[self-interest] Re: JSelf future

[Stefan Matthias Aust]

Diego, Jecel, everybody else,

>The idea is that if Self is implemented on top of Java, then you will be able
>to run it everywhere. From my experience with both the performance and
>portability of Java, I am not sure this would actually be very usable. I
would
>expect better performance from Self on Smalltalk (which has been done about
>three times already...)

I started my own version Self on Java (which is based on my Self in
Smalltalk prototype I created a year ago - probably one of the three
versions mentioned above :-) a few month ago but never finished that
project so I never mentioned it.

Compared with Self on Squeak, the Java version performs much better -
especially with HotSpot.  It's still not comparable with the real Self
system I think, but the advantage is that I can easily script existing Java
code.  I did a very small example with Swing.   And I've to say that a lot
of Smalltalkers (and Self fan) here and on the Squeak list are biased.
Java is better than you think :-)

I started my version after I had a very quick look at the sources of JSelf
(Diego kindly allowed me to see) as I think my version is smaller, better
designed and not commented in portuguese(?)...  I use a hand-written parser
instead of a generated one and a slightly different object model and
interpreter.  My intension was to easily interact with existing Java.  I
also decided not to use JSelf code as at that time it wasn't clear whether
I was allowed to publish the code.

Working for a new comanpy, I think it should be possible to make it an open
source project if anybody is interested.  It might also be useful to
integrate stuff from Diego's JSelf project.

Unfortunately, the code (as the Smalltalk version of mySelf) isn't yet in a
state where I'd like to share it and the days have not enough hours.  I
might be able to fix a few outstanding bugs and add some documentation and
share the code in the next weeks if there's interest...


bye
--
Stefan Matthias Aust  //  Bevor wir fallen, fallen wir lieber auf.