Computer Science Seminar Series
Cross-Platform Development with Squeak Smalltalk
April 9, 3:00pm
Weir Hall, Room 235
Jerry Bell
Oxford Metamedia / Cytec Software
Abstract:
Squeak is an open source Smalltalk implementation which emphasizes cross platform compatibility. Squeak's VM is implemented within Squeak, and requires only a small amount of platform-specific code to be ported to a new platform. As a result, it is possible to execute Squeak object memories on all supported platforms with no modification. Squeak has been ported to OS X, Windows, Window CE/Pocket PC, Linux, OS/2, Acorn RiscOS, and several embedded systems; including some where Squeak acts as the entire operating system.
We will present a brief overview of Squeak including the early history of Squeak, the VM implementation approach, VM generation tools, and the Squeak object memory. We will present pros and cons of cross-platform development in Squeak and demonstrate a Squeak image running on multiple platforms. Finally, we will demonstrate a Squeak-based development environment which we use at Cytec to build software for a video Set Top Box platform.