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There's actually a ton of business software written in Smalltalk. I think 2/3 of the world's shipping industry is controlled via Smalltalk for example. It isn't

There's actually a ton of business software written in Smalltalk. I think 2/3 of the world's shipping industry is controlled via Smalltalk for example. It isn't super low level like C, so I wouldn't use it for something that needs to be blazing fast. I believe Smalltalk pioneered the JIT technology that Java uses (hotspot...if I recall correctly). It isn't a silver bullet, but seems like a neat language.

dmitriid 9y ago
A lot of business runs on top of weird languages. Quite often they are simply stuck with those languages. Because a non-IT manager got some consultants who promised them 100x results for 1/100 money. As research/test beds these languages are rather invaluable. Their other values are frankly overrated.
- Apocryphon 9y ago
  Smalltalk specifically inspired both Objective-C and Java.
  - aryehof 9y ago
    In terms of object-orientation, then Java, like C++, was not inspired by Smalltalk. Certainly aspects of Smalltalk's execution environment including VM, and supporting language libraries have been influential. According to James Gosling, Java's object model is entirely based on Simula (http://bit.ly/2xc1XTA http://bit.ly/2xc1XTA) and the concepts it introduced:- objects, classes, inheritance and virtual functions. Smalltalk's main differentiation in terms of object-orientation:- "messaging between objects, all the way down", is not reflected in major modern languages, other than perhaps Ruby.
    - dmitriid 9y ago
      It's argued that Erlang can be viewed as OO in Smalltalk's terms if you model your system entirely around processes: you have a process black box, and you communicate using messages with it.
akhilcacharya 9y ago
>I think 2/3 of the world's shipping industry is controlled via Smalltalk for example Which system?
- nunb 9y ago
  It's on this page in the shipping section [1]. I remember it had something to do with live object databases too, back when Avi Bryant of DabbleDB [2] was heavily pushing the Ruby world towards Smalltalk in the 2007-2010 timeframe with Maglev [3]. [1] http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/main/successes/ http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/main/successes/ [2] https://techcrunch.com/2006/03/11/dabbledb-online-app-building-for-everyone/ https://techcrunch.com/2006/03/11/dabbledb-online-app-buildi... [3] http://pragmati.st/2007/05/19/avi-bryant-keynote/ http://pragmati.st/2007/05/19/avi-bryant-keynote/

dmitriid 9y ago

A lot of business runs on top of weird languages. Quite often they are simply stuck with those languages. Because a non-IT manager got some consultants who promised them 100x results for 1/100 money. As research/test beds these languages are rather invaluable. Their other values are frankly overrated.

Apocryphon 9y ago
Smalltalk specifically inspired both Objective-C and Java.
- aryehof 9y ago
  In terms of object-orientation, then Java, like C++, was not inspired by Smalltalk. Certainly aspects of Smalltalk's execution environment including VM, and supporting language libraries have been influential. According to James Gosling, Java's object model is entirely based on Simula (http://bit.ly/2xc1XTA http://bit.ly/2xc1XTA) and the concepts it introduced:- objects, classes, inheritance and virtual functions. Smalltalk's main differentiation in terms of object-orientation:- "messaging between objects, all the way down", is not reflected in major modern languages, other than perhaps Ruby.
  - dmitriid 9y ago
    It's argued that Erlang can be viewed as OO in Smalltalk's terms if you model your system entirely around processes: you have a process black box, and you communicate using messages with it.

akhilcacharya 9y ago

>I think 2/3 of the world's shipping industry is controlled via Smalltalk for example Which system?

nunb 9y ago
It's on this page in the shipping section [1]. I remember it had something to do with live object databases too, back when Avi Bryant of DabbleDB [2] was heavily pushing the Ruby world towards Smalltalk in the 2007-2010 timeframe with Maglev [3]. [1] http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/main/successes/ http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/main/successes/ [2] https://techcrunch.com/2006/03/11/dabbledb-online-app-building-for-everyone/ https://techcrunch.com/2006/03/11/dabbledb-online-app-buildi... [3] http://pragmati.st/2007/05/19/avi-bryant-keynote/ http://pragmati.st/2007/05/19/avi-bryant-keynote/