From: Robert Dober <robert.dober@...>
Date: 2007-01-03T04:08:54+09:00
Subject: Re: Status of Cardinal (was Re: Proposal to create a new mailing list)

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On 1/2/07, Charles Oliver Nutter <charles.nutter@sun.com> wrote:
>
> Robert Dober wrote:
> <lots of good points snipped>


And I have gladely taken them especially the one about Java being your
friend even if you do not like it!!!

I think Ruby has the potential to be a "friendlier" Smalltalk, friendly
> enough that it could be Smalltalk design principals to a much wider
> development world.


That was after all also my idea, I still think that  albeit some good points
Ed made on the GUI, a  Smalltalk GUI system would be a *very* productive
development environement. To be clear I guess so I *do not know*.

Ruby has taken the many of the best features of
> Smalltalk (and Lisp, and a few others) and made them usable in a
> friendly, fun context. That's no small feat.


<snip>

>
> Here's a quick alioth shootout comparing VisualWorks Smalltalk (they
> claim it's comparable to Strongtalk) versus "Java JDK -server", whatever
> that is. Java comes out well ahead on almost every benchmark in terms of
> both performance AND memory use. I believe
>
>
> http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/gp4/benchmark.php?test=all&lang=vw&lang2=java
>
> Also versus GST Smalltalk (I'm not famiiar with it). Again Java comes
> out well ahead:
>
>
> http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/gp4/benchmark.php?test=all&lang=gst&lang2=java
>
> It's also very important to remember that the technologies in Strongtalk
> and Self live on in HotSpot;


Is HotSpot open source now?

so it's not far off to say that Smalltalk
> technology is in play today to make Java run faster.


That is very nice credit you are giving them :)

If we can find good
> ways to leverage that technology from JRuby (and other dynlang impls) we
> may achieve what Parrot is still working on: a world-class VM for many
> dynamic languages.


I ll try to get some time looking at it.
And without any ambition because of lack of time, money and (probably ;)
talent, it might nevertheless by a nice personal project to port some of
jRuby to Smalltalk.

Thanks for your precise and kind answers.

--
> Charles Oliver Nutter, JRuby Core Developer
> Blogging on Ruby and Java @ headius.blogspot.com
> Help spec out Ruby today! @ www.headius.com/rubyspec
> headius@headius.com -- charles.nutter@sun.com
>
>

Robert
-- 
"The real romance is out ahead and yet to come. The computer revolution
hasn't started yet. Don't be misled by the enormous flow of money into bad
defacto standards for unsophisticated buyers using poor adaptations of
incomplete ideas."

- Alan Kay

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