Will IBM make Smalltalk? - use of programming language increasing, but lags behind C++ and Cobol

Software Magazine, Feb, 1995 by Elizabeth U. Harding

The Smalltalk programming language took a big step forward last year when IBM entered the market with its VisualAge development environment. Yet, instead of feeling threatened, Smalltalk vendors say they are happy IBM is helping to open up the market. Smalltalk proponents contend that the language is a natural step for the ranks of MIS Cobol programmers to take.

However, others say that the language is no longer the point; the visual environment usually associated with Smalltalk-based tools is the real benefit offered. "Smalltalk by itself won't change the industry," said Ed Yourdon, editor of Ed Yourdon's Guerrilla Programmer, Arlington, Mass. "People aren't interested m learning a language for its own sake. But Smalltalk almost always comes with a robust visual development environment, he noted. As an analogy, Yourdon suggests that Microsoft's Visual Basic has found success not because it is Basic, but rather because it is visual.

It is IBM's firm foothold in MIS that has made its Smalltalk moves so significant. The company's selection of Smalltalk could make the language a success after years of knocking on the door "IBM's strong endorsement for Smalltalk is a dramatic shift from the IBM of the past," said Jim Anderson, president of Santa Ana, Calif.-based Digitalk Inc., a longtime Smalltalk provider.

Smalltalk vendors are banking on MIS to choose Smalltalk over C as departments adopt newer object-oriented programming methods for developing distributed applications. IBM's apparent endorsement gives vendors another argument in their sales pitch. One of the reasons it should be natural for Cobol programmers to move to Smalltalk, say industry observers, is that Smalltalk, much like Cobol, is a language nontechnical people can learn. C , on the other hand, is a very complex, relatively low-level language that requires the programmer to manage the computer.

"The transition for a Cobol programmer is much easier moving to Smalltalk than it is to C ," said Richard. Dym, vice president of ParcPlace Systems Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif. "Smalltalk is a higher-level language. Its syntax is easy. We have a vast pool of Cobol programmers who have a choice: Either they learn a very technical, object-oriented language like C or they look for another solution such as Smalltalk."

Jeff Sutherland, vice president, object technology, Easel Corp., Burlington, Mass., asserted that C is simply not going to work in Fortune 1000 companies that have many programmers. "C is never going to replace Cobol," he said. "C is trying to be a better C language, and C is trying to be a better assembler language. What you want to do is move to a higher-level application language."

I see that Smalltalk is the natural successor to Cobol," said Digitalk's Anderson. "Cobol is insufficient in a distributed and changing environment. A groups were saying that Cobol programmers don't have the skills to move to object-oriented technology. Today, we're seeing a lot of large companies having a 90% success rate retraining Cobol programmers in Smalltalk."

Palo Alto Roots

Since the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (Parc) invented Smalltalk back in the 1970s, this programming language, though simple and adaptable, has remained in the shadows. It was mainly used by computer scientists and some daring customers; few vendors entered the market. Of these, the dominant players that emerged were Digitalk, Easel Corp. and ParcPlace Systems, which came out of the Xerox effort.

"In this client/server age, it's down to three languages: C and C , Cobol and Smalltalk" said Anderson. "Cobol is insufficient in this distributed and changing environment, and object-oriented Cobol is immature. It's verbose and it does not support automatic memory management."

IBM's jumping into the pool has lent market momentum to Smalltalk. But according to Jeff Leopold, director of client/server computing research at the Boston-based Yankee Group, a move to the Smalltalk paradigm is not a trivial one. "A huge amount depends on being able to convince the senior IS folks that it's worth making the investment in training," said Leopold.

IBM says it is addressing such concerns. "We have three companies who are providing training in Visual-Age and IBM Smalltalk," said Diane Fodell, marketing manager for IBM VisualAge. "We also have a very aggressive program to get Smalltalk into more than 500 universities."

Once training issues are overcome, said Leopold of the Yankee Group,

Smalltalk will be used to put "wrappers" around CICS transactions, and for building core components that can be architected into solutions. "We see a development model evolving wherein corporate IS [manages] the infrastructure for distributed computing," he said. "IS will create objects that are later strung together to form more complete solutions."

According to Steve McClure, manager of object technologies at International Data Corp. (IDC), Framingham, Mass., today's worldwide Smalltalk market is somewhere around $31 million. He estimates growth at about 70% per year.