Editing Smalltalk (section)

== History ==
There are a large number of Smalltalk variants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smalltalk.org/versions|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908041133/http://www.smalltalk.org/versions|archive-date=2015-09-08|title=Versions|publisher=Smalltalk.org|access-date=2007-09-13}}</ref> The unqualified word ''Smalltalk'' is often used to indicate the Smalltalk-80 language and compatible VM, the first version to be made publicly available and created in 1980. The first hardware-environments which ran the Smalltalk VMs were [[Xerox Alto]] computers.

Smalltalk was the product of research led by [[Alan Kay]] at [[Xerox Palo Alto Research Center]] (PARC); Alan Kay designed most of the early Smalltalk versions, [[Adele Goldberg (computer scientist)|Adele Goldberg]] wrote most of the documentation, and [[Dan Ingalls]] implemented most of the early versions. The first version, termed Smalltalk-71, was created by Kay in a few mornings on a bet that a programming language based on the idea of [[message passing]] inspired by [[Simula]] could be implemented in "a page of code".<ref name="History">{{cite web |last=Kay |first=Alan |title=The Early History of Smalltalk |url=http://gagne.homedns.org/~tgagne/contrib/EarlyHistoryST.html |access-date=2007-09-13}}</ref> A later variant used for research work is now termed Smalltalk-72 and influenced the development of the [[Actor model]]. Its [[Actor model#Smalltalk|syntax and execution model]] were very different from modern Smalltalk variants.

The first Smalltalk interpreter actually implemented was for Smalltalk-72, and was written by [[Dan Ingalls]] in about 700 lines of [[BASIC]] in October 1972 for the [[Data General Nova]]. This version was demonstrated at the [[MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory|MIT AI Lab]] by Alan Kay in November that year.<ref name="History" /> The first bitmap line drawing routines were implemented by [[Ted Kaehler]] in late December 1972. Smalltalk-72 was ported to the Xerox Alto in April 1973, the same month the first units began operation.<ref name="Ingalls" />

After significant revisions which froze some aspects of execution semantics to gain performance (by adopting a [[Simula]]-like class [[Inheritance (object-oriented programming)|inheritance]] model of execution), Smalltalk-76 was created. This system had a [[Development environment (software development process)|development environment]] featuring most of the now familiar tools, including a class library code browser/editor. Smalltalk-80 added [[metaclass]]es, to help maintain the "everything is an object" (except variables) paradigm by associating properties and behavior with individual classes, and even primitives such as integer and [[Boolean value]]s (for example, to support different ways to create instances).

Smalltalk-80 was the first language variant made available outside of PARC. In 1981, it was shared with [[Tektronix]], [[Hewlett-Packard]], [[Apple Computer]], and [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] for review and debugging on their platforms.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tektronix invitation for First international Conference of Smalltalk-80 Implementors |url=https://wirfs-brock.com/allen/files/tek/1981-8-27%20implr-conference-invite.pdf |website=Tektronix Smalltalk Document Archive |date=27 August 1981}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web |title=Attendee list for First international Conference of Smalltalk-80 Implementors |url=https://wirfs-brock.com/allen/files/tek/1981-9-implr-conf-attendees.pdf |website=Tektronix Smalltalk Document Archive |date=24 September 1981}}</ref> The August 1981 issue of Byte Magazine was devoted to Smalltalk-80 and brought its ideas to a large audience. Several books on Smalltalk-80 were also published. Smalltalk-80 became the basis for all future commercial versions of Smalltalk.<ref>{{cite news |title=Introducing the Smalltalk Zoo |url=https://computerhistory.org/blog/introducing-the-smalltalk-zoo-48-years-of-smalltalk-history-at-chm/ |work=CHM |date=17 December 2020 |language=en}}</ref> The final release of Smalltalk-80 Version 1 was in November 1981.<ref>{{cite web |title=VI Release Notes |url=https://wirfs-brock.com/allen/files/tek/1981-11-20-VI-Release.pdf|date=20 November 1981}}</ref> Xerox only distributed Version 1 to Apple, DEC, HP, and Tektronix, but these companies were allowed unrestricted redistribution via any system they built. This encouraged the wide spread of Smalltalk.<ref name=Ingalls>{{Cite journal |last=Ingalls |first=Daniel |author-link=Dan Ingalls |title=The evolution of Smalltalk: from Smalltalk-72 through Squeak |journal=Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages|date=2020 |volume=4 |pages=1–101 |doi=10.1145/3386335 |s2cid=219603700 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Later, in 1983, Xerox released Smalltalk-80 Version 2. This version was generally available to the public, although under a restrictive license. Versions 1 and 2 were fairly similar, although Version 2 did have some added features such as a spelling corrector. Each release consisted of a virtual image (platform-independent file with object definitions) and a [[virtual machine]] specification.<ref name=Ingalls/>

ANSI Smalltalk has been the standard language reference since 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smalltalk.org/versions/ANSIStandardSmalltalk.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907224300/http://www.smalltalk.org/versions/ANSIStandardSmalltalk.html|archive-date=2015-09-07|title=ANSI Smalltalk Standard|publisher=Smalltalk.org|access-date=2007-09-13}}</ref> Two currently popular Smalltalk implementation variants are descendants of those original Smalltalk-80 images. [[Squeak]] is an [[open-source software|open source]] implementation derived from Smalltalk-80 Version 1 by way of Apple Smalltalk. [[VisualWorks]] is derived from Smalltalk-80 version 2 by way of Smalltalk-80 2.5 and ObjectWorks (both products of ParcPlace Systems, a Xerox PARC spin-off company formed to bring Smalltalk to the market). As an interesting link between generations, in 2001, Vassili Bykov implemented Hobbes, a virtual machine running Smalltalk-80 inside VisualWorks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wiki.cs.uiuc.edu/VisualWorks/Smalltalk-80+in+a+box |title=Hobbes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030419030217/http://wiki.cs.uiuc.edu/VisualWorks/Smalltalk-80+in+a+box |archive-date=19 April 2003}}</ref> ([[Dan Ingalls]] later ported Hobbes to Squeak.)

During the late 1980s to mid-1990s, Smalltalk environments, including support, training and add-ons, were sold by two competing organizations: ParcPlace Systems and Digitalk, both California based. ParcPlace Systems tended to focus on the Unix/Sun microsystems market, while Digitalk focused on Intel-based PCs running Microsoft Windows or IBM's OS/2. Both firms struggled to take Smalltalk mainstream due to Smalltalk's substantial memory needs, limited run-time performance, and initial lack of supported connectivity to [[SQL]]-based [[relational database]] servers. While the high price of ParcPlace Smalltalk limited its market penetration to mid-sized and large commercial organizations, the Digitalk products initially tried to reach a wider audience with a lower price. IBM initially supported the Digitalk product, but then entered the market with a Smalltalk product in 1995 named VisualAge/Smalltalk. Easel introduced Enfin at this time on Windows and OS/2. Enfin became far more popular in Europe, as IBM introduced it into IT shops before their development of IBM Smalltalk (later VisualAge). Enfin was later acquired by [[Cincom Systems]], and is now sold under the name [[ObjectStudio]], and is part of the Cincom Smalltalk product suite.

In 1995, ParcPlace and Digitalk merged into ParcPlace-Digitalk and then rebranded in 1997 as ObjectShare, located in Irvine, CA. ObjectShare ([[NASDAQ]]: OBJS) was traded publicly until 1999, when it was delisted and dissolved. The merged firm never managed to find an effective response to [[Java (programming language)|Java]] as to market positioning, and by 1997 its owners were looking to sell the business. In 1999, Seagull Software acquired the ObjectShare Java development lab (including the original Smalltalk/V and Visual Smalltalk development team), and still owns VisualSmalltalk, although worldwide distribution rights for the Smalltalk product remained with ObjectShare who then sold them to [[Cincom]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seagullsoftware.com/about/history.html#1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020806160121/http://seagullsoftware.com/about/history.html#1999|archive-date=2002-08-06|title=History|publisher=Seagull Software|access-date=2007-09-13}}</ref> VisualWorks was sold to [[Cincom]] and is now part of Cincom Smalltalk. Cincom has backed Smalltalk strongly, releasing multiple new versions of VisualWorks and ObjectStudio each year since 1999.

[[Cincom]], GemTalk, and Instantiations, continue to sell Smalltalk environments. IBM ended VisualAge Smalltalk, having in the late 1990s decided to back Java instead and, {{as of|2005|lc=on}}, is supported by Instantiations, Inc.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.instantiations.com/company/ibm-transition.html |title=VisualAge Smalltalk Transition FAQ}}</ref> Instantiations renamed the product VA Smalltalk (VAST Platform) and continue to release new versions yearly. The open [[Squeak]] implementation has an active community of developers, including many of the original Smalltalk community, and was used to provide the Etoys environment on the [[One Laptop per Child]] (OLPC) project, a toolkit for developing collaborative applications [[Croquet Project]], and the [[Open Cobalt]] virtual world application. [[GNU Smalltalk]] is a [[free software]] implementation of a derivative of Smalltalk-80 from the [[GNU]] project. [[Pharo]] Smalltalk is a fork of [[Squeak]] oriented toward research and use in commercial environments.

As of 2016, a significant development that has spread across all Smalltalk environments is the increasing usage of two web frameworks, [[Seaside (software)|Seaside]] and [[AIDA/Web]], to simplify the building of complex web applications. Seaside has seen considerable market interest with Cincom, Gemstone, and Instantiations incorporating and extending it.