User's Guide

VisualAge and IBM Smalltalk enable you to rapidly build products in the IBM
Smalltalk language. The IBM Smalltalk development environment consists
of the following areas:
- The Smalltalk language.
- An object model. Smalltalk provides a model of how
objects are defined and how they behave. This object model supports
inheritance, class and instance behavior, dynamic binding, messaging, and
memory management (including garbage collection).
- A set of reusable classes. The development environment
offers an abundant set of classes that you can reuse in your Smalltalk
programs. These classes provide the basic functions in
Smalltalk. They support cross-platform portability, including portable
graphical user interfaces. They also support the definition and
management of classes.
- A runtime environment. Smalltalk provides runtime
support that complements its object model. The runtime environment
supports creating class instances, message routing, and automatic memory
management, including garbage collection and dynamic binding. With
Smalltalk, you no longer adhere to the traditional compile-link-run
cycle. Instead, you can run and test your Smalltalk programs while you
change the source code. Changes to the source code are instantly
reflected in the running program!
- A set of development tools. The development environment
provides tools that enable you to create, view, and change classes.
Additional tools let you inspect and debug source code. Other tools
analyze your code for performance. And, when your program is ready to
ship, the packaging tools produce a runtime image for distribution.
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