

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Our friend John McIntosh and long time Smalltalker has been venturing in the field of iOS apps. Can’t say that I blame them , it seems like a great market for consumer apps and Objective- C shares enough similarities with Smalltalk to make it feel almost homey.

[prMac.com] Sidney, BC, Canada – Corporate Smalltalk Consulting, Ltd. today is pleased to introduce LargeViewer 1.0 for iOS, their innovative document viewer that accommodates very wide documents, up to 10,000 x 8,000 pixels, or larger. Ideal for examining 48-inch wide blueprints, detailed site layouts, or CAD drawings using an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, the app’s Hippo View provides fast scrolling vertically and horizontally. LargeViewer reads over 50 different file formats, includes zoom in/out functionality, features Dropbox file download connectivity and management, saves files as thumbnails for quick view, supports multi-tasking,and opens documents from other apps.

Read more about it here:

LargeViewer 1.0 for iOS Displays Documents Up to 10,000 x 8,000 Pixels.