Internet Resources for M206
The following sites and resources accessible via the internet may be of use to M206 students and tutors. Most have been referred to in conferences and messages and we have not visited all of them - we will add comments on their value if and when we visit them.
Newsgroups
Newsgroups are one of the most useful of Internet resources when used in parallel with the various Search Engines. If you are new to Newsgroups you should lurk for a while before posting questions and make sure you have looked in all the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) files first. It is not advisable to directly post even sections of TMA questions! If you do not have an Offline Newsreader try The Free Agent available free from Forté's Web site
- comp.lang.smalltalk - The main Internet Newsgroup dedicated to Smalltalk. We have visited this newsgroup and it has been the source of much of the reference information on this page.
- Dolphin Smalltalk Newsgroup. We understand you find details of
the newsgroup at: http://www.object-arts.com/Support.htm but have not visited it yet - it supports the 3500 registered users of Dolphin Smalltalk.
Smalltalk Reference Manuals
- VisualWorks 2.5: The manuals for VisualWorks 2.5 have been made downloadable for everyone by ObjectShare. This is the version the OU used to develop LearningWorks, so the Object Reference will give the full details of basic system classes. They are available from http://www.objectshare.com/doc/vw/25x/Default.htm. We have not downloaded them and have no idea of the sizes. The original source indicated that the order of interest is:
- VisualWorks (also VisualWave) Object Reference (release 2.5)
- VisualWorks (also VisualWave) Cookbook (release 2.5)
- VisualWorks (also VisualWave) Tutorial (release 2.5)
- VisualWorks (also VisualWave) Tutorial Update (release 2.5)
- VisualWorks (also VisualWave) User's Guide (release 2.5)
We have also heard that there is a free version of VisualWorks (VWNC 3.0) available for download from ObjectShare It's currently available for
NT/95, with Linux support coming within a few weeks.
- Dolphin Smalltalk comes with a free HTML based "Education Centre" which not only covers a lot of the Dolphin specific implementation features but also has a series of basic lessons on the Language. These are not complete at present but certainly what is there quickly introduces one to the language and is very similar in concept to LearningWorks. There are also a full set of Overviews and "Patterns" to lead one through all the basic activities. The "Education Centre" can be downloaded from the Object-Arts web site as a single self extracting .exe file of under 1Mbyte and is very valuable in its own right.
Smalltalk Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Archives
We have seen several Smalltalk FAQs mentioned. They are reputedly big and comprehensive, try
The only Smalltalk archive we have seen mentioned is at:
"Book Reviews"
These fill out the details in our Smalltalk Book List which covers books in print in the UK. Some of the following may not be in print. They have been cut from various conferences and newsgroups and show that at least one person likes/dislikes the books and/or gives a clue to the contents and applicability. Being in this list in no way implies that we endorse the views.
- "Designing Object-Oriented Software" by Rebecca Wirfs-Brock, Brian Wilkerson and Lauren Wiener published by Prentice Hall in 1990.
The analysis and design in M206 is based on 2 papers presented at the OOPSLA conference in 1989.
- "A laboratory for object-oriented thinking" describes CRC, the M206 approach to analysis.
- "Responsibility driven design" describes the M206 approach to design.
Both are described in detail in this book. (report by Steven J. Self M206 CT)
- Hopkins and Horan "You'll also need a good book. I recommend Smalltalk, by Hopkins and Horan. It's actually dedicated to Visual Works ST, but is very well written, and most of the time it works very well with Dolphin too."
A further book list is available at http://www.onlinetoday.co.uk/books/smalltalk/smalltalk.html
Other M206 Tutors Web Sites to Visit
Comments and Additions
Please Email us at pcurtis@corinna1.freeserve.co.uk with any comments on the sites and any additions you can make. We will add any brief reviews you send us.
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Most recent revision:
12th July, 1998