Folks -
Since a while before the release of Version 2.3, I promised to let everyone know what The Squeak Team will be up to for the next few months. With 2.3 out the door, we just spent some time on this, so I think I can give you a pretty good idea.
Here's the executive summary...
Move Squeak content onto external media and the web Make Squeak more approachable and usable by novices Integrate Balloon into Morphic Take a first stab at 3D in Squeak Release Jitter 2 and work toward native code
----------------- Squeak Pages Complete the ability of Squeak to store any Morphic world on a web page, and for any other Squeak to read that world in, active objects and all. Those active objects will include voice-over and event playback. We will know this project is successful when you can explore a full Squeak demo over the Internet starting from the Squeak Release. We will probably call that Squeak 3.0.
Modularity Enable the retraction of most changes at Project (or other) boundaries. This will allow one to run active content on web pages without permanent effect to the base image. It should also provide better protection between multiple developmental project in an image.
Surface Language Come up with a more approachable surface language for Squeak. Our only constraint is that any existing Squeak methods can be rendered into or read back from the new form. In addition to syntactic issues, this may include a simpler approach to events and control.
Programming Support Merge the functions of inspector and browser for simpler bottom-up programming. Simplify stepping, and enhance the display of program state when debugging.
Documentation Provide a self-documenting entry to Squeak with intuitive navigation into areas of major interest. By the time we are done, we would like to have covered the basics of presentation graphics, desktop publishing, internet access, music, 3D, and programming. It's a tall order, but documentation is our strength. One of the sentences in this paragraph is false.
Graphics Integrate Balloon fully with Morphic to provide anti-aliased display at any scale or rotation. Make balloon graphics editable both as curves and with the feel of sketching. Develop a layered 3D model that can be rendered reasonably via balloon with no need for special hardware, but that can also take advantage of special hardware or OS functions (via pluggable primitives) when available. Work toward a simple paradigm for building, manipulating and scripting 3D content.
Performance Complete Jitter 2T (T for threaded), and get it running on most platforms. Study its behavior, and work toward Jitter 2N (N for guess what). Jitter with native code should keep us happy for the rest of the millenium. [Jitter is really Ian Piumarta's baby, but we work so closely, it seems reasonable to include this as part of the plan] -------------------
This is our plan for the next month or two, maybe more. It's probably a reasonable characterization of what Squeak 3.0 will be like -- more approachable, more web-centered, faster, with better graphics. My target for having most of this in a releasable state is May 1.
That said, there is lots of other stuff that we probably won't be able to do. Part of our reason for disseminating this list is to give all of you a chance to reflect on the things we at Central are or are not planning to do. Then, to the extent you are interested or capable, you might organize your activities in a manner that would support or complement this general plan.
Onward and upward
- Dan (for TST)
It has been a month since I summarized our our plans, so I thought I would give you a quick update. Here are some major items in that message with comments added...
Move Squeak content onto external media and the web
... lots of this now works and will be in the next spate of updates
Make Squeak more approachable and usable by novices
... this is a major focus of the coming month
Integrate Balloon into Morphic
... this is a major focus of the coming month
Take a first stab at 3D in Squeak
... much of this works already, but Andreas wants to re-do it all, and that will probably follow the Balloon/morphic integration
Release Jitter 2 and work toward native code
... Ian's first version is out. I believe he plans a number of further advances before finally turning to native code.
We have several significant batches of changes in the works, and that is why we have not broadcast updates for a while. We plan to converge on these projects in the next few days, and I should get a bunch of updates out by the middle of next week.
Soon thereafter, we plan to do a quick release called Squeak 2.4. By quick, I mean that it will amount to little more than reading in all the updates since 2.3, condensing changes, and putting the result back out on the server.
Some of the upcoming changes are complex and we may withhold updates for a while until we achieve some stability on the other side. That's another reason to tie up loose ends with a release in the next week or so.
- Dan (for TST)
squeak-dev@lists.squeakfoundation.org