installing nCompiler in 3.9 leads to Environment>>bindingOf: dependency conflict

Sorry with this endless "absolutely beginner" questions, but this maybe can help someone else like me, and you can save me some time by helping me:

Finally, I've launched the SqueakMap Package Loader succesfully under 3.9a7021 (thanks to Goran)

I wanted to install the nCompiler package, but I'm getting this error message:

---------------
This package depends on the following classes:
  Environment
You must resolve these dependencies before you will be able to load these definitions:
  Environment>>bindingOf:
---------------

Ok, as the message error has no useful meaning for me, an unfamiliar Squeak developer, I have to translate "resolve dependencies" as "install another package which contains this class" and go with that:
(and asking myself again: what's the real difference in writing a more descriptive error message if it consist of just adding 5 or 6 words anyway? ...mmm maybe the "advantages" of polymorphic hierarchies applied to reuse error messages?)

Well, no Environment class in 3.9a7021, it's ok 'cause I've started my 3.8 image and searched which package belongs to "Environment". ...(BTW, the PackageBrowser has no tooltip or label in any pane, is the package name only the leftmost pane? ), and the winner is the package "System-Support". Get back to 3,9a7021 and no "System-Support" package listed in SqueakMap (yes, I've updated the SM fine when it started)...my final question is where is the class? should I install by hand: fileOut from 3.8 and fileIn in 3.9?
As you see, so many questions.
Hope anyone can help me.

Cheers

Bill

On 04.04.2006, at 06:58, William Hubbard wrote:

> Sorry with this endless "absolutely beginner" questions, but this  
> maybe can help someone else like me, and you can save me some time  
> by helping me:
>
> Finally, I've launched the SqueakMap Package Loader succesfully  
> under 3.9a7021 (thanks to Goran)
>
> I wanted to install the nCompiler package, but I'm getting this  
> error message:

The package nCompiler is named "nCompiler for 3.8" for a reason: It's  
for 3.8, not 3.9.

For 3.9, please install the package NewCompiler.

(yes, using different packages for different Squeak Versions is not  
very good, but SM did not have support until recently
for branching a project for 3.8 / 3.9... I need to look into that  
added branching support and see if it is useful
for cases like this).

I added some hints to the descriptions of the packages (part of why  
they are in such a bad shape is that
SM did not work on 3.9 and so I did not bother to update them).

For NewCompiler: It depends on package AST, so you need to install  
this first.
I updated NewCompiler to the latest version We are using the  
NewCompiler heavily in a number of projects, so we are very  
interested in
any bugreports / improvements.

> Well, no Environment class in 3.9a7021, it's ok 'cause I've started  
> my 3.8 image and searched which package belongs to "Environment". ..

Environment was part of an experiment that was done maybe 5 years  
ago. The experiment did not lead to a conclusion, but the
code was kept in place (like so many other failed experiments...).

For 3.9, I cleaned that up.

In the POPL paper of the History of Smalltalk, Alan has this nice  
metaphor: "no biological organism can live in its own waste products".

Back in the 70ties, with the small systems they had, this can (and  
was) be used to argue for throwing everything away and
start from fresh. I would argue that today, we should take it to  
argue for cleaning up: The systems have gotten just too large
for re-starting (and who wants to re-implement e.g. a JPEG support  
just for re-doing it?). Even the most ambitous blue-plane
projects needs a base camp to start the expedition from.

So let's clean up. slowly, without haste, but continuously, and thus  
put the base camp as far up in the hills as possible.
I allways look at Squeak and see what it could be... is this what we  
have now really the best we can do?

       Marcus