[squeak-dev] SmalltalkImage current vs. Smalltalk

Andreas Raab andreas.raab at gmx.de
Tue Mar 2 04:08:56 UTC 2010


Folks -

I was just trying to load some other code and once too many I got bitten 
by this silly SmalltalkImage current vs. Smalltalk stuff, so I'll fix it 
now. The only question is which way. There are two alternatives which 
achieve the goal of "SmalltalkImage current == Smalltalk":

1) The Cuis variant: Move all the code back to SystemDictionary; 
implement SmalltalkImage current as ^Smalltalk.

Pro: Compatible with Cuis.
Con: Lack of separation of concerns.

2) The inverse Cuis variant: Move all the code from SystemDictionary to 
SmalltalkImage; add a 'globals' variable (populated by an instance of 
SystemDictionary) and convert everything roughly like this:

	SmalltalkImage current globals: Smalltalk.
	Smalltalk := SmalltalkImage current.

Pro: Better separation of concerns.
Con: Different from Cuis.

I really don't care which way we do it; all I want is to get out of the 
mess we've created by introducing "SmalltalkImage current".

If you have an opinion, voice it, otherwise I'll just pick one.

Cheers,
   - Andreas



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