This rant states once again that in Smalltalk everything is an object. Alas, it is not (but should). This is a shortlist of things which is currently not objects in smalltalk:
* Message categories * Class categories (there is something called packages, which is rather useful as they are actually objects, but they are not really done nicely - manifest and RPackage???) * The virtual machine (there is only one singleton thingie) * The screen (there is only one why can one not instantiate more than one world - I guess it is somewhat possible when we get gtk). * Projects as (as in collection of objects). I happened to learn Simula before Smalltalk (I am Scandinavian after all). When I program in Smalltalk I for sure miss nested classes and other block-structured things. I happened to learn Beta (successor to Simula) before Smalltalk. I miss being able to define virtual classes - but it is moot as there is no block structure. To me, what really is nice about Smalltalk is NOT the language - it is the image and live programming. And I can get around all the problems with the language because of it. I miss: * Nested name spaces - when we finally get around to it, please do not do just one level. * Singular objects with behaviour I can write in a few lines (a single object overriding one or a few methods) * A simple switch/case statement * … But despite all this, I find programming in smalltalk much more fulfilling than any other thing I ever touched. Best, Kasper
