Newbie point of view regarding Squeak

goran.krampe at bluefish.se goran.krampe at bluefish.se
Tue Jan 4 08:43:57 UTC 2005


Hi!

Trying to give some hints:

Malte Finsterwalder <malte at finsterwalder.name> wrote:
> Hello Squeakers,
> 
> I'm also new to squeak, but I'm comming from a very different angle.
> I'm a professional software developer for about 5 years now. I work in 
> Java most of the time, since that's what the industry asks for at the 
> moment. I want to learn Smalltalk to get a different view and because 
> I'm unhappy with Java as a whole.
> 
> So here are my suggestions for a newbie-friendlier Squeak:
> 
> I think the standard-full-image has way too much stuff in it. I know 

Some think differently. :)

> that there is something like a "minimal" distribution with some of the 
> overhead removed, but it's not posted on the download-page at 
> squeak.org. I rather like the idea to start small and add as needed. In 

It is called "Basic" and... I agree that the main download site should
be better advertised:

	ftp://st.cs.uiuc.edu/Smalltalk/Squeak/3.7/

Basic is the image that development tracks. When there is a release we
then add a few packages on top and call it Full. There is also a
currently "mythical animal" called "Minimal" which is Basic minus the
packages that have been logically packaged and thus made "breakoutable".
Minimal is currently not prepared, but we have been talking about doing
that too.

Then we have the ultra small front called Spoon (Craig Latta's work)
previsouly known as Squat. It is a very, very small Squeak and aimed at
becoming the future base of Squeak. Don't know the current status.

> particular since SqueakMap makes adding packages so easy.
> 
> It's not so easy to find out what actually is part of the immage and 
> what isn't. Is SUnit included? In what Version? How about Monticello? 
> ... I know this by now, but it's in general not so easy to find out.

Ehum, the SqueakMap Package Loader easily shows what is installed and
what is not.
Just select the filter to only show the installed packages.

This of course only shows what is in the image in the form of external
packages.

> Configuration is not very easy. There are a bunch of on/off preferences 
> that can be adjusted rather easily, but are mostly undocumented.

I thnk there is work being done in this area (bells ringing in my head).

> Other things are even harder. e.g. I still didn't figure out how I can 
> change the standard font, since it is a little too small for my high-res 
> display.

Ehm... under World menu->appearance... ?

> An easier and better way to handle configuration in general would be 
> very nice. For me configuration includes look and feel, keyboard 
> shortcuts, ...
> 
> The unusual look and feel takes some time to get used to, but I know 
> this is not easy to change, since Squeak is OS and hardware independent 
> and draws it's own GUI. So it is reasonable to do it this way, but it's 
> not very newbie friendly.

Well, the trick is of course to gradually make it better. :) The whole
point of having its own UI is to make really cool things possible.

> There are lots of information about Smalltalk in general and Squeak in 
> particular on the internet, but I'm missing a "guideline". It's no fun 
> to read 10 introductory tutorials just to see where I learn more. The 
> Squeak-Books are very much centered around the multi-media capabilities 
> of Squeak that are not my main concern.
> I would be very helpfull to have a guide that points to further reading 
> and gives suggestions for different topics of interest e.g.:
> - General Introduction to Smalltalk

I assume you are aware of this site:

	http://www.iam.unibe.ch/~ducasse/FreeBooks.html	

Clearly the best way to learn Smalltalk.

> - General Introduction to Squeak

Squeak specifics are harder. The Squeak books are more like article
compilations - and interesting but not really "guidelines". The Swiki
has tons of info though.

> - Advanced Concepts
> - Multi-Media
> - Network-Programming (Web etc.)
> - Standard Standalone MVC-Applications
> - ...
> 
> Squeak is a rather complex system for a newbie. And hearing everywhere 
> that it really isn't that complicated is no big help. The hint to "just 
> read the source and browse the system" is no big help for a newbie to 
> Smalltalk. Some more guidance as a start would be nice here and there.

Agreed. Now... we just need someone to write them! ;)

This might interest you though: http://squeakhelpmirror.zwiki.org

> Just my thoughts....
> 
> Greetings,
>     Malte

regards, Göran



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