The Artima Developer Community
Sponsored Link

Agile Buzz Forum
Smalltalk features

0 replies on 1 page.

Welcome Guest
  Sign In

Go back to the topic listing  Back to Topic List Click to reply to this topic  Reply to this Topic Click to search messages in this forum  Search Forum Click for a threaded view of the topic  Threaded View   
Previous Topic   Next Topic
Flat View: This topic has 0 replies on 1 page
James Robertson

Posts: 29924
Nickname: jarober61
Registered: Jun, 2003

David Buck, Smalltalker at large
Smalltalk features Posted: Jun 1, 2004 4:13 AM
Reply to this message Reply

This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Agile Buzz by James Robertson.
Original Post: Smalltalk features
Feed Title: David Buck - Blog
Feed URL: http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/rssBlog/buck-rss.xml
Feed Description: Smalltalk can do that
Latest Agile Buzz Posts
Latest Agile Buzz Posts by James Robertson
Latest Posts From David Buck - Blog

Advertisement
I intended to post this article on some newsgroups as part of a "discussion" on Smalltalk vs. Java, but since that discussion is really more of a flame war, I decided it would be better to just post it here.

Things Smalltalk has that Java doesn't:

  • Blocks. Code and the context it runs in can be stored in an object that can be executed at any time later by sending it a message.
  • Proceedable exceptions - Smalltalk exceptions find and execute the handler before deciding to unwind. This allows the handler to decide to proceed without unwinding.
  • More direct access to the compiler. In Smalltalk, you can easily write:
    	Compiler evaluate: '5 squared   4'
    
    which compiles the string, executes the code, and returns a value.
  • A higher level of reflection. For example, in Smalltalk, it's possible to ask a class for source code for a method then compile the source code into a parse tree and enumerate through the parse tree. This make it possible, for example, to write code to find all methods that take three parameters and send the message foo to the third parameter.
  • No integer overflow. In Smalltalk, integers are never restricted to a certain number of bits. They always give you back the mathematically correct results for Integers.
  • Edit and continue. Change code in the debugger then continue execution from there.
  • An integrated extensible development environment. In Smalltalk, you can easily add extensions to the browser, inspector, debugger, etc. I realize this is possible with Eclipse, but it's a much more difficult task than in Smalltalk.
Those are the things I can come up with off the top of my head.

Read: Smalltalk features

Topic: Turn on the Stupo-Meter Previous Topic   Next Topic Topic: Blog Comment spam

Sponsored Links



Google
  Web Artima.com   

Copyright © 1996-2019 Artima, Inc. All Rights Reserved. - Privacy Policy - Terms of Use