Some Pharo 4 Getting-Started Tips
Pharo 4 is a fast-developing project, and like any project that moves fast and has a small community, the development sometimes outstrips the documentation. Since I’ve started to play with Pharo…
In which I make you hate Ruby in 7 minutes
Per the roadmap I laid out the other day, I’m making a concerted effort to work on my meager Smalltalk knowledge. One of the best ways to cement knowledge is…
Another Take on Smalltalk-Style Controll Flow (SBPP #6)
The latest Smalltalk-to-Ruby translation in my SBPPRB archive is “Dispatched Interpretation”. It’s one of the bigger ones I’ve tackled so far. I’m not going to go over the whole pattern…
Declarative Keyword Parameters in Ruby (SBPP #5)
Reading SBPP has got me thinking about keyword parameters. Ruby doesn’t have keyword arguments, but it fakes them pretty well: def explain(options={}) “the #{options[:the]} says #{options[:says]}” end explain the: “pig”,…
SBPP #4: method Cascades
In Smalltalk, you can “cascade” side-effectful calls to the same object using the semicolon (;) operator. E.g.: If I understand it correctly, the semicolon is effectively a K-combinator or “Kestrel”….
SBPP #3: Reversing Method
I’m pleased to find Kent Beck shares my affinity for methods with a consistent cadence. In the next pattern I translate, he looks for a way to bring a uniform…
SBPP #2: Smalltalk Patterns in Ruby
Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns continues from the introduction with a brief explanation of patterns. Some notable quotes: About leveraging commonality: “large-scale software re-use has not proven to be the answer”….
SBPP #1: Introduction
The Ruby Rogues are reading Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns for next month’s book club, so I finally got around to ordering a copy. It’s high time, considering that in my…
Languages I Want to Learn
I’ve fallen off the wagon of late in learning “a language a year” (as The Pragmatic Programmer advises). I have a long list of languages to learn, but I thought…