4 ms·

Ask HN: Best way to learn Smalltalk?

14 points by avindroth 5y ago

I have been going through SICP to learn lisp, and am wishing a similar path for smalltalk/pharo. Any suggestions?

miguendes 5y ago
Even though Pharo has evolved a lot from the original smalltalk, the main ideas remain the same. And nowadays the most active development is done by the pharo team. They not only build the software but also tons of high quality content. I recommend starting with the Pharo Mooc. [1] And then deep dive on their books [2]. From there you can read old classic smalltalk books, such as Kent Back's "Smalltalk Best Practices" and Chamond Liu'a "Smalltalk, Object and Design". [1] https://mooc.pharo.org https://mooc.pharo.org [2] https://books.pharo.org https://books.pharo.org
- scroot 5y ago
  Additionally,the original Smalltalk "Blue Book" ("Smalltalk-80: The Language and its Implementation") is well written and can be a good introduction. http://stephane.ducasse.free.fr/FreeBooks/BlueBook/Bluebook.pdf http://stephane.ducasse.free.fr/FreeBooks/BlueBook/Bluebook....
  - avindroth 5y ago
    If I wanted to try out examples in the book, can I try in the Pharo environment?
    - rscho 5y ago
      Pharo has some new syntactic additions. Cuis smalltalk is closer to Smalltalk-80, if that's what you're looking for.
- estebanlor 5y ago
  and of course, joining our discord server (invite at: http://pharo.org/community http://pharo.org/community) is the best way to get help and guidance in fast way, we have several channel dedicated to help newbies :)
brudgers 5y ago
Smalltalk people often hate on it, but I found gnu_smalltalk useful simply because I didn't have to navigate around entirely new tooling to play around with Smalltalk. And I played around with the Koans, https://github.com/sl4m/gnu_smalltalk_koans https://github.com/sl4m/gnu_smalltalk_koans For what it is worth, a lot of Smalltalk is captured by Ruby. Like the ability to add methods to integers.
- Qem 5y ago
  I tried GNU-Smalltalk before Pharo. The only issue for me was that I couldn't get its class browser working under any of the Debian-based linux distros I tried.
  - brudgers 5y ago
    I couldn't either. Ultimately it fell in the no-new-tooling-to-navigate feature for me. It was ok because I wasn’t trying to use it in anger. Just very simple stuff where looking at the source was good enough.
mraza007 5y ago
What are some benefits of learning small talk
- fiftyacorn 5y ago
  Ive not looked at it in a long time - but one of the reasons for learning smalltalk was that everything is an object which made it a great language to learn OO
  - Trias11 5y ago
    I think Python is better alternative. Lots of objects there as well and it's super practical. Not sure about Smalltalk besides amusing friends during a beer
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - rscho 5y ago
      For learning, traditional smalltalk environments (with a gui browser) are vastly superior. Everything is live, so the learner can witness the immediate propagation of changes made and follow them through as deep as desired through the debugger.
yesenadam 5y ago
I tried Squeak a few years ago (on a Mac). It was remarkably painless to get going, instant really. Suddenly you are in a different world.. Highly recommended. https://squeak.org/ https://squeak.org/

14 points by avindroth 5y ago

I have been going through SICP to learn lisp, and am wishing a similar path for smalltalk/pharo. Any suggestions?

Even though Pharo has evolved a lot from the original smalltalk, the main ideas remain the same. And nowadays the most active development is done by the pharo team. They not only build the software but also tons of high quality content. I recommend starting with the Pharo Mooc. [1] And then deep dive on their books [2]. From there you can read old classic smalltalk books, such as Kent Back's "Smalltalk Best Practices" and Chamond Liu'a "Smalltalk, Object and Design". [1] https://mooc.pharo.org https://mooc.pharo.org [2] https://books.pharo.org https://books.pharo.org

scroot 5y ago
Additionally,the original Smalltalk "Blue Book" ("Smalltalk-80: The Language and its Implementation") is well written and can be a good introduction. http://stephane.ducasse.free.fr/FreeBooks/BlueBook/Bluebook.pdf http://stephane.ducasse.free.fr/FreeBooks/BlueBook/Bluebook....
- avindroth 5y ago
  If I wanted to try out examples in the book, can I try in the Pharo environment?
  - rscho 5y ago
    Pharo has some new syntactic additions. Cuis smalltalk is closer to Smalltalk-80, if that's what you're looking for.
estebanlor 5y ago
and of course, joining our discord server (invite at: http://pharo.org/community http://pharo.org/community) is the best way to get help and guidance in fast way, we have several channel dedicated to help newbies :)

brudgers 5y ago

Smalltalk people often hate on it, but I found gnu_smalltalk useful simply because I didn't have to navigate around entirely new tooling to play around with Smalltalk. And I played around with the Koans, https://github.com/sl4m/gnu_smalltalk_koans https://github.com/sl4m/gnu_smalltalk_koans For what it is worth, a lot of Smalltalk is captured by Ruby. Like the ability to add methods to integers.

Qem 5y ago
I tried GNU-Smalltalk before Pharo. The only issue for me was that I couldn't get its class browser working under any of the Debian-based linux distros I tried.
- brudgers 5y ago
  I couldn't either. Ultimately it fell in the no-new-tooling-to-navigate feature for me. It was ok because I wasn’t trying to use it in anger. Just very simple stuff where looking at the source was good enough.

mraza007 5y ago

What are some benefits of learning small talk

fiftyacorn 5y ago
Ive not looked at it in a long time - but one of the reasons for learning smalltalk was that everything is an object which made it a great language to learn OO
- Trias11 5y ago
  I think Python is better alternative. Lots of objects there as well and it's super practical. Not sure about Smalltalk besides amusing friends during a beer
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - rscho 5y ago
    For learning, traditional smalltalk environments (with a gui browser) are vastly superior. Everything is live, so the learner can witness the immediate propagation of changes made and follow them through as deep as desired through the debugger.

yesenadam 5y ago

I tried Squeak a few years ago (on a Mac). It was remarkably painless to get going, instant really. Suddenly you are in a different world.. Highly recommended. https://squeak.org/ https://squeak.org/