21 Dec
2018
21 Dec
'18
4:59 p.m.
On Thu, 20 Dec 2018 at 10:58, Tudor Girba <tudor(a)tudorgirba.com> wrote:
The goal of the new GT is to propose a completely
reshaped programming
experience that enables moldable development. You will find the concepts
from the old GT in the new world as well. For example, the Inspector is
extensible in similar ways and the API is similar as well.
[...]
Does this address the concern?
I am not sure yet :).
Programming is not our main use case for GT. We are using GT as an object
inspector (etc) for examining diagnostic data. We have a Smalltalk
application that's similar to GDB and we are using GT as the front-end.
In our world we use the Inspector and the Spotter but all of the Smalltalk
programming views are hidden. GT is "molded" to be a diagnostic tool
*instead of* a programming environment. Specifically, our main use case is
inspecting/debugging the operation of a JIT compiler written in C. We have
Smalltalk code to load binary coredumps from the JIT, decode them using
DWARF debug information, and represent the application-level compiler data
structures as Smalltalk objects. This way we can use GT to browse generated
code, cross-reference profiler data, examine runtime compilation errors,
etc.
The "old" GT is awesome for this. I feel like this application is also very
much in the spirit of the "moldable tools" thesis. Lots of diagnostic
workflows ultimately boil down to drill-down inspecting and/or searching.
I don't know where we stand with respect to the "new" GT though. I am
talking about diagnostics, you are talking about programming. I am talking
about zeros and ones, you are talking about feelings. I am maintaining a
stable application, you are talking about rewrites. I am having a hard time
whether I should be switching to the new GT in the immediate future, or
waiting another year or two for it to mature, or planning to stick with the
old GT.
Hints would be appreciated :)
I reiterate that I think you guys are doing fantastic work - some of the
most interesting work in the programming universe to my mind. I hope that
this discussion is useful for at least understanding the thought process of
some users / potential users.
Cheers!
-Luke