I would insert the phrase "for you" several times into your post. That is, is Python a better language (for me) at this time. Or, was Python an easier language (for me) to learn than Smalltalk.
If you come late enough to the party (and the party is large enough), you can Google for all your answers. Smalltalk's popularity spiked in the early 90s (until Java popped its bubble). You couldn't Google for Smalltalk answers then largely due to the lack of Google ;-). I learned Smalltalk just after its peak (or maybe at its peak, hard to say). I'd seen Java first and even learned how to build simple apps. By then, I already knew C, C++, and Pascal. I cut my teeth on Commodores (3584 BASIC BYTES FREE!), Apples, and Ataris. Smalltalk was easy for me, but there were many resources available to me: First, (and probably most important) a paying job writing Smalltalk. 60+ hours a week of paid practice doesn't hurt. Access to commercial Smalltalks (VisualAge and VisualWorks) and an employer to pay the $2K-$5K developer license fees. Time working with 50+ Smalltalkers all working on the same project. An active and growing Smalltalk Users Group in my city. An active subscription to the Smalltalk Report magazine (with great articles by guys like Kent Beck). Access to all of the back issues of the Smalltalk Report. Many printed Smalltalk manuals from IBM and ParcPlace. Dozens of IBM Redbooks showing how to do just about anything you would need in the enterprise. I think Andy Bower had it right - "Smalltalk is dangerous. It is a drug. My advice to you would be don't try it; it could ruin your life." It certainly ruined me for most other languages. I've learned Java, Ruby, Python, and Perl in that order since Smalltalk. Java, Ruby, and Perl were for work and Python was a curiosity. I don't use any of them when I have a choice because I'm so much more productive (and happy) in Smalltalk. I love Pharo because it is working to make a better Smalltalk. I'm lucky today because I get to choose my tools at work which means I get to use Pharo! On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:29 AM, Robert Peters<[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello everyone, > > 1. Whichever fork is most professional will win. I believe this was one of > the goals of the Pharo project, so I'd have to say Pharo will eventually > lead. > > 2. Smalltalk in all its forms will fail unless it can grab developer > interest from outside the current community. Pharo may be better than > Squeak, but if everyone moves from Squeak to Pharo, your audience is still > too small to be significant. > > I'm a web-application developer (Django, GAE) and self-taught Python coder. > I learned Python because it was easy, and there is a wealth of information > available on the internet. If I have any problem in Python, I simply type > 'python issue' into Google and within a few clicks I'm usually looking at > the answer. When I tried to learn Smalltalk, it was intensely frustrating. > There were no on-line resources, no tutorials, no explanations. > > I think the real question is, "Is Smalltalk a better language than Python?" > By better, I mean, "Can I get done more coding tasks faster, in a more > sustainable way?" > > Right now, the answer to this question is a resounding 'No'. But that > answer might change with a slick Smalltalk package, and an abundance of > developer resources. As it is, Smalltalk is a language for eccentrics. But > it doesn't need to be that way. > > All of this to say that I really like the beautiful simplicity of > Smalltalk's main paradigm - Message Passing. > > It's simple. It's elegant. But learning it is a stone bitch, and once > you've learned it, it has only limited value (compared, for example, to the > wealth of things one can do in Python). I wish this would change. > -- > View this message in context: > http://n2.nabble.com/Squeak-Forks-Popularity---Trends-Estimate-tp3211130p3232572.html > Sent from the Pharo Smalltalk mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > > _______________________________________________ > Pharo-project mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.gforge.inria.fr/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pharo-project > _______________________________________________ Pharo-project mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gforge.inria.fr/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pharo-project
