'''Smalltalk Environment Questions:''' '''Q:''' What's the deal with all these different versions, and how do I pick the best one? '''A:''' This section of the FAQ is covered in SmalltalkEnvironmentComparisons since it is quite broad. ---- '''RefactoringBrowser Questions''' '''Q:''' I'd really like to try a good RefactoringBrowser in Smalltalk. What are my options? '''A:''' (2012)OmniBrowser built into PharoSmalltalk 4.x. On the SqueakSmalltalk side, OmniBrowser does not load after 3.9, so I had to give up on SqueakSmalltalk for now - RefactoringBrowser is a necessity. '''Q:''' Is there a RefactoringBrowser available for SqueakSmalltalk, or DolphinSmalltalk (''especially'' DolphinSmalltalk)? '''A:''' The refactoring browser is built into the most recent versions of Dolphin Smalltalk (XP) as well as VisualWorks 7 (See http://www.object-arts.com and http://www.cincom.com/smalltalk) as well as Smalltalk/X (SmalltalkEcks). '''A:''' I went searching for something like this the other day. Apparently, a group of people at CampSmalltalk started work on a Squeak port of the RefactoringBrowser, and put up a temporary home page at http://www.bobjectsinc.com/squeakrbalpha/. I believe the port is incomplete, but I haven't tried it out yet, as I'm only just starting to learn Smalltalk. The page also links to two other porting efforts, though one of the links seems to be dead. ---- '''Other Smalltalk Tools''' '''Q:''' What is ENVY, and why would I need it or want it? '''A:''' I've only used ENVY briefly, but it is a shared source repository system for Smalltalk. In short, it's the equivalent of CVS - just a lot more transparent to use. ENVY is not, to my knowledge, free - nor is it cheap. In addition, I think it's not really supported any longer. This may not be true. I know that Cincom is pushing Store for use with VisualWorks 5i.3 and up. Store is nice and it works well. -- JeffPanici ObjectTechnologyInternational has dropped ENVY support due to their new bloatware, Eclipse: http://eclipse.org. ENVY is dead. PleaseComment Um, ENVY is perhaps dying, but not dead, as it is still the source code control system for VisualAge/Smalltalk. For more than you ever wanted to know about ENVY, see the book "Mastering ENVY/Developer" (disclaimer: I'm one of the people who wrote it). -- Alan Knight * Ibm is terminating support of VisualAge/Smalltalk. Envy is dead, unless it is somehow revived within Eclipse (there have been occasional rumors of this). '''Q:''' What is GemStone, and why would I need it or want it? Why not just use a regular database? '''A:''' GemStone is an ObjectOrientedDatabase. And, to answer your second question: Well, this is a ''huge'' question. It gets right into the whole ''OODBMS vs. RDBMS'' battle. First, let me say that GemStone is a fine product, but a little aged in the OODBMS space. While I'm not certain, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, I believe that GemStone/S isn't actively supported any longer and GemStone/J is all but dead. However, you can get GemStone/S for Linux as a limited development download. You'll have to make a personal determination on whether an OODBMS or RDBMS is best for your particular situation. -- JeffPanici PleaseComment ---- '''Smalltalk Frameworks''' '''Q:''' SmalltalkUnit (at least the one that comes with Squeak) doesn't give very informative failure messages when using "self should: [...]". Observe: ==== SUnit ======== Start ==== *** FAIL *** 24 run, 0 failed, 1 errors (50 ms) ---- SUnit ------- Errors ---- F''''''ooTest>>testFoo ==== SUnit ========== End ==== Did it fail because I passed it a faulty Bar? Was the Quuxume out of whack? How will I know? '''A:''' The idea with SUnit (and xUnit in general), as I understand it, is not to put in lots of informative error messages. If a test fails, run it in debug mode, you'll get a debugger, and you can see immediately why it fails. It's the simplest thing that could possibly work. And having done it both ways, I find this much less time-consuming than trying to write tests that generate informative error messages. -- AlanKnight ---- Does anybody have a copy of David N. Smith's Smalltalk FAQ ? Please send me a copy if you have. -- CostinCozianu ---- ---- '''Smalltalk Reports''' '''2014''' ** November *** http://www.caesarsystems.com/blog/smalltalks-2014-quick-report/#.VH0ifRZ5XV9 CategorySmalltalk