Editing Smalltalk (section)

{{Short description|Object-oriented programming language}}
{{About|the programming language||Small talk (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox programming language
| name = Smalltalk
| logo = Smalltalk Balloon.svg
| logo size = 150px
| logo caption = 
| paradigm = [[Object-oriented programming|Object-oriented]]
| designer = [[Adele Goldberg (computer scientist)|Adele Goldberg]], [[Dan Ingalls]], [[Alan Kay]]
| developer = [[L. Peter Deutsch|Peter Deutsch]], Adele Goldberg, Dan Ingalls, [[Ted Kaehler]], Alan Kay, [[Diana Merry]], Scott Wallace and [[PARC (company)|Xerox PARC]]
| released = {{Start date and age|1972}} (development begun 1969){{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}
| latest release version = Smalltalk-80 version 2
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|1980}}
| typing = [[Object (computer science)|objects]], but in some implementations, [[Strong and weak typing|strong]] or [[dynamic typing|dynamic]]
| scope = [[Scope (computer science)|Lexical]] (static)
| programming language = Smalltalk
| platform = [[Xerox Alto]] ([[74181]])<ref>{{cite web |title=Alto I Schematics |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/xerox/alto/schematics/AltoI_Schematics.pdf |website=Bitsavers |access-date=21 July 2016 |page=54}}</ref><ref name=alto>{{cite web |title=History of Computers and Computing, Birth of the modern computer, Personal computer, Xerox Alto |access-date=2016-04-19 |url=http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Personal/Alto.html}}</ref>
| implementations = [[Amber Smalltalk|Amber]], [[Dolphin Smalltalk]], [[Gemstone (database)|GemStone/S]], [[GNU Smalltalk]], [[Pharo]], Smalltalk/X, [[Squeak]], [[Cuis Smalltalk]], [[IBM VisualAge|VA Smalltalk]], [[VisualWorks]]
| dialects = 
| influenced by = [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]],<ref name="kay2003">{{cite web|url=http://www.purl.org/stefan_ram/pub/doc_kay_oop_en|title=E-Mail of 2003-07-23|last1=Kay|first1=Alan|last2=Ram|first2=Stefan|date=2003-07-23|work=Dr. Alan Kay on the Meaning of 'Object-Oriented Programming'|access-date=2009-01-03}}</ref> [[Simula]],<ref name="kay2003"/> [[Euler (programming language)|Euler]],<ref name="kay2003"/> [[IMP (programming language)|IMP]],<ref name="kay2003"/> [[Planner (programming language)|Planner]],<ref name="kay2003"/> [[Logo (programming language)|Logo]],<ref name="History"/> [[Sketchpad]],<ref name="kay2003"/> [[ARPAnet]],<ref name="kay2003"/> [[Burroughs B5000]]<ref name="kay2003"/>
| influenced = [[AppleScript]], [[Common Lisp Object System]], [[Dart (programming language)|Dart]], [[Dylan (programming language)|Dylan]], [[Erlang (programming language)|Erlang]], [[Etoys (programming language)|Etoys]], [[Go (programming language)|Go]], [[Groovy (programming language)|Groovy]], [[Io (programming language)|Io]], [[Ioke (programming language)|Ioke]], [[Java (programming language)|Java]], [[Lasso (programming language)|Lasso]], [[Logtalk]], [[Newspeak (programming language)|Newspeak]], [[NewtonScript]], [[Object REXX]], [[Objective-C]], [[PHP]] 5, [[Python (programming language)|Python]], [[Raku (programming language)|Raku]], [[Ruby (programming language)|Ruby]], [[Scala (programming language)|Scala]], [[Scratch (programming language)|Scratch]], [[Self (programming language)|Self]], [[Swift (programming language)|Swift]]
| operating system = [[Cross-platform]] (multi-platform)
| wikibooks = Smalltalk
| website = hide
}}

'''Smalltalk''' is a purely [[object oriented programming|object oriented]] [[programming language]] (OOP) that was originally created in the [[1970s in science and technology|1970s]] for [[education]]al use, specifically for [[constructionist learning]], but later found use in business. It was created at [[PARC (company)|Xerox PARC]] by Learning Research Group (LRG) scientists, including [[Alan Kay]], [[Dan Ingalls]], [[Adele Goldberg (computer scientist)|Adele Goldberg]], [[Ted Kaehler]], [[Diana Merry]], and Scott Wallace.

In Smalltalk, executing programs are built of opaque, atomic, so-called objects, which are instances of template code stored in classes. These objects intercommunicate by passing of messages, via an intermediary [[virtual machine]] environment (VM). A relatively small number of objects, called primitives, are not amenable to live redefinition, sometimes being defined independently of the Smalltalk programming environment.

Having undergone significant [[Industrial sector|industry]] development toward other uses, including business and [[database]] functions, Smalltalk is still in use today. When first publicly released, Smalltalk-80 presented numerous foundational ideas for the nascent field of object-oriented programming (OOP).

Since inception, the language provided [[interactive programming]] via an integrated [[Integrated development environment|development environment]]. This requires [[Reflective programming|reflection]] and [[late binding]] in the language [[executable|execution of code]]. Later development has led to at least one instance of Smalltalk execution environment which lacks such an integrated [[graphical user interface]] or front-end.

Smalltalk-like languages are in active development and have gathered communities of users around them. [[American National Standards Institute]] (ANSI) Smalltalk was ratified in 1998 and represents the standard version of Smalltalk.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smalltalk.org/versions/ANSIStandardSmalltalk.html |title=ANSI Smalltalk Standard |date=2004 |publisher=Smalltalk.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216073334/http://www.smalltalk.org/versions/ANSIStandardSmalltalk.html |archive-date=2006-02-16 |access-date=2021-03-02}}</ref>

Smalltalk took second place for "most loved programming language" in the [[Stack Overflow]] Developer Survey in 2017,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2017#technology-most-loved-dreaded-and-wanted-languages |title=Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2017}}</ref> but it was not among the 26 most loved programming languages of the 2018 survey.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2018#technology-most-loved-dreaded-and-wanted-languages |title=Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2018}}</ref>