Explore topic-wise InterviewSolutions in .

This section includes InterviewSolutions, each offering curated multiple-choice questions to sharpen your knowledge and support exam preparation. Choose a topic below to get started.

1.

Does Gnu Smalltalk Support Unicode And Mbcs?

Answer»

YES. Strings however are processed (e.g. read from a file) byte-per-byte. If you NEED per-character processing, you should LOAD the Iconv package and CONVERT strings to UnicodeString, USING the #asUnicodeString method.

Yes. Strings however are processed (e.g. read from a file) byte-per-byte. If you need per-character processing, you should load the Iconv package and convert strings to UnicodeString, using the #asUnicodeString method.

2.

What Is Vfs?

Answer»

VFS is GNU Smalltalk's Virtual FileSystem LAYER. VFS allows GNU Smalltalk programs to use archive files (.gz, .tar, .zip, etc.) and URLS transparently. The first implementation of VFS was inspired by the homonymous feature of the Midnight COMMANDER, LATER incorporated in GNOME and now called GVFS.

VFS is a fundamental part of the implementation of .star packages.

VFS is GNU Smalltalk's Virtual FileSystem layer. VFS allows GNU Smalltalk programs to use archive files (.gz, .tar, .zip, etc.) and URLs transparently. The first implementation of VFS was inspired by the homonymous feature of the Midnight Commander, later incorporated in GNOME and now called GVFS.

VFS is a fundamental part of the implementation of .star packages.

3.

What Else Is Cool About Gnu Smalltalk?

Answer»

First of all, it is free software. This means that you can play with it and understand how it works, break it and understand why it broke, fix it and enjoy having fixed it.

Compared to other Smalltalk implementations, GNU Smalltalk is very different in one aspect: it is pragmatically DESIGNED to be a tool rather than an environment. It complements other tools that you use in your daily WORK, without any pretense of completely replacing them. This also PROVIDES a smoother learning curve for PEOPLE who know other scripting languages such as Python or RUBY.

First of all, it is free software. This means that you can play with it and understand how it works, break it and understand why it broke, fix it and enjoy having fixed it.

Compared to other Smalltalk implementations, GNU Smalltalk is very different in one aspect: it is pragmatically designed to be a tool rather than an environment. It complements other tools that you use in your daily work, without any pretense of completely replacing them. This also provides a smoother learning curve for people who know other scripting languages such as Python or Ruby.

4.

What Is Cool About Smalltalk?

Answer»

Smalltalk is an object-oriented programming language with a uniform programming model. Unlike many other languages, learning the Smalltalk programming language is easy because there are just a few CONCEPTS to grasp. Everything is an object in Smalltalk (including number, string, character, code blocks, and classes themselves), and everything is DONE through a single paradigm, that of sending MESSAGES from one object to another.

Many cool and revolutionary ideas were conceived from the Smalltalk community, including the very idea of window-based, graphical user interfaces. Smalltalk systems are open, as source code for every class is available and modifiable, including all the kernel classes; being free software, GNU Smalltalk extends this openness to the virtual machine, and COMPLEMENTS it with the freedom to redistribute and publish your improvements.

Smalltalk is an object-oriented programming language with a uniform programming model. Unlike many other languages, learning the Smalltalk programming language is easy because there are just a few concepts to grasp. Everything is an object in Smalltalk (including number, string, character, code blocks, and classes themselves), and everything is done through a single paradigm, that of sending messages from one object to another.

Many cool and revolutionary ideas were conceived from the Smalltalk community, including the very idea of window-based, graphical user interfaces. Smalltalk systems are open, as source code for every class is available and modifiable, including all the kernel classes; being free software, GNU Smalltalk extends this openness to the virtual machine, and complements it with the freedom to redistribute and publish your improvements.

5.

Where's The Gui?

Answer»

GNU Smalltalk does not by default start a full-blown integrated development ENVIRONMENT.

HOWEVER, ONE is available and can be started with this command:

gst-blox

The latest git versions include a new IDE, called VisualGST,

that can be started with this command instead:

gst-browser

GNU Smalltalk does not by default start a full-blown integrated development environment.

However, one is available and can be started with this command:

gst-blox

The latest git versions include a new IDE, called VisualGST,

that can be started with this command instead:

gst-browser

6.

How Stable Is Gnu Smalltalk? How Scalable? How Fast?

Answer»

It is quite stable. There are bugs for sure in the virtual machine, but unless you're UNLUCKY you shouldn't be affected. This is especially true for the stable branch, where only changes to improve stability are made; development releases are by their very nature LESS stable.

It is quite scalable, even though the garbage collector performs worse once you have more than 150-200 MB of live data. Very long strings also do not perform as well as they could. In general, object-orientation makes it easier to pick good data structures (such as streams).

It is quite fast. While GNU Smalltalk has an experimental just-in-time compiler, even the bytecode interpreter should be FASTER than most other scripting languages. However, GNU Smalltalk's base classes are written entirely in Smalltalk (unlike PYTHON or Lua, for example). While this gives more flexibility to the PROGRAMMER, programs that heavily use dictionaries may run slower than the equivalent programs in other languages.

It is quite stable. There are bugs for sure in the virtual machine, but unless you're unlucky you shouldn't be affected. This is especially true for the stable branch, where only changes to improve stability are made; development releases are by their very nature less stable.

It is quite scalable, even though the garbage collector performs worse once you have more than 150-200 MB of live data. Very long strings also do not perform as well as they could. In general, object-orientation makes it easier to pick good data structures (such as streams).

It is quite fast. While GNU Smalltalk has an experimental just-in-time compiler, even the bytecode interpreter should be faster than most other scripting languages. However, GNU Smalltalk's base classes are written entirely in Smalltalk (unlike Python or Lua, for example). While this gives more flexibility to the programmer, programs that heavily use dictionaries may run slower than the equivalent programs in other languages.

7.

What Is "the Smalltalk For Those Who Can Type" Supposed To Mean?

Answer»

It is a pun on the USAGE of a text editor (and thus USING the keyboard more, and the mouse less) to write PROGRAMS for GNU Smalltalk, which SETS it DIFFERENT from other Smalltalk.

It is a pun on the usage of a text editor (and thus using the keyboard more, and the mouse less) to write programs for GNU Smalltalk, which sets it different from other Smalltalk.

8.

What Is The Variable Scope In Smalltalk?

Answer»

9.

How To Declare Variables In Smalltalk?

Answer»
  • Variables must be DECLARED before use
  • Shared variables must BEGIN with uppercase
  • Local variables must begin with lowercase
  • RESERVED NAMES - true, false, nil, self and super

10.

What Types Of Characters Allowable In Smalltalk?

Answer»
  • 0-9
  • A-Z
  • a-z
  • .+/*~<>@%|&?
  • BLANK, tab, CR, ff, LF
  • And so on

11.

What Is Smalltalk?

Answer»

Smalltalk is PURE object oriented programming (OOPs), dynamically typed and reflective programming language.

Smalltalk is an improvement environment – class browsers, debugger, inspector and refactoring engine.

Everything is an object –variables, CONSTANTS, activation records and classes.

Smalltalk was designed and created by Learning Research GROUP of Xerox PARC in 1972 and the Researcher TEAM

  • Alan Kay
  • Dan Ingalls
  • Adele Goldberg
  • Ted Kaehler
  • Scott Wallace
  • And so on

All COMPUTATION is performed by objects sending and receiving messages – 1+2*3

Smalltalk is pure object oriented programming (OOPs), dynamically typed and reflective programming language.

Smalltalk is an improvement environment – class browsers, debugger, inspector and refactoring engine.

Everything is an object –variables, constants, activation records and classes.

Smalltalk was designed and created by Learning Research Group of Xerox PARC in 1972 and the Researcher Team –

All computation is performed by objects sending and receiving messages – 1+2*3