Smalltalk is an object-oriented, dynamically typed reflective programming language. Kay says their Smalltalk virtual machine for the 8086 was 6 kilobytes of machine code.

Relevance to permacomputing

While the language itself might not apply every aspect of its own design philosophy, the guidelines drafted out in Design Principles Behind Smalltalk, might in some way or other align with the values of Permacomputing.

  • human-scale: If a system is to serve the creative spirit, it must be entirely comprehensible to a single individual.
  • bedrock platform: A system should be built with a minimum set of unchangeable parts; those parts should be as general as possible; and all parts of the system should be held in a uniform framework.