Smalltalk: It’s Not Your Grandfather’s Programming Language

Richard!  Smalltalk is /the electric car of development systems/!

You need to lead with an image of a *Tesla Model S*, not a Maserati!  

What do most people associate with Italian sports cars?  Expensive,
impractical, temperamental, always in need of (expensive) maintenance, etc.

Smalltalk is none of these things...  Inexpensive, more practical than most
people imagine, robust and resilient, minimal maintenance, etc.  It's more
like a trusty sports utility vehicle -- so maybe an image of a Tesla Model X
(or Y) fits even better.

Another way Smalltalk is like an e-car: Electric cars extremely popular when
automobiles were new, fell out of favor, are today misunderstood by the
majority, but are being "rediscovered" and found to better in almost every
way compared to "what's popular" (ICE vehicles).  Those who drive them just
LOVE them, and so the stage is set for the rEVolution: the renaissance of
electric cars.

And so it is for Smalltalk.  

tl;dr:  Smalltalk:e-cars::Pharo:Tesla



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Thanks!

I have a question for everyone. Someone has taken me to task for being
"sexist". He says I should refer to "grandparent" instead of "grandfather".

I'd like to ask for your opinion. Would "grandparent" sound better in my
article? Imagine replacing all instances of "grandfather" with
"grandparent". Would it have the same impact?

Thanks.



Lorenzo wrote
> pharo-users-bounces@.pharo

> ] Per conto di Richard Kenneth Eng
> Inviato: lunedì 6 gennaio 2020 19:07
> A:

> pharo-users@.pharo

> Oggetto: [Pharo-users] Smalltalk: It’s Not Your Grandfather’s Programming
> Language
>
>  
>
> https://levelup.gitconnected.com/smalltalk-its-not-your-grandfather-s-programming-language-f1985eaa17ff





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The problem is that the underlying premise of my article would be undermined.
Our grandparents had nothing like the Tesla.

I used Maserati because it's an /aspirational/ car. Not practical. Not
cheap. But droolworthy.

Nobody dreams of owning a Tesla. But Maserati? Bugatti? Porsche? Aston
Martin? You bet!



tbrunz wrote




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I would probably use "grandparents'" as in "not your grandparents'
programming language".



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I don't think so...  In the early 1900's some of the finest and most
sought-after automobiles were battery-powered electrics:
https://www.curbed.com/2017/9/22/16346892/electric-car-history-fritchle

You want to associate with the prestige of being a manly, winning, race car?
Okay:
Sept 7, 1896: The very first automobile race held on a track in the U.S. was
won by... an electric car.
https://insideevs.com/news/339638/on-this-day-in-ev-history-electric-car-wins-us-first-auto-race/

It does fit your premise:  One third of our grandparents (for those of us
>50 at least) drove electric cars [opcit].  Then their popularity waned as
ICE vehicles grabbed everyone's attention.  Now, e-cars are all the rage
again.  

Tesla is *the* aspirational vehicle: Last year GM sales declined 2.3%.  Last
year Ford sales declined 3%.  Tesla sales?  Tesla sales not only increased
last year, but have grown 47 *times* in 7 years!  Holy smokes!!! Talk about
explosive success and popularity!
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/01/03/tesla-sales-grew-47x-in-7-years/

Everyone dreams of owning a Tesla.  (I'm buying mine next year, when my Bolt
goes off lease...)  Those other cars are "unobtainium".  Flights of fancy.
Dream about them?  Maybe, but no one is every serious about actually buying
one and driving it for themselves.

Electric cars are a "disruptive" technology in the process of remaking the
auto industry world-wide -- and all for the better.

And so it is with Smalltalk, yes?  I suggest associating Smalltalk with a
real-world, world-changing, growing-in-popularity technology that's taking
people from skeptical nay-sayers to enthusiastic true believers -- not a
pie-in-the-sky, would-be-nice-but-can't-happen-to-me bit of
testosterone-infused wimsy.  Smalltalk is The Real Deal.  Something you can
obtain and DRIVE!



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I've made the change from grandfather to grandparent. Unfortunately, I cannot
alter the URL — it still reads grandfather.

As much as I would like to use Tesla, the problem is that our grandparents
never drove electric. Without rewriting a substantial portion of the
article, I cannot make a connection between grandparent and Tesla. It would
be too awkward.

I want my article to be elegant. That's the hallmark of my writing style.



tbrunz wrote




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Understood...  It is, of course, your essay, and my comments are just my own
view.

And I think I've made my point, which is what I wanted to get across.

I like your writing style, Richard.  You're making a huge contribution to
Smalltalk/Pharo and it's much appreciated.  Please continue!

-t




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We could agree to a win-win solution, "a' la Franklin Covey"
designing an automotive market solution, written in Smalltalk, for
Maserati (Modena), Tesla (Palo Alto) and why not Ferrari (Maranello).

All automotive brand will migrate their lines to full electric or
hybrid models.

What do Smalltalk needs to replace C[++]/Java in automotive market
solutions ?

(I saw either Ferrari & Maserati buildings and/or plants, I had to plan
a trip to Palo Alto ... and Hawtorne, for SpaceX)

Bye,

     Davide

On 06/01/2020 20:59, tbrunz wrote:
--
Ing. Davide Grandi
email  : [hidden email]
mobile : +39 339 7468 778

And it's a very good view, indeed. I thank you for bringing it to my
attention.

I was particularly impressed by the "revival" aspect of e-cars because, as
you said, Smalltalk is due for a revival, as well. This may actually lead to
a sequel article!

I am always amazed that I can still come up with new ideas for articles.
After 5 years, you'd think I'd run out of ideas. In fact, I actually thought
I did.

Surprises never cease.



tbrunz wrote




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Thanks.  This is the "human factors" engineering aspect, the "sales strategy"
part of the technology -- which has its own set of interesting challenges...
And is also very important to achieving success "in the marketplace" -- a
marketplace of the mind, which is adoption and use (as opposed to actual
retail sales).

I find these challenges interesting, and I can tell you're absorbed by it as
well.  It doesn't have the relatively 'clean' deductive solution in the way
that engineering challenges like development of the Pharo language and
environment have; it's not like "writing a program to solve the problem"
(regardless of how hard that may be), because the problem is persuasion &
motivation of other people.  That's messy, imperfect, unpredictable, and
subject to a variety of strategies -- some of which will fail one day and
somehow inexplicably succeed the next.

My strategy on this is simple: Associate Smalltalk with something already
successful (or it the process of succeeding) in the marketplace.  Better if
it's something that is emerging unexpectedly, or "beating the odds" and the
proving the "expert" commentators wrong.  Even better if it's something that
was a big deal in the past, but has been largely forgotten, but now coming
"back in fashion".

The parallels between the two technologies (and their timing) is almost
uncanny...

Looking forward to that sequel, Richard!!  ;^)



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If you were coining a new phrase, the charge of sexism might have some
dubious merit.
(Since it implies that your grandfather is still using outdated stuff,
it is derogatory to males.)
However, the phrase "not your grandfather's <whatever>" is widely used
to mean "this is
not at all an old-fashioned <whatever>", whereas no such phrase with
"grandmother" or
"grandparent" exists.  Accordingly, "not your grandparents' <whatever>" would
- fail to connect with the popular phrase
- and therefore sound significantly worse,
- make you look pretentious when the penny finally dropped, and
- detract from your message by focussing attention on the phrase
instead of your meaning.
Tell your critic to stop bothering you and go volunteer to help defend Iran.
"There is no grammatical gender in Persian, and pronouns are not
marked for natural gender."
(Wikipedia article on the Persian languages.)

Rather than pandering to your critic's attempt to exercise linguistic
hegemony over you, you might like to find another way to say  "40
years later, other programming languages haven't caught up yet."

There *were* electric vehicles in my grandfathers' day.  Maseratis
back then look very primitive now.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maserati_Tipo_26#/media/File:Maserati_Tipo_26.jpg
And people *do* dream of owning a Tesla.  At more than my annual pay
before I retired, I can only dream.  Heck, I bought a *house* for less
than a Tesla.  The last car I personally bought, I could
buy *SEVENTY* of them for the price of a new Tesla.  If you can buy a
Tesla, you've arrived, Clive.
You're eco-pure, Muir.  No longer a schlub, Bub.  You *sneer* at
Maserati owners; they may have more money, but you're *better* than
them.

I would also suggest that you are in the least concerned about sexism,
using expensive cars might just be more provocative than the word
"grandfather".

Hot-air balloons are old.  They are also a modern sport and quite
technical.  Oh, wait.
"The incidence of morbidity and mortality is high among hot-air
balloon tour crashes, and the proportion of balloon crashes attributed
to paid rides appears to have increased over time."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4888601/

Look, you *can't* please everybody.  Do work you're proud of, run it
up the flagpole,
and maybe you'll get a home run.

On Tue, 7 Jan 2020 at 09:18, horrido <[hidden email]> wrote:

If correctly understood your article, Pharo is for programming language, what
Tesla is for car. Or more shortly Pharo is the Tesla of programming
language?



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Hi Hilaire,

I would put it this way:  

Smalltalk is to other programming languages as electric cars are to other
vehicles.  I.e., superior in countless ways, and becoming the favored
technology as adoption increases.

Within the realm of Smalltalk varieties, Pharo is the sexy, popular leader,
just as within the realm of electric cars, Tesla is the sexy, popular
leader.

Or, "Smalltalk : Electric Cars :: Pharo : Tesla" to put it succinctly.

And to continue the metaphor (why not?), this makes Stef "our Elon Musk":
Creative, fearless, tireless, and dedicated to a vision that benefits
humanity.

The only question is, what will Stef send to Mars on a rocket?  (How about a
rover control system written in Pharo???)



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