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Smalltalk as a live environment blurs the boundaries between runtime and editing code. There's a video on ThingLab[1], a constraint solver, from 1978 where Alan

Smalltalk as a live environment blurs the boundaries between runtime and editing code. There's a video on ThingLab[1], a constraint solver, from 1978 where Alan Borning draws constraints graphically and then switches view to show the code that was generated. When he manipulates a constraint the runtime creates and compiles a new method based on the system that was graphically defined. That kind of thing would still be pretty awesome today (who generates JS at runtime for performance?). Your comment reads a bit like "we cargo-culted the things we could see in the Smalltalk environment, but didn't understand the underlying philosophy or elegance of what had been made; what's left to learn?" (I know that's probably not what you meant, but I feel like there's a lot left to learn from Smalltalk and the tools that were built with it). [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThingLab http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThingLab (see link 4 for the video; it's really fun to watch). Also check out: https://github.com/cdglabs/thinglab https://github.com/cdglabs/thinglab -- there's a link to a St-78 image with ThingLab. Also interesting to note proportional fonts, text selection (by Larry Tesler) and popup menus, all of which I thought came later...

gamache 12y ago
Your comment reads a bit like "we cargo-culted the things we could see in the Smalltalk environment, but didn't understand the underlying philosophy or elegance of what had been made; what's left to learn?" Seeing features you like and porting them to a system where you can use them isn't cargo culting. It's progress.
- jbergens 12y ago
  Unless you miss the bigger picture. Of course you can use any part you like but if the main value comes from a combination which you are no longer using while you still thinks you're using the same method/idea it might be seen as cargo culture.

gamache 12y ago

Your comment reads a bit like "we cargo-culted the things we could see in the Smalltalk environment, but didn't understand the underlying philosophy or elegance of what had been made; what's left to learn?" Seeing features you like and porting them to a system where you can use them isn't cargo culting. It's progress.

jbergens 12y ago
Unless you miss the bigger picture. Of course you can use any part you like but if the main value comes from a combination which you are no longer using while you still thinks you're using the same method/idea it might be seen as cargo culture.