Essay Topics
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As promised, here is my first list of essay topics. I would like to ask you to submit an essay on one of these topics. Multiple submissions are welcome; if they're good, they will all get published at Smalltalk Renaissance.
I will edit the articles for grammar and style. You should look good after I'm done. There's no deadline, but obviously the sooner you can write them, the better. SRP is a fast-moving campaign. If you have other suggestions for essay topics, please let me know. Without further ado, here are the topics... Topic #1: How do modern IDEs, such as Eclipse and IntelliJ and Visual Studio, compare with the tried-and-true Smalltalk development environment? ----- Topic #2: It is the contention of some critics, including Robert Martin, that Smalltalk did not (does not?) address the needs of the enterprise. Present a counter-argument. Explain how Smalltalk can assist the enterprise in team development, in large-scale development, and in integrating with existing (typically Windows-based) infrastructures. Pay particular attention to the question of RDBMS usage, which is often critical in the enterprise. ----- Topic #3: Some critics complain that Smalltalk does not play well with existing file-based tooling. Duh! Smalltalk is a "new" approach to IDEs and software engineering. We should be advancing this paradigm with new tooling, rather than falling back on the old again and again. Otherwise, things will never change for the better. Make a case for why we should embrace this change now, rather than waiting (for what?). Also, this webpage poses an interesting argument against Smalltalk. Perhaps someone can tackle it. ----- Topic #4: In the age of multi-core processors and concurrency programming, how is Smalltalk addressing the concerns of developers? ----- Topic #5: How should we address the issue of compatibility (ie, fragmentation) among various implementations of Smalltalk? Does this issue hamper the creation of an ecosystem of libraries and shared code? |
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Oh, I forgot to mention. Please notify me of your topic choice at my personal email: horrido.hobbies at gmail dot com. That way, I can coordinate the essay activities. Thanks.
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In reply to this post by horrido
Our first essay (in response to Topic #2)!
http://smalltalkrenaissance.wordpress.com/2015/01/06/smalltalk-in-business-italian-style/ Please step up. We need more. Thanks.
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I haven't heard from anyone else, which concerns me a little.
I remind everyone that this campaign is about you. Without your participation, it cannot succeed. Just drop me a line and tell me which topic you're writing on. You may, if you wish, create a new topic, as well. My list of topics was chosen based on the concerns I heard from other developers. Thanks.
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Richard,
Many people in the Pharo community have written lots of stuff over the years, at different level (introduction/tutorial to advanced/technical), maybe you should try to point to those documents first. Extra indexing is always good, it is PR after all. http://planet.smalltalk.org is another place to start looking for things. http://world.st is another PR initiative. HTH, Sven > On 09 Jan 2015, at 14:23, horrido <[hidden email]> wrote: > > I haven't heard from anyone else, which concerns me a little. > > I remind everyone that this campaign is about you. Without your > participation, it cannot succeed. > > Just drop me a line and tell me which topic you're writing on. You may, if > you wish, create a new topic, as well. My list of topics was chosen based on > the concerns I heard from other developers. Thanks. > > > horrido wrote >> Our first essay (in response to Topic #2)! >> http://smalltalkrenaissance.wordpress.com/2015/01/06/smalltalk-in-business-italian-style/ >> <http://smalltalkrenaissance.wordpress.com/2015/01/06/smalltalk-in-business-italian-style/> >> >> Please step up. We need more. >> >> Thanks. >> horrido wrote >>> As promised, here is my first list of essay topics. I would like to ask >>> you to submit an essay on one of these topics. Multiple submissions are >>> welcome; if they're good, they will all get published at Smalltalk >>> Renaissance. >>> >>> I will edit the articles for grammar and style. You should look good >>> after I'm done. >>> >>> There's no deadline, but obviously the sooner you can write them, the >>> better. SRP is a fast-moving campaign. >>> >>> If you have other suggestions for essay topics, please let me know. >>> >>> Without further ado, here are the topics... >>> >>> >>> Topic #1: >>> >>> How do modern IDEs, such as Eclipse and IntelliJ and Visual Studio, >>> compare with the tried-and-true Smalltalk development environment? >>> >>> ----- >>> Topic #2: >>> >>> It is the contention of some critics, including >>> Robert Martin <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX3iRjKj7C0> >>> , that Smalltalk did not (does not?) address the needs of the enterprise. >>> Present a counter-argument. >>> >>> Explain how Smalltalk can assist the enterprise in team development, in >>> large-scale development, and in integrating with existing (typically >>> Windows-based) infrastructures. >>> >>> Pay particular attention to the question of RDBMS usage, which is often >>> critical in the enterprise. >>> >>> ----- >>> Topic #3: >>> >>> Some critics complain that Smalltalk does not play well with existing >>> file-based tooling. > / >>> Duh! > / >>> Smalltalk is a "new" approach to IDEs and software engineering. We >>> should be advancing this paradigm with new tooling, rather than falling >>> back on the old again and again. Otherwise, things will never change for >>> the better. >>> >>> Make a case for why we should embrace this change now, rather than >>> waiting (for what?). >>> >>> Also, this >>> webpage <http://thoughtstorms.info/view/smalltalkunix/view/smalltalk> >>> poses an interesting argument against Smalltalk. Perhaps someone can >>> tackle it. >>> >>> ----- >>> Topic #4: >>> >>> In the age of multi-core processors and concurrency programming, how is >>> Smalltalk addressing the concerns of developers? >>> >>> ----- >>> Topic #5: >>> >>> How should we address the issue of compatibility (ie, fragmentation) >>> among various implementations of Smalltalk? Does this issue hamper the >>> creation of an ecosystem of libraries and shared code? > > > > > > -- > View this message in context: http://forum.world.st/Essay-Topics-tp4797847p4798569.html > Sent from the Pharo Smalltalk Developers mailing list archive at Nabble.com. |
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In reply to this post by horrido
On 9 January 2015 at 13:23, horrido <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>> Topic #2: >>> >>> It is the contention of some critics, including >>> Robert Martin <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX3iRjKj7C0> >>> , that Smalltalk did not (does not?) address the needs of the enterprise. >>> Present a counter-argument. Uncle Bob just doesn't know his history. Smalltalk suffered because it was _only_ in the enterprise (because, as someone on HN points out, no one else could afford the $10k/seat licence costs). I'm pretty sure James Robertson wrote about that, soon after Uncle Bob's facepalm-worthy talk. frank |
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In reply to this post by Sven Van Caekenberghe-2
Yes, but I'm trying to make SRP a focussed campaign. That means presenting a simple "here's a developer question – here's the answer" theme. SRP should not be a catch-all for Smalltalk resources, because there are already plenty of sites that do this. SRP should not be repetitive.
Instead, SRP aims to present a clear, unambiguous message. The message is guided. The problem with sites such as Planet Smalltalk and world.st is that you have to search for the answers to questions. I don't have enough time to do that (neither do people who come here out of curiosity or interest). Your assistance would be appreciated. If there is an answer already published elsewhere, let me know and I'll try to work it in. But please, let's stay on topic. The worst thing we could do is to make Smalltalk Renaissance look confusing. By comparison, look at how Apple market their products. Their message is always clean, yet informative.
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In reply to this post by horrido
Hi Richard, A note about the IDE: we put together a team that is working on building the future Pharo IDE. Our goal is not to reproduce existing IDE but created a new and integrated experience that plays to the strengths of Pharo. This is a rather ambitious project that will likely last a couple of years. You can see our current page here: Regarding the philosophy, you can get some input by watching the "Designing for Developer Experience" talk: We think this is worth advertising. Please let me know if it is of interest to you. Cheers, Doru On Fri, Jan 9, 2015 at 2:23 PM, horrido <[hidden email]> wrote: I haven't heard from anyone else, which concerns me a little. |
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Absolutely! This is an exciting development. It serves as a good response to Topic #1.
Your website provides some very cool links. They're a bit more technical than I'd like for a "marketing" campaign, but they can certainly be couched in more sales-friendly terms. So I suggest the following... First, make clear that this is an ongoing project with a near-term goal of release (ie, two years). Then outline your motivations, your general philosophy, and give a nice overview of the IDE. You can work in all of those cool links of yours into the text. Your website shows me that you know how to sell yourself. So take this opportunity to write an essay in your own words that excites the public. In so doing, you answer a major concern of developers who feel anxious about leaving behind Eclipse, IntelliJ, or Visual Studio. Thanks.
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In reply to this post by Tudor Girba-2
Oh yes!
The ESUG talk is particularly cool. Stef Le 9/1/15 16:20, Tudor Girba a écrit :
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In reply to this post by horrido
Please, is there anyone who cares to tackle, say, the question of concurrent multi-core programming in Smalltalk? Or tooling vis-à-vis in the Java or C# world? We need more essays.
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