Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at one of the low level API aspects of Smalltalk - #instVarAt: and #instVarAt:put:. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:
If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.
You can also watch it on YouTube:
Today we'll look at a way you can break encapsulation in Smalltalk - useful for some low level tasks (interfacing with databases, for instance) - but dangerous in general. Still, it's useful to know what you can accomplish, so long as you are also aware of the dangers. Consider this class:
Object subclass: #Person
classInstanceVariableNames: 'nextId '
instanceVariableNames: 'id first last '
classVariableNames: ''
poolDictionaries: ''
Now consider this code:
person := Person new.
person first: 'James'.
person last: 'Robertson'.
person instVarAt: 1
Execute that, and you should get back the value in 'id' = the first instance variable. Again this is not something you want to make use of on a normal basis. It can be useful when debugging (say you have a class without accessing methods), or when creating accessing frameworks for external data. Similarly:
person instVarAt: 1 put: 0.
Need more help? There's a screencast for other topics like this which you may want to watch. Questions? Try the "Chat with James" Google gadget over in the sidebar.
On April 30th, we will turn off posterous.com and our mobile apps in order to focus 100% of our efforts on Twitter. This means that as of April 30, Posterous Spaces will no longer be available either to view or to edit.
Now, they are letting you download your content, but: what do you actually do with it? Having your own server shields you from this. Sure, the hosting company could go bust, but there are other hosting firms, and you can switch your DNS setup fairly easily.
Welcome to episode 115 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson and David Buck.
This week Dave and I talked about two things - encapsulation (and what kinds of things break it), and the "bus count" problem on projects. That latter one relates to the fact that on any long term project, a small number of people tend to accumulate critical knowledge about the project - and if they leave for any reason, things can slide downhill quickly.
You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.
To listen now, you can either download the mp3 edition, or the AAC edition. The AAC edition comes with chapter markers. You can subscribe to either edition of the podcast directly in iTunes; just search for Smalltalk and look in the Podcast results. You can subscribe to the mp3 edition directly using this feed, or the AAC edition using this feed using any podcatching software. You can also download the podcast in ogg format.
If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!
If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!
Welcome to episode 115 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson and David Buck.
This week Dave and I talked about two things - encapsulation (and what kinds of things break it), and the "bus count" problem on projects. That latter one relates to the fact that on any long term project, a small number of people tend to accumulate critical knowledge about the project - and if they leave for any reason, things can slide downhill quickly.
You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.
To listen now, you can either download the mp3 edition, or the AAC edition. The AAC edition comes with chapter markers. You can subscribe to either edition of the podcast directly in iTunes; just search for Smalltalk and look in the Podcast results. You can subscribe to the mp3 edition directly using this feed, or the AAC edition using this feed using any podcatching software. You can also download the podcast in ogg format.
If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!
If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!
Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at finding arbitrary strings in your ObjectStudio code. Turns out that this feature in OS is easier to use than the equivalent one in VisualWorks. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:
If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.
Pretty stupid, as it turns out. I have pre-check status through my Platinum status on American Airlines. That means that within the bowels of TSA, I have a known traveler number, which means that I should be able to have pre-check regardless of what airline I travel on. Except....
American doesn't have access to that number
TSA says they can't provide it to me
USAirways can't request it
In fact, USAirways tells me that I need to give them the number, which I can't get access to. If this isn't a modern day example of catch-22 in operation, I don't know what is.
Today's Javascript 4 You continues looking at the Directions Service APIs in Google Maps. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube.
Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.
To watch now, click on the image below:
If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.
Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at the inspector that's used in the latest versions of ObjectStudio. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:
If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.
Earlier this evening, I visited the Mall of America. It's impressively large - the Nickleodeon amusement park is in the middle, surrounded by the stores. I took a photo of that:
Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.
To watch now, click on the image below:
If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.
There's going to be a mini-conference in Bern this April:
During April 2-4 we will organize a PharoConf and a MooseDay in Bern, Switzerland. Mark the day and join us. The participation will be free of charge. The conference will focus on interactivity and exchange, and will feature experience report talks, tutorials, show-us-your-project sessions and open discussions.
We are still looking for submissions for some good presentations for the STIC 2013 Conference - especially anything tied into the history of Smalltalk. We'll be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Smalltalk at the show. So:
STIC is a forum where Smalltalk professionals, researchers and enthusiasts can meet and share ideas and experiences. STIC is currently accepting proposals for talks involving Smalltalk technology and other areas of innovation in the software industry. We’re looking forward to an excellent conference and need your participation to maintain the high technical level of the conference!
We are also looking for academic papers for the “Smalltalk Directions” part of the conference. If you plan to submit a paper, please follow the same directions listed below for presentations. Such papers should address possible future directions for Smalltalk and/or Smalltalk-inspired dynamic languages.
The conference will take place at the Wigwam Resort in Phoenix, Arizona on June 9-12, 2013.
Presentations will have 45 minutes time slots including discussion, and they may be in the form of:
History of Smalltalk – It’s the 30th Anniversary of the language, and we would love to see presentations on this topic.
Technical presentations
Experience reports
Technology demonstrations
Panel discussions
Workshops
Describe your idea to us!
Proposals should be submitted by email to Sts_Speakers@stic.st and should include the following information:
Name
Contact information
Type of presentation
A brief abstract
A short biography for the presenter(s)
Any date/time constraints
Any other information you think we should know
If you cannot discuss the internal application you are working on due to corporate restrictions, perhaps you can discuss the application’s component usage or development process. We also plan to reserve time for short presentations in the form of Lightning Talks and short technology demonstrations, but these will be available for sign-up at the conference rather than as advanced proposals. These talks will be limited to a five- to eight-minute time window. So if you intend to volunteer for one at the conference, please be prepared for that!
Submissions should be received by February 28, 2013, and should be submitted either in PDF or Word (Microsoft) format. Note that submissions with incomplete information may be rejected (particularly if a bio or abstract information is missing).
Presenters will qualify for a discounted registration. If your talk is accepted, we’ll have full details on the specifics.
For updates and announcements about the conference, please visit us on the web at http://www.stic.st
Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at the common way to look up Smalltalk class names (things differ a bit in VisualWorks and ObjectStudio). If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:
If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.
You can also watch it on YouTube:
Today we'll continue looking at reflection in Smalltalk. In most Smalltalk implementations (Cincom Smalltalk being the exception), there's one namespace (Smalltalk). Thus, looking up a class by name is simple:
That makes reading in data from a source (a file, for instance) that includes class names pretty easy - get the class name, create an instance, and then dump data in the variables as it's found in the file. We'll take a look at that next time.
Need more help? There's a screencast for other topics like this which you may want to watch. Questions? Try the "Chat with James" Google gadget over in the sidebar.