Why Don't More People Use Smalltalk?

RevAaron asks: "With Java, and now C#, we're seeing the same (then revolutionary) concepts and features that Smalltalk had over twenty years ago. With open source versions like Squeak and GNU Smalltalk, not to mention numerous other versions, most of which have an free (as in beer) version available, why hasn't the open source world adopted it to a larger extent? It boggles the mind that the open source community hasn't picked it up, even with almost all of the source of the entire Smalltalk system available to developers, even with the commercial implementations. Is it simply a case of 'once a C coder, always a C coder,' with languages like C++ and Java being used by virtue of their Algol-derived syntax?" The choice of language of most developers is a queer thing indeed. I'm still surprised that COBOL has lasted for as long as it has. So if anyone has any insight as to why Smalltalk use isn't more widespread, please share.

Comments

Proponent (long)

[Lord of the Fries]

I have written thousands of lines of Fortran, embedded C, poured over tons of Java and C++, and done Smalltalk for 9+ years. Anywhere I *can* get Smalltalk to fit, I will use it. Why? Because it is different. And it's probably these differences that slow its adoption by the hacker/hobbyiest community. Namely: Everything is an object: It's all about message sending in Smalltalk. This is especially powerful in large/complex/evolutionary systems. It's also very elegant; a real sense of uniformity. Syntax: Took me a couple of weeks to get used to it. Now I laugh at most of the others. Five reseverved keywords. The majority of the language elements in one method. Approximates natural language very well. The Image Programing Model and IDE: Once you grok it, very powerful. But again, a hurdle that if approached with a shoehorn just punishes you. The object based browsers. People still insist on browsers that just show flat files and "jump" you to the appropriate code point when you navigate to a method. It's amusing to watch many struggle with (and ultimately reject) VAJ, which attempts to bring code navigation within reach of the 20 year old Smalltalk browsers. It's too easy: I get a certain rush out of eeking a few percent out of an embedded C program, by playing a number of "tricks". There's a real sense of "I climbed the hill!", even though it is small. It has been fascinating to watch even some members of the Smalltalk community spend the last 5 years in Java work there tails off to come up with shoddy re-implementations of something they did easily in Smalltalk. But in Java (or C++, or whatever), it's more of a challenge. So either be prepared to discover the good ol' problems have been solved, or start solving some new ones. Problems that have historically hindered, but no longer do: Vendor Viability: IBM does Smalltalk. Cincom (one of the most succesful privately owned companies in the software industry) does it. The Squeak project has enjoyed quite a swell of momentum; anyone who went to ANY of the last three OOPSLAs would know this. Speed: For raw number crunching, Smalltalkers cede to C. Most of the Smalltalk's have robust methods of integrating C code for tight/primitives to speed optimize that critical 5% of your code. And when it comes to message dispatch, Smalltalk has won a number of benchmark tests. GC implementations in the 8 major implementations leave other lang GCs behind. Price: Squeak is open source to the bare bones. And it's extremely portable. It's been ported to a plethora of chips. The high priced vendors have come out with better pricing models (though there is still room for improvement). There are different entry price models. OS integration: Again much improved. MT allows one to write ST DLLs (very fast too). QKS has a .NET implementation. There are Unix shell implementations. Dolphin has great Win32 integration. ST/X has a plethora of built in Linux tools. I have watched a number of people take a run at Smalltalk. Seems that most are either wildly succesful; have the "aha" experience and fall in love. Others just never get what it is the rest of us get excited about. I have tried to track why some do and don't. The only distinguishing attribute I have been able to find is "ya gotta wanna." Those who have really had the desire to stick with and find out why a 30 year old language still has such strong advocates, is willing to eventually fall out of their box, and discover that in some cases, different has advantages. But many people can just never get beyond the differences. It is interesting to note that in a spectrum drawn between Smalltalk and Assembly, languages have spent the last 30 years slowly evolving towards the Smalltalk end. In the end it may not be Smalltalk that we all use. But new languages will continue to be more and more like Smalltalk in spirit. Maybe Smalltalk will continue to innovate and offer these back to the evolution of mainstrema languages; maybe sufficient convergence will finally be achieved, and we'll all jump on whatever bandwagon has really caught up.