Interesting article on Smalltalk

I was reading Alan Kay’s Early History of Smalltalk recently. Quite an interesting article.

While I’m sure at least some of my audience has come across this before, I only stumbled across it recently. I’ve never had much chance to use Smalltalk in a serious way, though I’ve dabbled more than once and liked it. I also got quite interested in Dylan when Apple released their implementation and was disappointed to see them drop it.

Although I spend most of my time doing Java work, and thus have to deal with a more pragmatic OO environment, I find that in order to improve as a developer I need to look into other areas, such as Smalltalk, to see how they do things there. Even if it’s not directly applicable, it’s still interesting and often valuable.

In any case, it was a very interesting article. Reading Alan Kay’s thoughts on how Smalltalk evolved, and seeing the sort of things they got that hardware to do, was realy quite impressive. A worthwhile read.

Author: Robert Watkins

My name is Robert Watkins. I am a software developer and have been for over 20 years now. I currently work for people, but my opinions here are in no way endorsed by them (which is cool; their opinions aren’t endorsed by me either). My main professional interests are in Java development, using Agile methods, with a historical focus on building web based applications. I’m also a Mac-fan and love my iPhone, which I’m currently learning how to code for. I live and work in Brisbane, Australia, but I grew up in the Northern Territory, and still find Brisbane too cold (after 22 years here). I’m married, with two children and one cat. My politics are socialist in tendency, my religious affiliation is atheist (aka “none of the above”), my attitude is condescending and my moral standing is lying down. View all posts by Robert Watkins