Re:Redline Smalltalk for the JVM
by jamesladd on Tuesday August 04, 2015 @10:28PM
(#10007726)
Hi there,
I'm the creator of Redline and I very much want to complete it but other work and life items have got in the way.
I hope to return to it just as soon as I can.
- James.
Re:Redline Smalltalk for the JVM
by wtbob on Tuesday August 04, 2015 @11:29PM
(#10007898)
Hey, be proud of what you were able to achieve, and look forward to the day when you can achieve any more.
Smalltalk was and is an amazing tool, one of the 100-year languages (if not, perhaps, one of the 1,000-year languages). The JVM is awfully popular, and will be for awhile. Java stole the steam from what should have been the Smalltalk decades; it's appropriate for there to be a decent Smalltalk on the JVM.
Re:Redline Smalltalk for the JVM
by colindean on Tuesday August 04, 2015 @09:44PM
(#10007600)
Ooo! Something I can comment on!
I fired up Redline a few months ago, attempting to "evaluate it" for a potential work project - day job is writing connectivity solutions for an enterprise search engine using a an in-house Java framework, with actual implementations in both Java and Scala. I used Smalltalk for a few classes in college in the mid-2000s and jumped at the opportunity to see how it went for this little test.
Redline needs some TLC. The basics are there, but it seems like much of the standard library is not yet implemented. It'd be really awesome to see it come up to speed, and I wish I had time to contribute to it myself.
Re:Redline Smalltalk for the JVM
by noblethrasher on Wednesday August 05, 2015 @09:23AM
(#10009498)
I don't recall Alan Kay pining specifically for Smalltalk; mostly he just agitates for a world in which people at least understand the big ideas behind the original articulation of OOP. In fact, Kay tried to kill Smalltalk way back in the 70s[1].
Re:Redline Smalltalk for the JVM
by vixen99 on Wednesday August 05, 2015 @03:52AM
(#10008442)
Maybe related to your third reason, as previously noted, IT-related book publisher and seller O'Reilly appears (open to correction) not to offer one single book about Pharo or Smalltalk.
Re:Redline Smalltalk for the JVM
by davelnewton on Wednesday August 05, 2015 @07:56AM
(#10009092)
OTOH, there are a bunch of books out for Squeak, and most old Smalltalk books are still very relevant. (And I'd argue some of the best old Smalltalk books are required reading for people that don't work in Smalltalk.)
Re; Pharo, yeah, there's only a few self-published books.
Smalltalk was and is an amazing tool, one of the 100-year languages (if not, perhaps, one of the 1,000-year languages). The JVM is awfully popular, and will be for awhile. Java stole the steam from what should have been the Smalltalk decades; it's appropriate for there to be a decent Smalltalk on the JVM.
I fired up Redline a few months ago, attempting to "evaluate it" for a potential work project - day job is writing connectivity solutions for an enterprise search engine using a an in-house Java framework, with actual implementations in both Java and Scala. I used Smalltalk for a few classes in college in the mid-2000s and jumped at the opportunity to see how it went for this little test.
Redline needs some TLC. The basics are there, but it seems like much of the standard library is not yet implemented. It'd be really awesome to see it come up to speed, and I wish I had time to contribute to it myself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX3iRjKj7C0
The tldw reasons he gives for why Smalltalk died:
- too easy to make a mess where adding complexity would be punished late.
- arrogance - community isolated itself from the world and did not address common industry needs
- commercial only - alternative free languages dominated
[1]: http://mythz.servicestack.net/blog/2013/02/27/the-deep-insig...
Re; Pharo, yeah, there's only a few self-published books.