b...@openinworld.com wrote:
Bahman Movaqar wrote:
>
> ** A very good way to promote a mature and well thought-out language
> like Smalltalk/Pharo is to something serious with it and let people know
> about it. Honestly, I'd write a business application, open source it
> and try to promote it on the net.
> Many companies are coding in Java because the main software they
> implement is written in Java. As an example, I have to do business in
> Java because the ERP for which I offer services is written in Java. And
> I know quite a lot of people/companies sticking to Java/.NET for the
> same reason.
>
I have had similar thoughts that many people are first drawn to an application,
and then end up in its development language by default. My thought was based
around a non-critical application like a mind-map tool (similar to Freemind).
Something non-critical makes it easier for the techies to slip it in the back
door without management getting involved. However an open source ERP like
Compiere would be fantastic. The trouble would be attracting a domain expert to
implement it ;) Perhaps one way to go would finding an existing database driven
open source ERP system that doesn't have a web interface, and gradually bolt on
a web interface using Seaside.
I hesitated a bit linking to this video [1] about Compiere moving from a
desktop app to a web app, but a few comments made it seem
not-too-far-off-topic, and surprisingly might actually make it a good
target for a Smalltalk project to get its teeth into.
* that say say its a Model Driven Architecture with everything in an
"Active Data Dictionary" defining where stuff is rendered, how its
rendered - so I wonder if that eases hooking Smalltalk in
* the number of times "refactoring" was mentioned - so I wonder if a
good student research project would be an IDE for refactoring Java, even
to the degree of refactoring Java into Smalltalk
* they want to maintain both desktop and web clients - I'm sure there
were some recent comments on pharo-dev about abmitions to
"deploy-everywhere" eg desktop and web together
* they felt going Javascript and AJAX would suffer from losing complete
debuggability - I am thinking of the benefits of web client side Amber
debugger
* they made simple prototype of web interface in 2 weeks - obviously
they have the advantage of their own code, but maybe something similar
would be reasonably achievable as a demonstrator.
* reminded me of the massive amount of work in the world just
customizing applications to match customer business processes. eg
millions of dollars in the SAP world
* Compiere has some good branding in the business world.
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3znA_4xptA
cheers -ben
