The increasing number of platforms supporting graphical user interfaces has resulted in a demand for simultaneous deployment of applications on multiple platforms. At the same time, applications are expected to adopt platform look and feel standards in order to be accepted by end users. One-shot porting is not a viable option, because maintenance becomes very difficult if applications cannot be single sourced. Applications need to meet the following requirements:
IBM Smalltalk addresses these requirements by providing a fully documented API that supports the same functionality on all platforms. This environment offers a common interface through which developers can make use of API functionality regardless of the operating system or hardware in use. Using IBM Smalltalk, software developers can create applications that are fully portable between supported platforms and that provide full support for platform look and feel.