Smalltalk

I recently learned Smalltalk (http://squeak.org/) and wrote a little code for Pier (http://www.lukas-renggli.ch/smalltalk/pier?command=PRViewCommand&view=PRDefaultView), the Smalltalk wiki. Luke (http://www.lukehohmann.com/blog/index.php) was all happy because I was spending time with the "Language of the gods." After spending some time with Smalltalk, I understand why it's wonderful, why it's a language of the gods, and why it has not and will not become mainstream.

The exploration continues.

I've spent part of my vacation learning Smalltalk and the whole Smalltalk development environment. Some may consider that a lack of vacation... but for me... it's a vacation.

First, I have to say, the guys that invented Smalltalk implemented most of the good ideas in programming and development environments back 20+ years ago. This is totally amazing. Amazing for the following reasons: (1) I'm an idiot for not learning Smalltalk earlier and (2) most of the rest of the world are idiots for not using more of the good stuff from Smalltalk. It's like using Windows for my whole life and realizing that Unix does everything that Windows does, but better and with less hardware. On this tangent... I wonder if the circa 1984 Smalltalk image could have fit on a 128K Macintosh. If so, Steve & Co. should be cursed a whole lot for not building Mac entirely in Smalltalk. It's clear that NeXTSTEP could have been done in Smalltalk rather than Objective-C. The 68030 and RAM in the original NeXT machines could have supported Smalltalk. The only issues would have been building a JIT for the Smalltalk VM and protecting the IP of the environment.

I've been casting about recently, looking for a good set of tools for building applications... mainly applications with a web interface.

I've looked at a lot of environments. Ruby/Rails and Smalltalk/Seaside offer a lot of cool, compelling features.