[Newbies] Why hasn't Smalltalk been wildly accepted?

[Keith Hodges]

>
> Java gained ground because anyone who wanted to try it could just 
> download it and learn it.  This wasn't possible with Smalltalk - so 
> nobody learned it.
>
> At least, this is how things looked to me as an enterprise systems 
> architect in the mid-1990's.
This was the picture pre 1995 I think, since then...

Other smalltalk vendors came into the market. Smalltalk Agents was about 
300 pounds in 1994. Squeak was free in 1996, Dolphin was free initially 
also in about 1996. When I wanted to write an industrial strength 
project I downloaded ST/X for free and although some sources were 
missing I could certainly learn enough and demonstrate enough to justify 
using it on a project.

If you ask any programmer in the UK, "what about Dolphin" I think that 
you will get a blank look. Its all down to marketing marketing and more 
marketing. Even my grannie probably knows that Java is a progamming 
language.

Having said this, because Smalltalk is relatively easy to learn once you 
are over the initial learning cliff, people have not seen the value in 
good documentation.

Pick any product that you wish to learn, go to your local book shop and 
see what is there. "The Pragmatic PRogrammer" was a book about ruby, and 
that book single handedly launched ruby into the mainstream, without the 
hype that surrounded  java. Smalltalk has lacked bookshelf presence, and 
I think that as soon as Seaside gets a book out there that O'Reilly puts 
an animal on the front of it the better.

just my 2p

Keith
 

		
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