Welcome to Smalltalk/V for Windows! And welcome to the world of object-oriented programming systems, or OOPS for short. It's no accident that Smalltalk should find such a friendly host in the graphical user interface of Microsoft Windows 3.0. Many of the powerful ideas which shaped graphical user interfaces had their genesis in Smalltalk research. At the time Digitalk was founded, OOPS was still largely confined to the domain of research laboratories. But microcomputers multiplied exponentially and extended the standards of personal computing, forever changing our worlds of business, research, education and recreation. With the introduction of Windows 3.0, personal computers now offer an impressive blend of both power and ease of use.
Smalltalk/V features pure object-oriented programming, a revolutionary approach to data abstraction, providing a new dimension in which to organize the elements of a software system. For you, this means being able to create highly reusable software, truly generic code and the opportunity to use a prototyping style of software development.
By buying Smalltalk/V for Windows 3.0 you have joined the world's largest community of Smalltalk users. You're in good company. Smalltalk/V is found widely in academic and research laboratories, R&D and product development departments of Fortune 1000 corporations, systems development agencies in government as well as on home computers for recreational and entrepreneurial pursuits. Smalltalk/V is being used for a tremendous variety of applications.
Smalltalk/V is selected by so many for such diverse enterprises because Smalltalk is both a powerful language - you can get a lot of activity out of a few lines of code - and a powerful program development environment. The system helps you to reuse as many lines of pre-written code as possible, and to quickly edit and modify them for your own program.
To encourage an exploratory "design-prototype-refine" approach to application development, Smalltalk/V lets you edit and install small code modules without lengthy compile and link sessions. You can build a program piece by piece and see the results immediately. You can experiment with bits and pieces of a program long before it is complete, exploring ideas, structures and algorithms as the application is grown.
Except for a small kernel in machine language, Smalltalk/V is written in Smalltalk/V. In addition, Smalltalk/V for Windows takes full advantage of Windows 3.0-specific features like Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL) and Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) to further extend your programming potential. At the same time, Smalltalk/V retains application portability to other Smalltalk/V host computers and operating systems. Commented source code for virtually the entire system is supplied in logically organized modules which you can re-use and modify in your applications. Methods that access Windows 3.0 features maintain compatible data structure, procedure and argument naming so you can rely on host operating system documentation for additional information about programming in this powerful environment.
This book is intended both for people who have never used Smalltalk and for experienced Smalltalk programmers. It is organized into four parts:
We use some standard notation conventions in this Handbook to help you understand what you are reading:
[i<10] whileTrue: [ sum := sum + (a at: i). i := i + 1].
Smalltalk/V for Windows requires any 80286, 80386 or 80486 computer capable of running Microsoft Windows version 3.0 or later in protected or enhanced mode, provided it has:
The following items are optional:
Before proceeding, please take a moment to make sure that you have the complete Smalltalk/V package:
The diskettes are not copy-protected. Using standard disk copying procedures, you can make one or several backup copies, as long as they are for archival purposes only, to protect your investment.
The Smalltalk/V community is growing daily. Digitalk's user newsletter, Scoop, keeps registered Smalltalk/V users informed of programming hints, product upgrade information, bug reports, available Goodies add-on packs, and special licensing and pricing information. To make the most of your Smalltalk/V investment, and to enable us to serve you more quickly when you need support, return the enclosed Registration Card and join the Smalltalk/V community to stay well-informed.
Sign the Registration Card and mail it in. And please keep in touch with us. You can reach Digitalk through the following electronic services: