I’ve finished the initial Context modularization. It’s 32 modules, 179 classes, and 1953 methods. The listing on the linked page above is now machine-generated from the modules.
Author Archive
initial Context modularization finished
Posted in Context, Naiad, Spoon with tags context on 5 July 2011 by Craig Lattanext steps
Posted in Naiad, Spoon on 26 June 2011 by Craig LattaWell, the initial Spoon modularization is coming along nicely. It has taken a form which is both human and machine readable, so I’m going to write code which reads it and creates the modules. Then I’ll check for methods which aren’t mentioned, probably removing some more stuff that hasn’t been used recently. Then I’ll test serving a module to another system, and adapt the remote browsing support to Squeak 4.2. The next Spoon release will consist of minimal history and subject memories and VMs (packaged as host-platform applications), remote browsing changes, VM changes, and VM build environments.
It looks like the first non-bootstrap module will be for printing (printOn: etc.).
initial Context modularization
Posted in Context, Naiad, Spoon with tags context on 20 June 2011 by Craig LattaAt last! I’ve wanted to see this list ever since I started Smalltalking. Here are the initial modules in Context, including the classes and methods they contain, numbered for reference.
How would you sort these classes by dependency?
Posted in Naiad, Spoon on 20 June 2011 by Craig LattaHere are the last 168 classes remaining in Spoon. I’m sorting them into a graph of dependent modules for the next release. How would you do it? Suggestions welcome.
ArrayedCollection Collection SequenceableCollection Array ByteArray Interval LinkedList OrderedCollection SharedQueue SortedCollection Association Link LookupKey ReadOnlyVariableBinding WeakKeyAssociation Character String Symbol Dictionary IdentityDictionary IdentitySet Set WeakArray WeakIdentityKeyDictionary WeakKeyDictionary WeakRegistry WeakSet Behavior Class ClassBuilder ClassDescription Metaclass Magnitude Time BlockContext CompiledMethod ContextPart InstructionStream Message MethodContext MethodDictionary Float Integer LargeNegativeInteger LargePositiveInteger Number Random SmallInteger Boolean False Object True UndefinedObject Delay Process ProcessorScheduler Semaphore HTTPServer HTTPAction ExceptionMarker OtherMarker RemoteMethod ClassID MethodID Module ModuleDescription Version AuthorEdition BehavioralEdition Checkpoint ClassEdition CommentEdition CommentedEdition Edit EditHistory Edition MetaclassEdition MethodEdition ProtoclassEdition TaggedEdition TagsEdition Apache GPL GPL3 License MIT Squeak BehavioralLiteralMarker ClassLiteralMarker ClassVariableLiteralMarker GlobalLiteralMarker IdentityLiteralMarker MetaSuperSendLiteralMarker MethodLiteralTransmissionMarker PublishedVariableLiteralMarker SharedVariableLiteralMarker UndeclaredLiteralMarker Manifest NegativeManifest PositiveManifest DescribeModule BrowseAvailableModules EmitFavoritesIcon InstallRemoteModule ListInstalledModules ModuleAction Quit RemoteModuleAction RemoveModule RunRemoteModule Snapshot Welcome UUID UUIDGenerator CounterpartRequest IncomingMessageExchange MessageExchange MessagingServer MessagingSession Other OutgoingMessageExchange RemoteMessageAnswer Wormhole WormholeServer Scanner Halt BlockCannotReturn Error Exception ExceptionAboutToReturn Notification ZeroDivide ConnectionRefused EncodingMismatch ExternalResourceError FailedReadingAttempt InvalidPositioningAttempt StreamingError Timeout MethodReference Interpreter ObjectMemory PositionableStream Stream WritableStream Correspondent Server SocketAddress SocketAddressResolver ExternalSemaphoreTable Client IncomingClient IncomingHTTPClient OutgoingClient SocketTransport Transport ExternalStream NetStream SocketStream TCPStream ExternalResource Peer ClientTCPSocket IncomingClientTCPSocket OutgoingClientTCPSocket ServerTCPSocket Socket TCPSocket
Windows and Linux apps created, initial modularization in progress
Posted in Naiad, Spoon on 14 June 2011 by Craig LattaI’ve created Windows and Linux apps to go along with the Mac app I made for starting Spoon. Now I’m sorting all the classes and methods of the minimal object memory into modules. Next I’ll test installing a module from one memory to another via Spoon’s webpage interface. Then I’ll adapt the remote browsing support to Squeak 4.2. Then, a release!
my favorite text editor editing a Context WebDAV filesystem
Posted in Context, Spoon with tags context on 9 June 2011 by Craig Latta
Context mounted as WebDAV filesystem
Posted in Context, Spoon with tags context on 6 June 2011 by Craig Latta
proposed WebDAV mapping
Posted in Spoon on 2 June 2011 by Craig LattaSo I’ve got a class called “Spoon” which services requests about Spoon from the rest of the world, via WebDAV. In particular, I provide the illusion of a filesystem that can be mounted by other operating systems. Editing certain of those virtual files invokes behavior within Spoon.
Here’s a summary of that filesystem:
/
/bin/
(frequently-used expressions, presented as executable files)
/classes/
(all the classes)
...
/classes/<class>/
(a file for each method of <class>)
/do (a file to which one write a method, which is
then executed, leaving the result as the
file contents)
/notes/ (a normal directory, for use as a staging
area for "do" files, for example)
Here’s what you might see at a shell on a machine which has a mounted Spoon system:
craig@netjam spoon> pwd /Volumes/spoon craig@netjam spoon> ls classes/ notes/ do craig@netjam spoon> cd classes craig@netjam classes> ls Object/ craig@netjam classes> cd Object craig@netjam Object> ls Boolean/ Collection/ (etc.) craig@netjam Object> cd Boolean craig@netjam Boolean> ls and: ifFalse: ifTrue: (etc.) craig@netjam Boolean> more ifTrue: ifTrue: aBlockClosure "If I am true, answer the value of aBlockClosure. Otherwise, answer nil." self subclassResponsibility craig@netjam.org Boolean> cd /Volumes/spoon craig@netjam.org spoon> echo "3 + 4" >! do craig@netjam.org spoon> more do 7 craig@netjam.org spoon> cd /bin craig@netjam.org bin> ls snapshot (etc.) craig@netjam.org bin> snapshot
This seems like the minimal functionality. What else would be nice or fun to have?
“Can I use my favorite text editor?”
Posted in Spoon on 31 May 2011 by Craig LattaYes!
I want to make Spoon as approachable as possible. One of the first things that turned people off about previous Smalltalk systems was that they couldn’t use their favorite text editor to edit source code. This resulted from Smalltalk’s fundamentally different way of structuring and interacting with information, but the recent ubiquity of network protocols for distributed file editing enables a solution.
Traditionally, Smalltalk is a complete model of a virtual computer, including the contents of that computer’s memory. This concept has become familiar on a mass scale through applications like VMWare. Those virtual machines run familiar operating systems, like Windows and Linux. The Smalltalk virtual machine, however, structures its memory entirely as live objects which send messages to each other. This contrasts with the pervasive notion of static files in other operating systems. Also, like VMWare, as far as the host computer is concerned, a running Smalltalk system is a separate machine.
But just as other virtual machine implementors have devised ways of interoperating with the host computer, Smalltalk can too. Smalltalk started as a single-user system, before network protocols like HTTP, or even the networks they use, were widespread. Now, however, a Smalltalk system can speak these protocols and present itself as any other computer would. In particular, it can run a web server that speaks a protocol for distributed file editing, WebDAV. Windows, Linux, and MacOS can mount WebDAV filesystems and interact with them normally. To the WebDAV client, Smalltalk presents a filesystem, and the way it actually structures information becomes irrelevant.
I’m writing WebDAV support for Spoon. One way to interact with Spoon (before one realizes what else is possible :) is to mount its virtual filesystem from the host computer, then edit files within it using your favorite text editor. Spoon can present files which are semantically meaningful (a class hierarchy as a hierarchy of files, for example), and associate various meanings with changes to those files. By choosing that presentation wisely, one could create a complete development environment, operable from that favorite text editor.
Happy first Equinox!
Posted in Naiad, Spoon on 22 March 2011 by Craig LattaHappy spring or autumn!
Making a deadline for myself pushed me to spend more time on Spoon, hooray! A couple of host-OS issues took more time than I thought they would, boo!
In the previous Spoon release, the (headless) minimal object memory includes a tiny web server that, when visited with a host-OS web browser, welcomes you to Spoon and offers a few suggestions for getting started (e.g., how to load modules). This release augments that with minimal virtual filesystem support (it turned out to be WebDAV), so that you can use “your favorite text editor” to interact with the system (eliminating what is for me the most annoying reason why people don’t try Smalltalk). I did this last, and it took longer than I thought it would to pull this off on Microsoft Windows (and yet, I’m not surprised :).
In the meantime, please do comment on http://netjam.org/spoon/naiad if you haven’t already. Thanks!
thisContext 