Would anyone be interested in a browser based smal...
# thinking-togetherr
Rafi Khan
10/03/2024, 12:52 AMWould anyone be interested in a browser based smalltalk environment that tries to simplify the task of building software?
Rafi Khan
10/03/2024, 12:53 AMThe idea of the product is to have an all in one software development tool that let's you write code, run tests, deploy etc.
It will also be backed by a github like social coding repo system so you can easily import code that others have written
Rafi Khan
10/03/2024, 12:55 AMThe main reason I think this would be neat is to get more people into programming or solving problems with computers.
They can mostly fork/remix existing code and only a portion of the users are likely to be professional developers who may be maintaining some of the libraries
Rafi Khan
10/03/2024, 12:56 AMI'm not sure it solves any real problems. Yes it aims to make software easier and cheaper to write, but maybe businesses aren't too worried about optimising software development?
It would be a new language and completely foreign tool, and i think this has already held back lisp and smalltalk before
Rafi Khan
10/03/2024, 12:57 AMI was thinking if the entire system was essentially source available, and you can hook in a small llm agent that can generate and run code, we might get a slightly more general ai assistant
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Konrad Hinsen
10/03/2024, 6:19 AMYou mean something like Amber Smalltalk, which is an actual Smalltalk environment running in the browser? Or something like Lively Kernel, the same overall idea but in JavaScript?
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Erik Stel
10/03/2024, 1:10 PM[Shameless plug approaching] Or using something like CodeParadise to run Smalltalk in the browser as well as on the server. https://github.com/ErikOnBike/CodeParadise
@Rafi Khan I'm also interested in this topic. (The start of CodeParadise was to create a development environment for kids.). My current idea (only in thought, nothing tried out yet) is to have a language like Smalltalk, but without the static class hierarchy. Somewhere between Self and Smalltalk. Allowing the addition and removal of behaviour to/from objects. Using the Smalltalk syntax. The static class hierarchy sometimes feels as a hindrance. Only if you're already comfortable with such a structure and/or can do the 'abstraction thing' you're able to create class hierarchies that actually work/are beneficial (even in the long(er) run).
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Francisco Garau
10/13/2024, 7:30 AMThere is an active project to run the Smalltalk IDE as a web app:
https://github.com/guillermoamaral/Webside