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IBM Smalltalk: The Language

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IBM Smalltalk: The Language

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  • Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
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Description

  • Copyright 1995
  • Dimensions: 7-3/8" x 9-1/4"
  • Edition: 1st
  • Book
  • ISBN-10: 0-8053-0908-X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-8053-0908-9

This detailed reference book, produced in cooperation with IBM, provides encyclopedic coverage of the Smalltalk language as found in IBM'S Smalltalk and VisualAge products, while also providing an introduction to Object-Oriented Programming. Although a programming background is assumed, no prior knowledge of Smalltalk or Object-Oriented concepts is needed.

Numerous examples guide readers through the concepts and methods of IBM Smalltalk, moving from short expressions, to code fragments, to full programs. Over 350 numbered examples from the text are also available in machine-readable form. Nearly 1,000 smaller examples and over 100 figures and illustrations help to illuminate every concept. Extensive indexing and cross-referencing enable programmers to find information quickly, making this book a practical reference that answers important questions about the language.



080530908XB04062001

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Machine Readable Materials

The files that make up the Machine Readable Materials are:

   IBMSTEX1.TXT    Examples from Part I
   IBMSTEX2.TXT    Examples from Part II
   IBMSTEX3.TXT    Examples from Part III
   IBMSTEX4.TXT    Examples from Part IV
   ERRATA.TXT      Errors and corrections for the book.
   NEWSTUFF.TXT    New language features

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Sample Content

Table of Contents

FOUNDATIONS.

1. The Landscape.

The Parts.

The Platforms.

The Image.

The Class Library.

Further Reading.

2. Introduction to Concepts.

Pseudo-code.

Objects.

Four Principles.

Summary.

Further Reading.

3. Introduction to the Environment.

Workspaces.

Errors and Debugging.

Inspecting Objects.

Transcript.

Summary.

4. Language Elements.

Basic Elements.

Messages.

Variables.

Expressions.

Statements.

Control Flow.

Looping and Iterating.

Methods.

Blocks.

Scope of Names.

Summary.

5. Basic Classes.

Object.

Undefined Object.

Magnitudes.

Booleans.

Points.

Rectangles.

Summary.

6. Collections and Iteration.

Kinds of Collections.

Creating Collections.

Iterating Through Collections.

Testing.

Fixed-Size Collections.

Variable-Size Collections.

Dictionaries.

Summary.

7. Creating Classes.

An Employee Class.

Creating Classes.

Examples.

Summary.

Further Reading.

BUILDING BLOCKS.

8. Variables.

Kinds of Variables.

Side Effects.

Pool Dictionaries.

Summary.

9. Memory, Pointers, and Copying.

Identity and Immutable Objects.

Memory Management.

Pointers.

Copying Objects.

Indexed Memory.

Summary.

Further Reading.

10. Programming Interaction.

Simple Interaction.

Workspaces and the Transcript.

Summary.

11. Introduction to Debugging.

Viewing System Code.

Debugging.

Text Evaluation.

Debugger and Errors.

Summary.

12. Streams and File Streams.

Streams.

Streams on Collections.

Line Delimiters.

File Streams.

Random Streams.

Summary.

13. Files.

File Names.

File System Roots.

Paths.

Current Directory.

Deleting and Renaming Files.

Properties.

Opening Files.

Reading and Writing Files.

Error Handling.

File Sharing and Locking.

Summary.

14. Handling Exceptions.

Survey of Classes and Concepts.

Exceptional Events.

Building Exceptions.

Example.

Summary.

15. Processes and Synchronization.

Delaying.

Creating Processes.

Priorities.

Process Scheduler.

Semaphores.

Process Coordination.

Summary.

Further Reading.

16. Building User Interfaces.

Widget Types.

Widget Concepts.

Graphics.

Using Graphics and Widgets.

Summary.

Further Reading.

EXAMPLES.

17. Example: Stereograms.

Stereograms.

The Implementation.

Variations.

Further Reading.

18. Example: Block Streams.

Description.

The Implementation.

Block Stream Filein.

Examples.

Variations.

19. Example: The DoIt Browser.

Description.

The Implementation.

Doit Browser Filein.

Variations.

20. Example: Stream Filters.

Stream Filter Classes.

Applications of Stream Filters.

Variations.

21. Example: Chalkboard.

The Simplest Chalkboard.

Chalkboard With a List.

Chalkboard With Redraw.

22. Long Numbers.

Long Calculations.

Strings to Numbers.

Numbers to Strings.

Calculating With Long Numbers.

Methods to Filein.

Variations.

Further Reading.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CLASSES.

23. Using The Encyclopedia.

Protocol Tables.

24. Class Object.

Categories of Messages.

Dependents.

Protocol Summary.

Class Object.

25. Blocks.

Categories of Messages.

Blocks and Returns.

Instance Protocol Summary.

Class Block.

26. Booleans.

Categories of Messages.

Boolean Operations.

Protocol Summary.

Class Boolean.

Class False.

Class True.

Polymorphism in Boolean.

27. Collections.

Kinds of Collections.

Categories of Messages.

Protocol Summary.

Class Collection.

Class Bag.

Class Dictionary.

Class IdentityDictionary.

Class Set.

28. Collections: Sequenceable.

Kinds of Sequenceable Collections.

Categories of Messages.

Array Constants.

Collections Returned.

Protocol Summary.

Class SequenceableCollection.

Class AdditiveSequenceableCollection.

Class OrderedCollection.

Class SortedCollection.

Class ArrayedCollection.

Class Array.

Class ByteArray.

Class String.

Class Symbol.

Class Interval.

29. Common File System.

Kinds of CFS Classes.

CfsConstants Summary.

Protocol Summary.

Class CfsDirectoryDescriptor.

Class CfsError.

Class CfsErrorProxy.

Class CfsFileDescriptor.

CfsStat.

CfsDirectoryEntry.

30. Exception Handling.

Kinds of Exception Classes.

Categories of Methods.

Protocol Summary.

Class Block.

Class ExceptionalEvent.

Class ExceptionalEventCollection.

Class Signal.

31. File Streams.

Kinds of File Stream Classes.

Categories of Messages.

Flags and Codes Summary.

Protocol Summary.

Class CfsFileStream.

Class CfsReadFileStream.

Class CfsReadWriteFileStream.

Class CfsWriteFileStream.

32. Magnitudes.

Kinds of Magnitudes.

Categories of Magnitude Messages.

Protocol Summary.

Class Magnitude.

Class Association.

Class Character.

Class Date.

Class Time.

33. Numbers.

Kinds of Numbers.

Categories of Messages.

Generality.

Inside Integers and Floats.

Numeric Constants Summary.

Protocol Summary.

Class Number.

Class Integer.

Class Float.

Fraction.

34. Points.

Coordinate System.

Categories of Point Messages.

Protocol Summary.

Class Point.

35. Processes.

Categories of Classes and Methods.

Priorities.

Protocol Summaries.

Class Block.

Class Delay.

Class Process.

Class ProcessScheduler.

Class Semaphore.

36. Rectangles.

Categories of Messages.

Coordinate System.

Normalization.

Protocol Summary.

Class Rectangle.

37. Streams.

Kinds of Stream Classes.

Categories of Messages.

Protocol Summary.

Class Stream.

Class PositionableStream.

Class ReadStream.

Class WriteStream.

Class ReadWriteStream.

Class EsRandom.

38. System Interfaces.

Kinds of Classes.

Class EmSystemConfiguration.

Class EsCompiler.

Class Message.

Class DirectedMessage.

Class UndefinedObject.

Indexes.

General.

Methods.

Classes by Name.

Classes by Chapter.

Classes by Hierarchy. 080530908XT04062001

Preface

The IBM Smalltalk language is delivered in several products, as VisualAge which emphasizes visual construction of interfaces and applications, and as IBM Smalltalk which emphasizes a more traditional textual programming approach. Each comes with two levels of development support: team and individual. Each of these runs on a number of platforms, including IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows, and AIX.

This is a language book. It describes the IBM Smalltalk language and class libraries. Like most books for other languages, this book does not describe the development environment, the compiler, editors, or debuggers, to any great degree. The environment in which Smalltalk programs are written looks, feels, and acts in different ways in VisualAge than in IBM Smalltalk, is different in the team and individual versions, and is different in look and feel across the various implementation platforms. This book concentrates on the language and core libraries, because they are common to and uniform across all products and platforms. This book thus applies to all of the IBM Smalltalk and VisualAge products.

Information specific to a platform is omitted since the book (and IBM Smalltalk) is platform independent. There are no live screen shots, no platform-specific operating system or graphics calls, and no information on installing or starting Smalltalk. Detailed information on the development environment is likewise omitted, since the subject is large, details vary by platform, and the topic deserves a book of its own. Graphics and windowing are introduced in this book, but will be described in detail in a companion volume.

It is assumed that readers know how to program in some language, know the concepts of variable, procedure, parameter, loop, array, number, and so on, and have some experience writing programs for others to use.

If you are already a Smalltalk programmer, you will know most of the material in the early chapters. However, there are some extensions and changes, and it will be worthwhile skimming these chapters.

Goals

The author set out to write a book that was to be specifically for the IBM Smalltalk language. Five goals were set:

  1. To be a programmer's Smalltalk book, practical and for everyday use, and not a theoretical description, or an overview;
  2. To support all IBM Smalltalk and VisualAge platforms by including only portable interfaces, by defining and describing where portability problems are, and by not describing platform-dependent details
  3. To be a reference, by being complete and useful enough to be keep at hand while programming
  4. To emphasize examples, from short expressions to code fragments through full programs
  5. To make it easy to find things by indexing and cross- referencing extensively
Parts

The book is divided into four parts: an introduction to concepts and features, more advanced topics, sample programs, and the encyclopedia of classes.

Chapters in Part I introduce the concepts of object- oriented programming, the beginnings of interaction with the Smalltalk system, language elements, blocks and methods, basic classes, collections, and how to write classes.

Part II describes more advanced topics, including graphics, windowing, files and streams, details on variables and scoping, memory management, exception handling, and processes.

Part III contains sample Smalltalk programs.

Part IV is an encyclopedia of Smalltalk classes. It contains more detailed information about the classes and a full description of the public interface to the classes.



080530908XP04062001

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