Advanced Smalltalk [Paperback]

Jonathan Pletzke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996 | ISBN-10: 0471163503 | ISBN-13: 978-0471163503

From exception handling to the Internet, the first guide to advanced Smalltalk programming techniques

This powerful book/CD package is for experienced Smalltalk programmers who are ready to go on to the next level. Beginning where all the other Smalltalk programming guides leave off, this package arms you with advanced programming techniques and a wealth of insider tips on how to more quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively develop applications in Smalltalk. While the focus throughout is on the five most popular versions of Smalltalk (VisualWorks, VisualSmalltalk, VisualAge/IBM Smalltalk, SmalltalkAgents, and Enfin), users of other, less widely used Smalltalk environments can benefit from the information in this book.

Advanced Smalltalk tells you what you need to know about:
* Avoiding most common Smalltalk bugs
* Using patterns and frameworks
* Supercharging your Smalltalk programs to make them run faster
* Integrating non-Smalltalk legacy code with your Smalltalk application
* Storing and retrieving information from relational and object databases
* Smalltalk on the Internet and its role in electronic commerce
* The Smalltalk ANSI Standard
* Implementing neural nets in Smalltalk
* Style for design and coding in Smalltalk
* Interview guidelines for Smalltalk programmers

JONATHAN PLETZKE is a consultant specializing in Smalltalk development and programming.

On the CD-ROM you'll find:
* An object-oriented HTTP server
* An object-oriented HTTP client
* A documentation generator
* Development and team source code management tools
* Primitive and external interface templates
* A back-propagation neural net program
* Two public domain Smalltalk development environments:

GNU Smalltalk for Unix, DOS, Windows, and Windows/NT

Little Smalltalk for Macintosh, DOS, Windows, and Unix
* Two Educational/Demonstration Smalltalk development environments:
* Smalltalk/X for Unix (Solaris and Linux)
* SmalltalkNT for Windows/NT version 4.0
* Smalltalk archives: University of Illinois Archive (st.cs.uiuc.edu)

Smalltalk Store Archive (www.smalltalk.com)

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Advanced Smalltalk is the first book to deal with higher level programming issues using Smalltalk. This book presents programmers with the four popular versions of Smalltalk, including ParcPlace/Digitalk and IBM, and discusses how to use them to create quick and cost effective applications. It also introduces Smalltalk applications on the Web and design patterns. Includes CD-ROM with... * 60-day evaluation copy of IBM's VisualAge Smalltalk and QKS Smalltalk products * Object-Oriented Personal Information Manager (PIM) * Development and Team Source Code Management Tools * Generic C and Primitives Templates for each Smalltalk version * Back-Propagation Neural Network Program * An Object-Oriented HTTP Server.

From the Back Cover

From exception handling to the Internet, the first guide to advanced Smalltalk programming techniques

This powerful book/CD package is for experienced Smalltalk programmers who are ready to go on to the next level. Beginning where all the other Smalltalk programming guides leave off, this package arms you with advanced programming techniques and a wealth of insider tips on how to more quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively develop applications in Smalltalk. While the focus throughout is on the five most popular versions of Smalltalk (VisualWorks, VisualSmalltalk, VisualAge/IBM Smalltalk, SmalltalkAgents, and Enfin), users of other, less widely used Smalltalk environments can benefit from the information in this book.

Advanced Smalltalk tells you what you need to know about:
* Avoiding most common Smalltalk bugs
* Using patterns and frameworks
* Supercharging your Smalltalk programs to make them run faster
* Integrating non-Smalltalk legacy code with your Smalltalk application
* Storing and retrieving information from relational and object databases
* Smalltalk on the Internet and its role in electronic commerce
* The Smalltalk ANSI Standard
* Implementing neural nets in Smalltalk
* Style for design and coding in Smalltalk
* Interview guidelines for Smalltalk programmers

JONATHAN PLETZKE is a consultant specializing in Smalltalk development and programming.

On the CD-ROM you'll find:
* An object-oriented HTTP server
* An object-oriented HTTP client
* A documentation generator
* Development and team source code management tools
* Primitive and external interface templates
* A back-propagation neural net program
* Two public domain Smalltalk development environments:

GNU Smalltalk for Unix, DOS, Windows, and Windows/NT

Little Smalltalk for Macintosh, DOS, Windows, and Unix
* Two Educational/Demonstration Smalltalk development environments:
* Smalltalk/X for Unix (Solaris and Linux)
* SmalltalkNT for Windows/NT version 4.0
* Smalltalk archives: University of Illinois Archive (st.cs.uiuc.edu)

Smalltalk Store Archive (www.smalltalk.com)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 569 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471163503
• ISBN-13: 978-0471163503
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,700,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Misleading title, September 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Advanced Smalltalk (Paperback)

My initial feeling was that this book would fill a market niche. There are many introductory books on Smalltalk but one that takes you beyond the usual material seemed to be missing.

With this expectation I found the book quite disappointing. Most of the chapters are not advanced at all. In an attempt to cover everything with the book most individual chapters tell so little and do not hit the point (e.g., patterns & frameworks) that they are next to being useless.

When the opportunity to become advanced is there (e.g., comparing "is-a" vs. "subclassing" vs. "subtyping") useful references are not mentioned and the subject is not explored sufficiently. In addition, quite a number of wrong information is contained. Occasionally, useful information is available but the most useful part is the accompanying CD-ROM.

Overall, disappointing. A different title (e.g., "The world of Smalltalk" alluding to the version comparisons and superficial discussion of many related topics) would probably create the right expectations. The book, however, consistently compares solutions and points out differences in four different Smalltalk products. This makes it attractive to someone trying to make a decision for a particular product.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not "Advanced", April 28, 2000

By 

GO SMALLTALK! - See all my reviews

This review is from: Advanced Smalltalk (Paperback)

There is very little "advanced" material in this book. This book contains lots of useful intro material for beginners and some moderately advanced material for those progressing out of the beginner stage. Be forewarned, however...half the book is composed of useless filler - a hierarchical dump of all of the classes in several different dialects. This was obvioulsy put in to bulk the book up by a few hundred pages and a couple of pounds.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dissapointing, March 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Advanced Smalltalk (Paperback)

The book promises so much and its list of topis is very good. But all its chapters are short and there is a general lack of insightful views. For advanced techniques, get Alec Sharp's book. For a strong design foundation, get Lui's book. This one will frustate you mostly. It has a good coverage of the difference among the different Smalltalk dialects, but this is far behind what the author could have done.