[Newbies] Re: Smalltalk Data Structures and Algorithms

K. K. Subramaniam subbukk at gmail.com
Mon Jun 29 05:55:34 UTC 2009


On Monday 29 Jun 2009 10:07:30 am Benjamin L. Russell wrote:
> Is there a counterpart to SICP (_Structure and Interpretation of
> Computer Programs_; see http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/) focusing on
> roughly the same topics from a purely object-oriented standpoint, but
> using Smalltalk, in particular Squeak, as a means rather than as an
> end?
There is no single book to my knowledge. Concepts in Squeak have their origins 
in biology rather than in computational math. The boundary between 'hardware' 
and 'software' is blurry. See the reading list at
   http://www.squeakland.org/resources/books/readingList.jsp
particularly "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins.

> One aspect that I really miss in Squeak is more focus on theory.  It
> would be nice if somebody presented a proof of correctness of a purely
> object-oriented algorithm that was implementation-independent.
Squeak is conceived to work more like an organism than a mechanism so concepts 
like proof of correctness does not translate easily into such an environment. 
PoC applies to computations small enough to be 'intellectually manageable' 
while Squeak tackles the big picture as a continously evolving gestalt of 
objects and interactions. The closest document that captures the essence of 
Squeak is the NSF Proposal at
   http://www.vpri.org/pdf/rn2006002_nsfprop.pdf

Also see the (somewhat long) discussion thread
   http://www.nabble.com/Dynabook-hw-cost-td10732041i20.html

Subbu


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