questions

Hi,
We are in the process of selecting the programming environment for our
upcoming project and I would really appreciate if someone can answer the
following questions for me.
I wonder if Squeak has libraries/classes for Bayesian Theorem, Recurrent
Neural Networks?
How can I develop applications in Squeak for PalmPilot, Cell phones.
I am not sure but I have a feeling that PICSmalltalk and PocketSmalltalk
discontinued.  Is that right? Then, what should I do?
Can I call C routines from Squeak?
Regards,
--Michael

Hi!

Michael Linderman <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Hi,
> We are in the process of selecting the programming environment for our
> upcoming project and I would really appreciate if someone can answer the
> following questions for me.

No problem.

> I wonder if Squeak has libraries/classes for Bayesian Theorem, Recurrent Neural Networks?

I haven't heard of any - but I haven't got a clue about that domain.

> How can I develop applications in Squeak for PalmPilot, Cell phones.
> I am not sure but I have a feeling that PICSmalltalk and PocketSmalltalk
> discontinued.  Is that right? Then, what should I do?

Ehm, PICSmalltalk is... not for the Palm IIRC. I am unsure about the
status of PocketSmalltalk but yes, I think it has gone unattended for a
while.

Squeak runs on lots of platforms - and can be made to run on lots of
platforms. I am unsure about the newer PalmOS versions, earlier it was
not possibly to get Squeak to run on it (due to the memory model IIRC).

> Can I call C routines from Squeak?

Yes, there are two mechanisms - FFI and plugins. FFI is simple and
dynamic, just make the call. The library will be dynamically loaded. But
FFI adds some overhead for the actual call - so if you need a LOT of
calls per second OR if you have more advanced needs - then a plugin for
the VM is the way to go.

Making a plugin is not hard - but you need to learn how the VM build
environment works and you need to look at the existing plugins to know
how it works. A plugin can be compiled internally into the VM or as a
dynamically loaded library.

The most of the functionality of the VM are in plugins - like Sockets,
Sound, Graphics etc.

> Regards,
> --Michael

regards, Göran

On Mar 8, 2007, at 11:42 AM, Michael Linderman wrote:

> How can I develop applications in Squeak for PalmPilot, Cell phones.

See http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/Handhelds for a sketchy overview of  
handheld support.

Basically you download or build a VM for the platform/OS (or port as  
necessary; it doesn't take much), and then run it with the Squeak  
image you use elsewhere. There are suitably-small versions of Squeak  
images that you can find with a little searching, but KernelImage is  
an easy place to start these days; see:
  http://www.comtalk.net/Squeak/98

Anything you can run in Squeak on a desktop computer or laptop can  
run on a PDA or smartphone, although the graphics will be slower and  
memory requirements are tighter.

PalmOS is not supported by Squeak that I recall since the memory  
model involves small databases which interferes with Squeak garbage  
collection / memory management. Newer (ARM-based) versions of PalmOS  
may have removed this requirement, but no one's cared enough to  
investigate.

Ultimately, though, Squeak is an open-source project without specific  
funding for creating a PDA-oriented IDE, so don't expect a ready-made  
solution.

--
-Brian
http://briantrice.com

> PalmOS is not supported by Squeak that I recall since the memory model
> involves small databases which interferes with Squeak garbage
> collection / memory management.

     IBM Almaden did a working port at one point, but never released it.

> Newer (ARM-based) versions of PalmOS may have removed this
> requirement, but no one's cared enough to investigate.

     Actually, Matt Hamrick (who works at Palm) is up to speed on that.
(I hope he doesn't mind me citing him :).


-C

--
Craig Latta
improvisational musical informaticist
www.netjam.org
Smalltalkers do: [:it | All with: Class, (And love: it)]

Hello Michael,

ML> I wonder if Squeak has libraries/classes for Bayesian Theorem, Recurrent
ML> Neural Networks?
There is a Squeak binding for the fann library (fast artificial neural
network) and Luciano Notarfrancesco did something.

The first can be found via sourceforge, I found the latter via google
but can send it to you.

I noticed nothing special on your direct requests though.

I myself ended up rolling my own using FloatArrays for speed.

ML> Can I call C routines from Squeak?

Yes that's how the fann binding works.

See Göran's Reply for more.

Cheers,

Herbert                            mailto:[hidden email]