Re: [Help-smalltalk] Hello list

[Marc Hanisch]

Hello Paolo,

thank your for the hints...

2010/5/20 Paolo Bonzini <address@hidden>:
>> At the moment I'm a bit confused about images vs. files. I'm
>> accustomed to work with files with my favorite texteditor in PHP and
>> this works in Smalltalk, too. But what is the advantage of images?
>
> I think this post
>
>    http://gbracha.blogspot.com/2009/10/image-problem.html
>
> shows the advantages and disadvantages of images pretty well.
>
> In GNU Smalltalk, the image is used mostly as a cache of preloaded
> packages.  It allows very fast startup because all the code is already
> compiled and converted to objects (instances of Class, CompiledMethod,
> etc.).  See also
>
>    http://smalltalk.gnu.org/faq/37
>
> which expands a bit on this topic.

I'm currently editing my class files with an editor. Implies the use
of images, that I have to edit my classes inside of gst? Or can I mix
both approaches?

>
>> And to be honestly, the GNU Smalltalk documentation is not the best
>> and clearly one...
>
> What did you find confusing, exactly?

The users guide is somewhat undidactic. There are no words about the
differences between the standard and GNU Smalltalk (for example the
braces in methods, the different initialisation of instance and class
variables (instanceVariableNames, classVariableNames etc)) in the
introduction. This makes it hard for new users :-)

Therefore the class-reference is fantastic :-D

Best regards,
Marc