Smalltalk Plays an Important Part in University’s Curriculum

Currently, the course covers such contents as reflection, aspect-oriented programming and prototype-based programming (object orientation without classes, i.e., Self or Javascript).

Since Smalltalk is used to teach reflection and AOP in dynamic languages, he felt that the course should also include seven two-hour lectures on an introduction to Smalltalk (he uses Java and AspectJ to teach reflection and AOP in static languages).

According to Associate Professor Delgado, who recommends that his students use Cincom^® VisualWorks^® for their class, “Smalltalk is perfect for teaching reflection, either behavioral or structural, since its reflective capabilities are unparalleled.” He continues by saying, “Smalltalk’s ‘objects all the way down’ philosophy makes reflection extremely powerful and simple at the same time. Also, the pseudo-variable, thisContext, allows access to the execution stack, which can be explored and/or modified. I simply cannot imagine using any other language to teach reflection.”

For more information about the Cincom Smalltalk Academic Program, click here.