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Comment by pjmlp | Hacker News Reader

One of the reasons Smalltalk failed is called Java.

Smalltalk was actually getting a foothold in the enterprise when Java happened and everyone switched to it.

Eclipse was originally a Smalltalk environment (Visual Age for Smalltalk).

Yes, files also played big a role, because it was not possible to use source control systems with Smalltalk that worked across implementations. So you were bound to a specific vendor.

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And actually Sun approached Viacom to license Smalltalk at much less than what they were currently charging. Viacom wouldn't budge so Sun invested in "Oak" that they were already playing with in house.

Thanks for sharing the information.

np, sorry I was too lazy to post any links but I think I gave enough info to find it on the internet.

I made the switch from Smalltalk to Java. I remember how disappointing it was to return to such a primitive language. I also used the VisualAge for Java products, which I recognized immediately as Smalltalk tools. I wasn't at all surprised to find out they were actually written in Smalltalk

It was an engineering feat. VAJ was a Smalltalk engine that ran both Smalltalk and Java.

> Smalltalk was actually getting a foothold in the enterprise when Java happened and everyone switched to it.

Actually, Smalltalk projects failed hard in the enterprise during the 90-ies which lead to Smalltalk's demise. 'Java killed Smalltalk' is a myth.

Yeah, Java killed Smalltalk in the enterprise.

My employer's official application development language has changed just twice in the last 30 years, from COBOL -> Smalltalk -> Java.

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